Written by: Amanda Golebiewski
After I tell people I’m a vegetarian, the subsequent question is almost always, “Why don’t you go vegan?” “Cheese is one of, if not, my favorite food,” is constantly my answer. Cheese enchiladas, gnocchi, and eggplant parmesan rotate as my top three favorite foods. Like most Americans, I love cheese. A well-made grilled cheese and tomato soup or a big bowl of mac and cheese can bring about some of the strongest nostalgia. One of the main reasons I have not moved to a fully plant-based diet is because of cheese. Its unctuousness, versatility, and texture are hard to mimic. I have had cheese replacements in the past but they came up short. Fortunately, however, research chefs and food scientists have been working to perfect a cheesy replica.
History
Traditional dairy cheese has been around since almost the beginning of human history. As discussed in my previous articles, cultured foods helped fuel our ancestors by strengthening our food supply. Non-dairy cheeses, on the other hand, have only been around since the 1980s. With a head start like that it’s no wonder that dairy cheese has such a flavor and texture advantage. Dairy cheese is familiar; it can be found in any grocery or convenience store. Almost every culture has at least one variety of cheese to call their own. Studies have found that on average Americans consume 38+ pounds of cheese in one year!
All in all, as more people move towards plant-based diets, the demand for non-dairy cheeses has increased as well. In 2016, The Washington Post stated that consumers spent approximately $5 billion on plant-based foods with non-dairy cheeses taking up the largest percentage. By 2019, The Good Food Institute found that plant-based food products that can directly replace meat-based products sales have increased by 31%. With increased demand like that, it’s no wonder food companies both large and small want in on the plant-based action.
Product Dissection
Mimicking traditional cheese has been tougher than dairy milks – primarily for the texture. The beloved “cheese pull” constantly found on social media is just one example. People look to cheese for its ooey-gooeyness. Depending on the cheese, it can contribute richness, tang, nuttiness, and more. To get all of these characteristics without using dairy proteins is a tough job. Plant protein just don’t interact the way dairy proteins do; so, to compensate, at-home cooks, research chefs, and food scientists are using a combination of ingredients to make a comparable product.
Vegan cheese sauces are the easiest to make because texture isn’t as important. There are some at home recipes use potatoes, carrots, aquafaba, or beans but they do not usually translate to a full commercialization scale. There are a few different ways to make non-dairy cheese. Every company makes non-dairy cheese a little differently but I would say this the rough backbone of most of their ingredient declarations.
The most common method is using a combination of high fat nuts/seeds with stabilizers such as hydrocolloids and starches. The nuts and seeds help contribute to the non-dairy cheese’s richness and mouthfeel. Cashews are the most common nut used in non-dairy cheese because of its neutral taste and high fat content. Coconut oil and coconut cream are also popular go-to’s but its flavor is more pronounced. The hydrocolloids and starches help stabilize the mixture while trying to make the product’s texture comparable to traditional cheese. They help keep the product homogenous while controlling its melting texture, stretch, and chew. Flavor enhancers such as nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt, and lemon juice are added to help make the product’s profile more comparable. Nutritional yeast is a frequent flier in any vegan’s arsenal. It is a deactivated form of Sacchromyces cerevisiae, the microbe used in most beer/wine fermentation, that can give a product nutty, cheesy, and umami notes. It’s also chock-full of the essential B-vitamins. Turmeric and annatto are two common natural colorings; turmeric gives products a nice mustard yellow hue while annatto is a darker, rust-like red powder. Other additions could be fillers such as water, preservatives, and maltodextrin or emulsifiers: lecithin or mono/diglycerides. A newer method involves actually inoculating the “nut milk” with a traditional bacterial culture used in cheesemaking. This ferments the nut milk which may help get the flavor closer to dairy cheese.
Nutrition/Health
We can roughly breakdown their nutritional profiles of the two types of cheeses. First off, the vegan cheeses seem to have a lower number of calories. They have a lower amount of fat, cholesterol, and saturated fat. They have a similar amount of carbohydrates with plant-based cheese coming in slightly higher. One large turn-off for a lot of people is that vegan cheese usually has a lower amount of protein. They can be fortified with soy or pea protein but that’s only increasing the cost in an already more expensive product. Another con is that non-dairy cheeses are they are more processed than traditional cheese. Overall, there are pros and cons to both kinds of cheeses. It all comes down to your choice of lifestyle and your dairy tolerance. Traditional cheese can be a healthy part of your diet when consumed in moderation, but if you have a lactose intolerance or are looking for a lower-fat option vegan cheese might be your answer. A third option is lactose-free cheese which has casein to help give the cheese a milkier flavor and more comparable melting texture.
Final Thoughts
Plant-based cheese today has improved leaps and bounds forward even when comparing to products made less than ten years ago. It’s one of the newer plant-based categories but is only projected to grow. Eventually, I believe it will get as close as Impossible Foods/Beyond is to a traditional hamburger. We just have to be patient! There are so many nuances in cheesemaking: the animal, their diet, the bacterial culture, aging, the aging vehicle, and more contribute to each cheese’s unique flavor and texture. Although vegan cheese typically has less protein and calcium it is much easier on people’s stomachs as well as has less fat and total calories. It all depends on your diet and lifestyle which is best for you. Both can be a supplement to a healthy diet when eaten in moderation.
Resources
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vegan-cheese#1
- https://www.stack.com/a/is-vegan-cheese-healthy
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/briankateman/2020/01/13/plant-based-cheese-is-finally-undergoing-a-revolution/#f3d2d58448fe
- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/nutritional-yeast#section1
- https://www.thespruceeats.com/best-dairy-free-cheeses-1001581
- https://sodeliciousdairyfree.com/dairy-free-foods/dairy-free-shreds/cheddar
- https://www.livestrong.com/article/341834-vegan-cheese-nutrition/
