We’re in a golden age of vegan cheese. Today’s vegan cheese can be based on a wide range of plants, including soy, cashews, almonds, and coconut.
While vegan cheese has been around for a while (if you include cheese-like fermented tofu, it’s been around for centuries), it has only been in the last decade or so that it has come into its own.
The secret is fermentation—the art of introducing microbes to transform sugars and starches into lactic acid. The addition of bacterial cultures yields a tangy, cheesy flavor that hits just right, and enables vegan cheeses to be made with simple, whole ingredients like cashews and almonds.
In the past few years, there has been an explosion in excellent vegan cheeses as cheesemakers re-imagine techniques to make a broad range of vegan cheeses: cheddar, mozzarella, gouda, camembert, blue, cream, and more. Meltable and rich, modern vegan cheeses unlock the taste, feel, and properties that make cheese so distinctive.
Here are our favorite widely available fermented vegan cheeses. They’re available online, and chances are, more than one of these cheeses is available in a supermarket near you right now!
Bandit Cheese
This South Philly–made, cave-aged cashew cheese line delivers deep, complex flavor without a hint of compromise. Crafted by dedicated “Curd Nerds” using real, simple ingredients, Bandit proves that vegan cheese can be bold, artisanal, and downright irresistible.
Kite Hill
This PETA Business Friend cultures almond milk to create delicate cream cheeses. The fermented tang is subtle and the cheese is creamy and smooth.
Darë
Another PETA Business Friend (grab the discount code in the PETA Shopping Guide), Darë (pronounced “dairy”) is cashew- and coconut-based and, thanks to the fermentation process, filled with probiotics.
Miyoko’s Creamery
Named after original creator Miyoko Schinner, this line of cashew- and oat-based aged vegan cheeses is tangy and craveable. Their liquid mozzarella is a game-changer for baked Italian dishes like pizza and lasagna.
Treeline Cheese
Treeline offers a full range of fermented cashew cheeses, including a soft, delicate chèvre-style cheese as well as savory hard wheels in varieties like cheddar and smoked gouda.
Nuts for Cheese
Handcrafted cashew cheese fermented with their proprietary rejuvelac culture. Using traditional cheesemaking fermentation techniques, Nuts for Cheese makes both soft, spreadable cheeses and hard, aged cheese wheels.
Parmela Creamery
Another cashew-based cheese that is aggressively aged to bring out a sharp cheesiness that works well in any recipe. Their shreds are ideal for your next pizza!
Rebel Cheese
Rebel is dedicated to making authentic vegan cheeses that are more complex, such as brie, smoked cheddar, gruyère, and parmesan—using just four ingredients.
Chao Creamery
From Field Roast, this coconut- and soy-based cheese makes a great melty and tangy grilled cheese sandwich.
Vegan cheeses win on taste, ethics, and innovation, and they never rely on exploiting cows, sheep, or goats. Cows are loving mothers who will go to great lengths to protect their calves. Sheep are intelligent, social animals who can recognize their friends, even after years apart. And goats are smart and curious, able to make plans and execute them.
All of these mothers make milk for their babies, not for humans.
Wait, you’re not vegan yet? With all these delicious vegan cheeses, you really have no excuse. So do it already!
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