The Ultimate Guide to Vegan Cheese 2024
Do you love cheese? We do! So it’s a real treat that there are countless animal-friendly, dairy-free, and delicious cheesy goods out there for everyone to enjoy. Vegan cheese is not only yummy but also cholesterol-free and usually lower in fat than cheese made from the milk of mother cows, sheep, or goats. And best of all – buying vegan cheese doesn’t support the cruelty of the dairy industry.
Here’s the ultimate rundown of plant-based cheeses available in the UK. Whether you’re looking for sandwich slices, pizza cheese, or a wedge for a cheeseboard, you’ll find an option for every occasion.
Aldi Plant Menu
Grated? Sliced? Block? Aldi’s Plant Menu offers vegan cheddar, tailored to your preference.
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Applewood Vegan Range
The unmistakable smoky taste of Applewood’s vegan cheeses makes them a supermarket staple. They melt wonderfully, so use them to elevate toasties, pizzas, and pasta dishes.
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Babybel Plant-Based
Small but mighty, Babybel’s plant-based mini cheese wheel is wrapped in a green version of its iconic wax, ready to be tossed into a lunchbox.
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Boursin Plant-Based
This rich and creamy vegan cheese spread deliciously combines garlic, parsley, and chives. It’s perfect for spreading on crackers and bread or for adding to your favourite recipes.
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Cathedral City Plant-Based
Cathedral City’s plant-based range offers the brand’s signature mature cheddar flavour with none of the cruelty to cows. It’s available in slices and blocks as well as grated, so you can bring a cheddary taste to any recipe.
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Cicioni
Cicioni is tangy, light, and fresh, making it the perfect addition to a salad, sandwich, or cheeseboard. This popular vegan cheese is made from almonds and cashews.
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Cocos Organic Creamy Spread
This organic soft cheese is made from 92% coconut milk and fermented with live vegan cultures to deliver not only great taste but also benefits for gut health.
Holland & Barrett Chilled Blue Cheese and Bree
Satisfy your vegan cheese cravings with Holland & Barrett’s new H&B Chilled Blue Cheese and H&B Chilled Bree. These cheeses are perfect for any occasion.
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Honestly Tasty
Craving the distinctive taste of blue cheese? Honestly Tasty’s smooth but firm blue block is crafted with real Penicillium roqueforti and matured over several weeks to give it that authentic bite. Complete your vegan cheese board with Honesty Tasty’s Shamembert and Bree.
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I Am Nut OK
Featured on the Channel 4 show Aldi’s Next Big Thing, the artisanal cultured vegan cheeses by I Am Nut OK are worthy of the buzz. Its seriously indulgent flavours include black truffle, smoky charcoal, and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, plus familiar favourites like mature cheddar and Italian herb.
Ilchester Vegan Melting Mature
Enjoy the perfect melt of this vegan cheddar from British cheese producer Ilchester. Ideal for enhancing the flavour of your plant-based burger or lasagna.
Julienne Bruno
Your quest for the perfect vegan soft cheese ends here! Julienne Bruno’s range is a game-changer which offers the authentic taste of Italian cuisine. Its Burrella, Superstraccia, and Crematta cheeses are the first choice for chefs across the country.
Kinda Co
Cultured cashew cheeses in a variety of flavours are Kinda Co’s speciality. Choose the farmhouse variety for a sharp, mature cheddar-style flavour, the smoky chilli cheese for a spicy punch, or the lemon and dill cream cheese to top a toasted bagel. Discover your favourite flavour at its online shop.
La Fauxmagerie
This vegan cheesemonger’s artisanal cheeses will make any occasion special. Our favourites include the truffle-infused Camemvert, Brixton Blue, and, of course, Fondue au Fauxmage.
Morrisons
Morrisons offers a selection of everyday vegan favourites, including blocks and slices of cheddar and a spreadable garlic and herb soft cheese.
Mouse’s Favourite
Specialising in “fancy” cheeses, Mouse’s Favourite offers vegan takes on classics like plant-based blue cheese and aged cheese wrapped in wax. The vegan camembert is a long-time PETA favourite – a cashew-based delight with an authentic rind and soft, creamy centre.
MozzaRisella
MozzaRisella’s Classic is the plant-based cheese of choice for many restaurants – and it’s easy to see why. It has a subtle flavour and melts perfectly, making it ideal for adding on top of pizza and other dishes.
M&S Food Plant Kitchen Range
Are you craving vegan mature cheddar, Greek-style cheese, or mozzarella? Look no further than the M&S Food Plant Kitchen range.
Nurishh
Whether you want to enjoy gooey plant-based cheese toasties, make a vegan mac and cheese, or smother a bagel in cruelty-free cream cheese, Nurishh has you covered. What’s more, its camembert bakes perfectly.
Nush Dairy-Free Creamy Almond M*lk Spread
This spreadable cheese from Nush is made using artisanal almond milk to create a thick, creamy texture. It tastes great on crackers and oatcakes and makes a brilliant base for a homemade cheesecake.
Nutritional Yeast
Whilst not strictly vegan cheese, nutritional yeast is well known for adding a cheesy flavour to dishes. It is ideal in sauces, tastes great, and contains loads of essential vitamins, such as B12. If you haven’t tried it, you have to give “nooch” a go!
Palace Culture
Palace Culture’s vegan twist on traditional artisan cheesemaking techniques combines organic cashews and almonds with live cultures to create luxury nut-based cheeses. Order these delicacies directly from Palace Culture – check the company’s website for stockists – or if you’re in London, sample them as part of the vegan cheeseboard at Gordon’s, the oldest wine bar in the city.
Pure Plant-Based Grated
You might know Pure for its smooth, plant-based spreads, but have you tried its excellent vegan cheese? Versatile, creamy, and melty, this product is a delightful addition to your mac and cheese.
Sainsbury’s
Plant Pioneers Smoked Truffle Fondue proves that anything can be vegan. Treat your guests to the exquisite flavours of Italian black truffle and vegan smoked cheese. They’re sure to love it! And if you are after a perfect cheddar, look no further than Sainsbury’s Free From Cheddar-Style. It can be grated, melted, sliced, and cut into chunks – basically, it’s a perfect all-rounder. We recommend enjoying it in a sandwich or straight out of the pack.
Sheese
Many Sheese products are award-winning, and it’s easy to taste why. Whether you prefer Greek- or cheddar-style or choose one of the many other varieties, they’re all dairy-free, gluten-free, non-GMO, and full of flavour. The creamy Sheese spread can be used for cooking, baking, making cheesecakes, spreading on toast, or topping a baked potato – yum!
Tesco
Tesco has a great range of plant-based cheeses, including cream cheese, cheddar, and blue varieties. They’re widely available and – best of all – kind to animals.
The Big Vegan Cheese Making Kit
If you want to try your hand at making your own cheese, this is for you. Get to know the ins and outs of making cheeses like halloumi, feta, and parmesan, that are 100% kind to animals and made entirely from plants.
Tyne Chease
Tyne Chease offers a large selection of artisanal plant-based cheese. It has spreadable varieties, parmesan, and soft cheeses in a range of flavours, including cranberry, truffle, and chilli.
VBites
VBites’ Cheezly line boasts several varieties, including melty slices and spicy pepperjack.
Violife
Violife is one of the most popular vegan cheese brands, and the fact that you can grab its tasty products from most major supermarkets in the UK makes us love it even more.
Why Choose Vegan Cheese?
Cows raised to produce milk may spend their entire lives standing on concrete floors. This can make them lame, and they commonly suffer from painful udder inflammation and other health conditions. Cows are forcibly impregnated, and a couple of days after they give birth, workers take their calves away, causing grief and anguish to both mother and baby.
All animals reared for food suffer. Females are used repeatedly for reproduction, and babies are torn away from their mothers, mutilated, and kept in filthy and severely crowded conditions. They are fed a cocktail of drugs which sometimes cause their bodies to grow unnaturally large – resulting in numerous health problems. Then, often when they’re only a few months old, they endure a stressful and terrifying trip to the abattoir, where many are killed while still conscious.
With so many delicious and healthy plant-based options available, going vegan is now easier than ever. Order our free vegan starter kit to get more tips from PETA on making the switch.
