Everyone had a bit of a laugh some time ago when vegans got all excited about Sainsbury’s stocking vegan cheese. A now infamous post on Facebook went viral when a cheese lover suggested in the strongest terms that vegans should not call it cheese, but ‘Gary or something’. Henceforth, Sainsbury’s vegan cheese was casually and affectionately known in vegan circles as ‘Gary.’
Made by Bute Island Foods (who make ‘Sheese’) from coconut milk, I can highly recommend them all. There are a few different varieties in Sainsbury’s, something for most occasions.
There’s a cheddar style, which comes as a block, or as a bag of pre-grated cheese, which I’ve found brilliant on pizzas. It melts really well and the block is good for toasties.
The cheddar also comes in a block of caramelised onion flavour, which is my favourite of the solid cheeses. It’s crumbly to slice, but goes well in toasties too, or in a salad sandwich.
The other two solid cheeses are a Wensleydale-stye one with cranberries which is lovely on crackers. It’s quite creamy tasting too, so perhaps a good one for converting the cheese lover in your life.
The last solid cheese is the Greek-style, which is great in a bowl of salad or anywhere else you’d normally use Feta.
There are also two cream cheeses, original and garlic and herb flavour. I love both, but I must admit that for me, the garlic and herb one has the edge on bagels. There’s nothing like a freshly toasted bagel smothered in this stuff – just heaven.
So there you have it. I must admit to being a bit disappointed in vegan cheese when I first went vegan, but it just shows you what progress can be made in just a few years. I’d happily give all these cheeses to non-vegan friends, especially the Wensleydale and cream cheeses. Innovation in this area is improving all the time, so expect to see more varieties hit the mainstream shops soon. This particular range exceeded Sainsbury’s projected sales figures by three hundred percent, so even if profit is the only driver, things are looking good for vegan cheese.
I am afraid I wasn’t impressed with the Sainsburys vegan “cheeses”, and was very pleased to discover the Violife ones. Better taste and texture
One of the first vegan cheeses I tried was Violife and I was pleasantly surprised. Some people tell me they find it a bit rubbery but I like it. I also really love their parmesan. It’s the best!