What Vegan Cream Cheese Brands Did We Try
Despite trying out 10 different brands, we know that there are even more out there. We just didnt find them local to us. The brands that we did find and try are:
We also had a bonus taste test of Spero Sunflower Cream Cheese. We didnt see a plain version of this but did they the red pepper version.
I will be upfront that we had tried a few of these before. However, we had never tried any of them side by side with other brands which we believe is really important when it comes to taste testing.
Best Dairy Free Cream Cheese Substitutes
June 23, 2022 by Krissy
Cream cheese dates back to the 1800s and has become one of the most commonly used cheeses in the United States. It can be found in most breakfast restaurants and makes an appearance on many recipe lists. It is frequently used in baking and savory dishes.
Looking for a non-dairy cream cheese substitute? Good news! There are plenty of non-dairy alternatives to cream cheese for a vegan diet and milk allergies.
Made From A Variety Of Sources
The first dairy-free cheeses were created in the 1980s and were not particularly palatable.
However, the vegan cheese market has exploded in the last few years. There is now a multitude of flavorful varieties, some of which could fool even the most devoted cheese connoisseur.
They can be purchased from the store or made at home and are often crafted from unexpected ingredients.
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Daiya Plain Cream Cheese Style Spread Dairy Free 8 Oz
- High Quality Powdered Cheddar Cheese
- Perfect for blending with butter, sour cream and heavy cream to make cheese sauces
- Lots of uses! Sprinkle on your favorite popcorn, vegetables, and casseroles.
- No artificial coloring, Batch Tested and Verified Gluten-Free, GMO Free
- Made in the USA
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How Does Vegan Cheese Compare With Dairy
Not many people consider cream cheese as an option when discussing vegan options, but as you can see, theres so many to choose from! Traditionally, cream cheese is made from dairy cheese using casein protein, which is found in cow, goat and sheep milk. Cheese is made using an enzyme called rennet, which is added to the milk during the coagulation process. There are other ways that cream cheese can be made, however using rennet is the most common method and almost all cheeses are created this way.
Vegan cheese is made using a similar process, but very different ingredients . Vegan cream cheese has a protein substitute added to it, usually sources from plants. Then, instead of using rennet during the coagulation process, vegan cheese uses the lactic bacteria. For more firm vegan cheeses, additional ingredients like oils and emulsifiers can be added, as well as nuts, tofu or seeds.
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No Sugar Means No Lactose
On every Nutrition Facts panel, youll find the amount of sugar in that food. If it says 0g, that means theres no sugar, and no sugar in Cabot cheddar cheese means no lactose. To be sure our cheese is lactose-free, look for the Naturally Lactose-Free icon on the packaging of your favorite Cabot cheese products.
How Will I Live Without Cheese
At the time I dumped it on everythingpasta with loads of parmesan, pizza loaded with mozz. There was cheese in my go-to burritos, sandwiches, quesadillas, you name it. Whatever I was eating, it was hardly a complete meal without cheese. This was going to be hard.
And let me tell you, at the time , there werent a zillion vegan cheese options like there are today. In fact, there werent any in my college town of Cleveland, Ohio. So I went without.
Painful? Surprisingly, not really! I thought it was going to be a huge challenge, a sacrifice I was making for the animals. But truth be told, I quickly acclimated to equally delicious alternatives.
My go-to? Avocado with salt. Cheese is essentially just fat and salt, so salted avocado did the trick in my burritos, sandwiches, and beyond. And in place of parmesan one my pasta I would add olive oil, salt, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast , a combo I still often turn to today. Or Ill just use marinara sauce instead!
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What Do I Need To Make My Own Vegan Cheese
Whatever your skill level and however well your kitchen is equipped, theres a vegan cheese recipe out there for you.
However, we minimally recommend that anyone interested in a healthy plant-strong diet has the following in their kitchen.
Essential Kitchen Tools:
- A food processor and/or a high-powered blender for grinding nuts and seeds and blending the creamiest cheeses and cheesy sauces.
- A strainer and cheesecloth for draining your vegan cheese
- Nutritional yeast, which is a deactivated yeast with a nutty and cheesy flavor
- Miso paste, which can make your cheese taste more cheesy
- Salt and lemon, for saltiness and tartness, respectively
Needless to say, choosing dairy-free is easier today than it ever has been before. No longer does it require sacrifice. Enjoy the adventure, friends!
Why Trust The Spruce Eats
Writer and professional cheese eater Christine Clark teaches cheese and pairing classes throughout the United States and is dedicated to helping people expertly get their cheese on, even if its a vegan cheese theyre looking for. Her cheese adoration is so strong that she has a whole podcast dedicated to it. She is a Certified Cheese Professional through the American Cheese Society.
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The Ultimate Comfort Food Just Got A Major Upgrade In This Dairy
Your eyes are not deceiving you, this really is Dairy-free Mac and Cheese
No, really. It is. There is absolutely ZERO cheese involved in this recipe which is partly why its so brilliant. The other reason is that is PACKED with vegetables. Um hmmmmm. Veggies!
And youll never know theyre in there. This Dairy-free Mac and Cheese is so silky, rich, creamy and cheesy that it fooled even my most discerning, veggie-sniffing daughter. Not kidding, this kid can smell a hidden veggie from miles away like a customs dog on the hunt for pineapples and cigars.
The day I developed this recipe was the first official real snow of the season here in Boulder. The girls came running into the house just as I was pulling the bowl of mac and cheese off the table by the window where Id been photographing it and they immediately started to inhale it. Still in jackets, hats and snow boots. And there may have been a fight over the last noodle, too.
Naturally, I asked: Is it good? They both nodded and smiled. Satisfied with their answer, I turned to walk into my office and heard my oldest say to my mom as I left the room: That wasnt REAL mac and cheese. I dont know what it was but it was good. YASSSSSSS!
Mom: 1, Veggie-sniffer-outer: 0
The secret is in the sauce
Okay, enough about my on-going endeavor to hide all the veggies you came here to learn how to make the BEST Dairy-free Mac and Cheese, right?
A food-allergy sufferers dream come true
#macandcheeseforeveryone
The Worst Cheese For Lactose Intolerance
Unfortunately lactose intolerant individuals will need to avoid cheese products that are high in lactose.
These include cream cheese, cottage cheese, and ricotta cheese.
Notice a pattern?
Cheese with the highest lactose include cheese spreads, soft cheeses like Camembert, cottage cheese and mozzarella.
All of these have more than 17 percent lactose per serving size, which is way too much for most lactose intolerant people to handle!
So lactose intolerant individuals should avoid these cheeses.
While its hard to pinpoint the worst cheese for lactose intolerant people, the best answer to that question is cream cheese.
Cream cheese contains about the same lactose as other high lactose cheeses like mozzarella, however, cream cheese is more commonly bought and used.
Therefore in our opinion, cream cheese the worst cheese for lactose intolerant people.
Please remember too that dairy products produced from cream, such as ice cream, cream cheese, custard, or butter, should also be avoided.
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Crostini With Horseradish Cream Cheese & Roast Beef
1/3 block PHILADELPHIA Lactose Free Cream Cheese
1 tbsp horseradish cream
180g roast beef, thinly sliced
Sliced radish, to garnish
Watercress sprigs, to garnish
Combine PHILADELPHIA Lactose Free Cream Cheese and horseradish and season. Spread on the crostini. Top with beef, sliced radish and watercress sprigs.
Are These Vegan Cream Cheese Brands Allergy Friendly
We listed the allergens under each but just so its easier to find we wanted to list it here as well.
All of these are vegan so they are automatically dairy free and egg free. None of them listed gluten or peanuts as an ingredients. They are also all fish and shellfish free.
That leaves treenuts and soy as top allergens in the US.
- Contains Coconut Wayfare, Trader Joes, Daiya, Go Veggie, Miyokos, Violife, Spero
- Contains Soy Trader Joes, Tofutti, Go Veggie
- Contains Nuts Miyokos , Kite Hill , Treeline
That means all 10 of them had some form of allergen inside.
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Cooking With Cream Cheese
Plain cream cheese is the most popular type of cream cheese for baking. The full fat profile tends to augment the flavor of savory recipes. It has a rich and full bodied taste, which also makes it ideal when used alone .
Cream cheese is also available in low fat and flavored varieties. These varieties of cream cheese are typically avoided when baking, due to the lack of fat and added flavor.
Why We Love This Recipe
- It tastes fresh and delicious and is a perfect substitute for any dairy version of cream cheese.
- It can easily be customized for extra tang or flavored with optional add-ins like herbs and spices.
- Its easy to make and ready in as little as 15 minutes!
If youre trying to give up dairy or are just craving a great dairy-free cream cheese, then you are going to love this vegan cream cheese recipe!
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Our Favorite Vegan Cream Cheese Brands
First choice: Violife. This is hands down our favorite. I think it tastes the most like real cream cheese, and it seems to work better in recipes like cream cheese frosting and creamy dips, like my Skyline chili dip.
Second choice: Daiya. This seems to be more readily available, and its my second favorite for that reason. I find that it has a slight fake taste to it, but its still better than most Ive tried.
How Did We Do The Vegan Cream Cheese Taste Test
It was really quite simple.
We toasted some vegan bagels and then cut them into small pieces.
We dipped a small piece of bagel into each vegan cream cheese brand and then taste each one.
We were looking for mostly taste and texture. Our goal was to find the one closest to what we remember dairy-based cream cheese tasting like.
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Lactose Intolerant Cheese Conclusion
We hope you found these tips helpful and that they will help you make better choices when it comes to your diet.
Overall, just please know there are many naturally lactose free cheeses. So if you were wondering about whether they lactose-free cheese yes, they do make lactose-free cheese!!
If you have any other questions about lactose intolerance or the types of food best for those who are intolerant, please let us know!
Finally, please remember its lactose with an e at the end, not lactos free cheese!
About the Author
Hey, Im Jared and Im a writer by heart. I call myself a Food-Conscious Journaling Coach, which is means I help foodies end emotional eating for a healthy, peaceful, and normal relationship with food. Just so happening journaling is both my heart and career!
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Watch What Goes In Your Coffee
While coffee on its own is actually really good for you and filled with antioxidants, what you add to it is the problem. And if youre trying to cut back on dairy, then your morning Joe is the perfect place to start. Try Silk Almond Milk Creamer, Califia Almond Milk Creamer, or So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer. You may also like using regular almond, cashew, or coconut milk to replace milk or cream. If you use skim milk in your coffee, rice milk will be the closest substitute, explains Shacter.
And so many brands are now making coffee coolers that use almond or coconut milk. If you love cream or Half and Half in your cup, try keeping canned coconut milk in the fridge. The cream rises to the top, and looks similar to a thick whipped topping, says Shacter. And dont forget that Starbucks now offers coconut milk as a dairy-free option. But one thing you should not grab, according to Shacter, is non-dairy creamer. It typically employs trans fats or other unhealthy ingredients.
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Winner: Green Vie Greek Style Block With Oregano And Olive Oil
There is a classic brininess and soft texture to this vegan feta and it easily crumbles, which impressed us. Its salty but perhaps milder than a regular feta and when it firsts hits the tongue, the acidity is a bit intense but that quickly fades to replicate a very good dairy feta. The olive oil and oregano flavour is lovely and does a good job at covering any potential synthetic taste.
Goveggies Chive & Garlic Cream
You cant go wrong with this beautiful, golden cream cheese. It may take a little longer to set up, but not only does it taste great, but it also looks pretty too. Easy to whip up on your own, this vegan cream cheese has no added allergens, plus its made without genetically modified ingredients. If you dont care for a strong garlic taste, you can also choose a vegan cheese blend to bring out other flavours in the cream cheese. Not only does this cream cheese have all of the ingredients youre looking for, but it does it with fantastic taste too.
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Leading Cream Cheese Brand Philadelphia Launches Its First Dairy
Popular U.S.-based cream cheese brand Philadelphia has launched its first dairy-free offering, Philadelphia Plant Based. The new cheese is coming to Tesco stores across the U.K.
After a late holiday season effort to convince its customers not to make cheesecakes in the wake of a cream cheese shortage, the Philadelphia brand now has a viable alternative to the shortage: a vegan soft cheese, the companys first.
With over half a million people taking part in this years Veganuary, the appetite for plant-based alternatives has never been more apparent, Louise Stigant, UK managing director of Philadelphias parent company, Mondelz International, said in a statement.
Weve worked hard to make sure new Philadelphia Plant Based really delivers the same great taste and creaminess that people love and expect from Philadelphia and were delighted that theres now a Philadelphia product for everyone not a bagel or slice of toasted sourdough ever needs to go without again!
Best Shredded Cheese: Violife
Replicating shredded cheese can be tricky without dairy, largely because many of the original vegan shredded cheese replacements stubbornly refused to melt. The shreds from Violife, available in cheddar, Colby Jack, and Mexican-style flavors, look almost startlingly like real cheese once theyve been underneath the oven broiler or stirred into a sauce, melting smoothly and boasting a solid, cheesy flavor. Its also pretty great for snacking out of the bag at midnight when an insatiable cheese craving strikes.
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Go For The 80/20 Method
If youre eliminating dairy because youre worried about bigger picture health problems, Ciorciari says not to omit dairy from your diet all at once. If cutting it out all at once is too difficult, maybe try an 80/20 approach where 80 percent of choices are dairy-free and the other 20 percent are better choices, suggests Ciorciari. I often recommend starting with only known tolerated foods and making changes for any identified foods known to be problematic. You may also want to avoid trigger foods or foods that are extremely difficult for you to keep portioned. For instance, if cheese is a known trigger, maybe consider a non-dairy swap or choose crumbles of feta or goat cheese as a measure of portion control.
Vegan Cream Cheese With Lox Such A Disappointment
We love Miyokos vegan butter in fact, it tastes better than the dairy butter that Ive adored all my life! But this new concoction isnt good at all. It doesnt deliver the promised flavors, but instead leaves an acidy after taste that is decidely unpleasant. Intend to return it to Trader Joes and wait for a better product we know Kiyokos is capable of producing.
1
Doesnt taste good at all!
1
Ive tried this product twice now, after being very disappointed the first time I wanted to make sure it wasnt just a bad batch. Im not being hyperbolic when I say it tastes like vomit. Like, it tastes like something went extremely wrong. Im one of the least picky eaters I know, yet this might be the worst tasting vegan product Ive ever tried. Which is a shame because I typically love Miyoko products. If you want some vegan cream cheese, go for So Delicious or Kite Hill instead.
1
Response from Go Dairy Free
Please note that this review has been edited for language. We are a family friendly website.
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