Plant-based and Vegan cheeses have come a very long way, since I started my lifestyle as predominantly vegetarian.

When I say that Vegan and Plant-Based cheeses have come a long way, I really meant it. When I started this lifestyle, many years ago, Vegan and Plant-Based cheese didn’t exist, unless you were making them yourself, along with your nondairy milk, with some family recipe. At the same time, the internet was in it’s infancy, meaning that blogging, social media, Pinterest, e-books, and all the other things we see as normal today, didn’t exist. Thusly, sharing recipes wasn’t as easy as it is today.

Just like with their dairy counterparts, not all Vegan and Plant-Based cheeses are created equal.

It would be unfair to compare dairy based cheese to Vegan and Plant-Based cheese, as they are incredibly different, but there are some qualities, I feel should overlap.

What are these qualities?

• Flavor: this is probably the most important characteristic of any cheese.
• Color and Texture: when I’m looking at any Vegan and Plant-Based cheese, I’m looking at how it compares to it’s dairy counterpart. Are the color and texture, similar, the same or very different?
• Functionality: again, if I’m going to use Vegan and Plant-Based Cheeses, I’m most likely to use them in the same manner I would use dairy cheese, be it on pizza, in a salad, as a grilled cheese, or on my Veggie and Hummus Sandwich. With that in mind, how well do these cheeses work in a cold sandwich or on a hot sandwich? Do they melt well? Does the flavor, texture and color change when heated?
• Cost and Availability: I have the expectation, when purchasing Vegan and Plant-Based Cheeses and other products, that the cost is going to be greater than their traditional counterparts. I hope that one day, this won’t be the case, but realistically, there are significantly different ingredients and processes needed to make these products, and thusly, a higher cost is to be expected. What I’m looking for here is bang for my buck, and what’s easily available where I am, at my local grocery store. Sure, I could go to a niche store, and likely find more options, but frequently those options are not as easily accessible nor are their prices comparable.
• Packaging: This is probably the least important thing, but I do enjoy nice and thoughtful packaging, that doesn’t require me to store the cheese in a second container, or bag.

How am I going to rate the factors? The total grading scale is out of 100, below is the breakdown.

• Cost, Availability and Packaging: x/10
• Flavor (Cold): x/15
• Flavor (Hot): x/15
• Color and Texture (Cold): x/15
• Color and Texture (Hot): x/15
• Functionality (Cold): x/15
• Functionality (Hot): x/15

What Vegan and Plant-Based cheese am I going to review?

This week, I am reviewing American Cheese from Daiya, Violife and Follow Your Heart, as they are readily accessible at my local grocery store.

Product	Cost, Availability, Packaging	Flavor (Cold)	Flavor (Hot)	Color and Texture (Cold)	Color and Texture (Hot)	Functionality (Cold)	Functionality (Hot)	Totals
	x/10	x/15	x/15	x/15	x/15	x/15	x/15	x/100
Daiya American Cheese	7/10	5/15	5/15	12/15	15/15	15/15	15/15	74/100
Violife American Cheese	7/10	10/15	10/15	10/15	10/15	15/15	15/15	77/100
Follow Your Heart American Cheese	5/10	4/15	12/15	15/15	15/15	15/15	15/15	81/100

The biggest thing that my family and I noticed was that there were extremes in flavor, some were very bold, while others were an after taste. Some of the cheeses didn’t taste like American Cheese, when cold, but the flavor did change when it was warm. The flavor inconsistency is the only thing that I feel needs to change with Vegan, Plant-Based American Cheese.

All the Vegan, Plant-Based American Cheeses we tried, had 10 slices of cheese in the packages, but the weight was slightly different.

Price was also different for each cheese, ranging from $4.99 to $5.49.

Daiya American Cheese

At $4.99 this is the cheapest package of cheese on the list, but it lacks in packaging, as I needed to put it into a plastic bag, once opened. The flavor, both cold and hot, was incredibly subtle and more like Coby Jack cheese, not American cheese. The color and texture was very close to American cheese, but more so, when heated. When heated this cheese has the least color change in the meal I was making. As for functionality, this American style cheese preformed exactly like traditional American Cheese.

While I love the price tag of the Daiya cheese, it was not at all what I was looking for flavor-wise and not a favorite of anyone in my family.

Violife American Cheese

This middle of the road cheese, hits the pocketbook for $5.29, and has the best packaging of the bunch. The Violife package, is resealable. The flavor, color and texture were consistent whether cold or warmed. The drawbacks, include the color being darker than traditional American Cheese and that the flavor was too vibrant, taking over the other flavors of the meal I was making. Functionally, it preformed exactly like traditional American Cheese.

The Violife cheese was the favorite of my son, when cold, and I completely agree, if I was going to just eat a slice of cheese as a snack or on crackers. However, when paired with anything, this cheese takes over, especially when warmed.

Follow Your Heart American Cheese

Price doesn’t always dictate that a product is going to be the best, but at $5.49, Follow Your Heart American Cheese was the winner of my trials.