- Dairy is scary.
Am I right?
Hey guys, I'm Suresh.
And on this episode of "EATKINDLY With Me,"
the battle is on.
I'm putting some vegan cheeses
to the test to see which ones reign supreme.
We're gonna be doing three separate rounds,
starting off with nachos.
We'll do a charcuterie board and then,
we'll finish off with grilled cheese to see
which cheese spreads and pulls
and melts and tastes the best.
So why choose vegan cheese versus dairy?
Well, very unfortunately,
cheese has a huge negative impact on the planet.
According to the environmental working group,
it actually is number three in greenhouse gas emissions
behind beef and lamb production.
Isn't that crazy?
Some of the most common ingredients
in vegan cheese are nuts, oats and coconut.
These products have much less of an impact on the planet.
If you switch out your dairy cheese to vegan cheese,
you are doing a big thing for our planet.
So I am very excited to share these cheese options
with you guys today.
So without further ado, let's go!
All right, we are on to our cheeseboard,
aka charcuterie board.
I chose two cheeses, again, that I found at Whole Foods.
We have this beautiful guy right here.
He is a Treeline cheese.
It says plant-based French-style cheese on the cover.
So I'm assuming that it's going
to be something like a spreadable brie.
And then we have a slab of Parmesan here
from a brand called Violife.
Again, 100% vegan.
They're all made from coconuts and nuts and potato
and rice starches, all very surprising ingredients.
But I tell you what, they smell delicious.
The Parmesan smells very much like a Parmesan.
It looks and handles very much like a Parmesan.
You would not be able to tell by looking at it
that it is not dairy, to be honest with you.
This one is a creamy scallion flavor
and it smells delicious.
It also has a very light cream cheese sort of a sense to it.
I grabbed some crackers.
We are going to give these guys a test
and see how we like them.
So let's start with the Parmesan.
Wow, it cuts very nicely.
It definitely looks like a dairy cheese.
It handles like a dairy cheese.
It crumbles very much like a real Parmesan would.
So let's give it a taste test here.
I'm gonna put a little bit here on my cracker.
Cheers. Bon appetite.
Mm-mm, okay, okay.
Yes. Good.
Does not really tastes fully like Parmesan.
However, if you are looking for a Parmesan substitute,
definitely give it a shot.
Let's go ahead and try our second cheese, shall we?
This is the Treeline French-style cheese.
I'm using my cheese knife here and just kind
of scooping it in, just like so.
And ooh, it's definitely very creamy.
I'm telling you, it fricking smells amazing.
We're gonna put some on our cracker,
spread it out just like this, a voila.
That's good, you guys.
That is really, really good.
I'm very glad that it comes in a generous tub
because I will go through this whole thing.
The winner by a long shot,
I would say, is our Treeline French-style cheese.
I would say it's like a spreadable brie.
Almost has like a bit of like a cream cheese flare to it,
but highly recommend it.
All right, we are moving on to the nacho test.
For all of you shredded vegan cheese lovers,
this one's for you guys.
So I assembled three little mounds of vegan nachos.
I'm using this beautiful white corn tortilla chips,
also that I bought from Whole Foods.
Top them off with a refried pinto bean,
also from Whole Foods.
I started off with the Miyoko's Creamery.
This is a vegan pepper jack cheese.
On mound number two, we did the Daiya shredded cheddar
and a mozzarella blend.
And then, on mound number three,
we are doing this 365 plant-based mozzarella.
This is, of course, Whole Foods' brand.
They all feel very much like cheese.
They look very much like shredded cheese.
This last one here, the mozzarella,
feels a little foam like,
so I'm interested to see how that's gonna bake up
and how it's gonna melt up.
Let's do a quick taste test of these guys before we get
to the actual nacho portion.
So the Miyoko's Creamery pepper jack.
There is definitely a pepper jack flavor there.
And number two is the Daiya cheddar and mozzarella blend.
That's what it looks like.
It's gorgeous.
There definitely is a little bit of like an oily feel
to it and leaves little oil marks here and there.
Mmm, mm-mm-mm.
That's actually quite delicious.
It's a little bit firmer, feels a little bit more straw like
in it's consistency.
Not as creamy as the first one.
It does have a real cheese flavor to it.
This one has a slightly spongy feel to it, for sure,
almost like little pieces of foam. (laughing)
Mm-mm-mm, not bad at all, not bad at all.
That has a very mozzarella like bite to it.
Okay, so the nachos have been in the oven
for a little over 10 minutes now, about 10, 12 minutes,
and it is time for us to top them and give them a test,
shall we?
We're gonna use a little bit of sliced jalapenos here
to add a little extra kick here.
Right off the bat, my observations are
that the first cheese, the Miyoko's Creamery one,
has not really melted.
Perhaps it needs to be there for a lot longer,
but the beans are definitely cooked
through and they're browned on the sides.
The second little mound here is our Daiya mozzarella
and cheddar mix and that one definitely has melted through.
It looks delicious.
It looks very much like a pizza topping almost.
And then our final little mound of mozzarella here,
also hasn't fully, fully melted through.
I mean, generally,
dairy mozzarella melts through pretty nicely.
So, perhaps this needs a little bit longer in the oven.
Moment of truth.
Let's see how this tastes here.
The Miyoko's Creamery one.
Mm, surprisingly, very delicious.
It did melt.
It didn't melt as much as a dairy cheese would,
but it definitely did melt.
The pepper jack flavor really comes through.
This is made from oat milk, navy and garbanzo beans.
That's fricking delicious.
Okay, let's try this Daiya one,
which I'm actually quite excited about,
'cause it looks just like a cheddar mozzarella blend would.
Here we go.
Just like that.
Ooh, that's good.
Much gentler than in its uncooked form.
Yeah, it's actually quite lovely.
It's very creamy, like surprisingly so.
That's a really good! (laughing)
So we're on to our last cheese,
which is the plant-based mozzarella.
This one really didn't cook through super well,
but the pinto beans have cooked through, so that's that.
Let's give it a go.
Bon appetit.
Definitely very creamy.
Very, very mild in its flavor.
Okay, let me try this again without the jalapeno.
All three of these were in the oven
for about 10 to 12 minutes.
I think we definitely need to, in the future,
keep them in the oven for a little bit longer,
maybe 15 minutes, maybe even 20.
It didn't quite melt through for cheese number one,
which is the Miyoko's Creamery, and cheese number three,
which is the mozzarella.
Cheese number two, the Daiya one, melted beautifully.
I think it looks very much like a melted cheese
is supposed to look.
Okay, but I have to say, I can't believe this,
but the winner is number one.
This Miyoko's Creamery.
I think it's the pepper jack flavor, too.
It really has like a nice kick to it.
So good, mm.
All right, so all of the products that I'm using today
from the vegan cheese to the bread, to the chips,
to the unsalted butter substitute are from Whole Foods.
I have a smoked Gouda from Follow Your Heart.
I have a Chao slices from Field Roast,
and I have a sharp cheddar from Parmela Creamery.
All three of them handle just like dairy cheese does.
The Parmela Creamery one is a little bit crumbly,
but I'm excited to see how it tastes and performs
once it's cooked.
I did use a vegan butter substitute
from Earth Balance to grill and toast up the bread.
So let's start with the smoked Gouda.
I was very surprised with how real cheese-like it looks.
It has like a nice squish to it.
And while I was cooking it up, it kind of oozed
off the sides nicely, like a dairy cheese would.
So, by the way, I am using a whole wheat bread,
in case you're wondering what kind of bread I'm using.
I just find that it gives a nice nutty kind
of natural earthy flavor.
Let's do taste test number one.
Ready?
Wow, that has very much of a smoked Gouda taste to it,
a nice gentle creamy bite to it.
And that is surprisingly good.
Oh my goodness, okay.
Smoked Gouda by Follow Your Heart, wonderful.
It breaks apart quite nicely.
It folds and kind of crackles down just
like real cheese would, so that's impressive.
Tastes magnificent.
I would not know that that's not real cheese.
Let's go ahead with number two.
This is the Field Roast vegan Chao slices.
Creamy original is the flavor.
So let's give this a taste.
Bon appetite.
This is very creamy.
It had a nice melt factor to it.
It kind of bounces back, just like a dairy cheese would.
It does not have any sort of like a tofu aftertaste
or any sort of like a chemical aftertaste,
which I find a lot of substitute products tend to have,
from time to time.
But this is delicious.
Oh my goodness, you guys.
The vegan butter is pretty much all vegetable-based,
vegetable oil based, that is.
So, it cooks up a little bit differently.
So, make sure that you are not turning
up your stove super high.
Let's go ahead and give this cheese a little try as well.
One of my favorite things to do when I was a kid
was to take my cheese slices and like fold it up
and see like how far it would go. (laughing)
Mmm, I will say this Chao slices from Field Roast
is better heated up.
Delicious on its own as well.
Like, I definitely wouldn't turn it down,
but the first one was better on its own.
All right, we are on to our third.
This is the Parmela Creamery cheese.
Now, this cheese directly out of the carton
does not act like a dairy cheese does.
Definitely, I feel, has like a cheese substitute kind
of a feel to it.
In terms of taste, directly out of the carton,
it's not delicious.
Kind of a slight chemical-y feel and taste to it.
It is smooth, so that I appreciate.
It did melt quite nicely on the sides of the bread
and a little bit of it fell onto the pan
and it acted very much like a dairy cheese would.
And you know, as you can see here,
it squeezes out quite nicely from the grilled cheese.
So again, I don't think anyone looking at this
would know that this is not dairy cheese.
So we can even see it pouring out of the sides here,
just like that.
Ooh, okay, okay.
Oh my God.
That is really good.
Holy cow.
It tastes nothing like in the raw form when it is cooked.
As you can see, very, very creamy.
Oh my gosh, you guys, I think this is the winner.
Who knew?
From this to this, wow.
If you are looking to make grilled cheese,
either for yourself or for your kids or your family,
I would highly recommend Parmela Creamery's sharp cheddar.
You're not gonna love it out of the carton.
I'm telling you that.
But if you cook it up, grill it up, just like so,
it is fricking delicious.
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that video and showdown
as much as I enjoyed doing it for you.
I definitely think that's been one
of my most favorite videos to date, like ever.
If you are looking for some fun vegan cheese alternatives
and options, I hope this video is helpful to you.
If you tried any of the brands that I have tried today,
definitely comment down below and let me know.
And if there are some favorite brands of yours
that I should try, definitely hook a brother up. (laughing)
Also let me know what other showdowns you guys
want to see in the future.
Maybe ice cream.
Be sure to give the video a big thumbs up
and don't forget to subscribe for lots more fun coming
up your way here from Live Kindly.
I'm Suresh.
Thank you so much for tuning in today.
I will see you guys again real soon, okay.
Bye.