The best brands of artisan vegan cheese
Honestly Tasty is one of the few artisan cheese alternatives sold at around 1000 stores including M & S, Ocado, Planet Organic and Selfridges. Made from natural ingredients, the range includes Smoked Good (and Pretenslydale!), Bree, Shamembert and Garlic Herb (du pain, du vin, du Honestly Tasty!)
Recycle packaging at kerbside or supermarket bag bins. Avoid blue/mouldy cheeses for pregnancy/nursing, children and week immunity (and keep vegan cheese away from pets due to nuts, garlic, salt, chives etc). Don’t give leftovers to birds, as salt can harm and fat can smear on feathers, affecting waterproofing and insulation.
Palace Culture (organic artisan cheeze)
Palace Culture is also sold in groceries (including Waitrose). Began in a London family kitchen to deal with the founder’s son’s dairy intolerance, these are made from organic cashews and almonds (grown using regenerative farming methods in Spain)
- The Goat is a semi-soft moult-ripened cheeze with fermented cashews, almonds and live cultures.
- Kimcheeze is a semi-soft cheeze with fermented cashew nuts, kimchi brine and live cultures, rolled in red chillies for a tangy heat.
Kinda Co (artisan vegan cheese from Somerset)
Kinda Co is an award-winning brand of artisan che*se, in easy-to-recycle or compostable packaging. Most have a fridge life of around 10 weeks, but eat within a few days, once opened. You can freeze block cheeses on day of delivery for up to 6 months (thaw overnight in the fridge).
The range includes the following block cheeses (all melt so good to stir into mashed potatoes or pasta sauces). Or buy a ‘cheeseboard collection’ or subscribe to the monthly cheese club!
The range includes:
- Farmhouse (ideal with pickle for sandwiches)
- Smoked (with hand-harvested Dorset sea salt)
- Garlic & Chive (a French-inspired crumbly treat)
- Sweet Pepper (tangy and spicy, with small red peppers)
- Greek-Style (ideal for salad, pasta and pizza)
- Chilli (spicy paprika, for Mexican food)
- Italian-Style (a glass jar Parmesan alternative)
- Rikotta!: Ideal for Italian recipes like pasta or pizza)
- Mozzalloumi: A fusion cheese to replace mozzarella and halloumi)
- Blue Cheese (with spirulina so check medication, nice with pear walnut salad.
Tyne Chease (includes plant-based liquid mozzarella)
Tyne Chease (based just outside Newcastle) makes organic cashew cheeses (they don’t melt, more for cheeseboards, with fruit and wine).
All have a tangy taste (apple-smoked, pink peppercorn, pickled onion, Ethiopian spice and cream cheeses in glass jars, plus a creamy nacho dip. It even makes vegan camembert! It has recently become the first UK company to introduce a plant-based liquid mozzarella alternative!
I Am Nut OK (artisan vegan cheese from London)
I Am Nut OK is a gourmet brand, founded by an American/Italian couple in London. It offers a nice non-dairy cheddar alternative, a ricotta alternative in a glass jar, Oh Grate! (a Parmesan alternative including a Ho! Ho! Ho! version with sage and onion) and an affordable ‘wonky wedge’ to combat food waste.
Rosemary and sea salt not butter is a find! It’s a bit gourmet, but lovely on toast, jacket potatoes or melted on pasta. Infused with cultured cashew milk and rosemary, it has a cheesy milky ‘tang’ and herby goodness.
Free from palm oil, it’s also sold in an easy-to-recycle glass jar with a metal lid. Keep in the fridge, and use up within a few days of opening.
La Fauxmagerie (a plant-based cheesemonger)
La Fauxmagerie is a London cheesemonger founded by two Brixton sisters). Its sells its own and other brands. The range (which is also sold online at Waitrose) includes:
- Camden Cultured (truffles and garlic mushrooms)
- Brixton Blue (aged for extra umami)
- Camemvert (with a white bloom rind)
- Shoreditch Smoked (a deep smoky cheddar)
