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The Best Vegan Cheese Slices for Grilled Cheese (5-Brand Taste Test)
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May 3, 2024
Special thanks to my taste testers Dominique (IG: @cinema.sewist) and Rosa for their help in this video! Vegan food has come a long way, but vegan cheese seems to be harder to figure out. So have any brands cracked the code on vegan cheese slices? I picked up 5 packs of different slices, and cooked them up in the ultimate test for vegan cheese: grilled cheese. This taste test includes: Follow Your Heart American Slices 365 Plant-Based Cheddar-Style Slices Violife Just Like Mature Cheddar Slices Daiya Cheddar-Style Slices Field Roast Chao Creamy Original You can also read this as an article on my website: https://www.stephsunshine.com/vegan-life/best-vegan-cheese-grilled-cheese-taste-test Search all my recipes here: https://www.stephsunshine.com/vegan-life/all-recipes Find me on the socials (IG, Pinterest, TikTok, FB) @msstephsunshine Timestamps 00:00 Intro & Process 02:43 Follow Your Heart American Slices
View Video Transcript
0:00
Today we are testing five vegan cheese slices to see which ones are the meltiest, the tastiest
0:08
the deliciousest, and of course the best way to test these cheese slices is with the grilled
0:15
cheese test. So today I'm going to test these five vegan cheeses using the same procedure for each
0:23
one, and a little later I will have some friends to help me test them out so you can get a few
0:28
different opinions. The cheeses I am testing today are Follow Your Heart American, 365 Cheddar
0:37
FireLife Mature Cheddar, Daiya Cheddar, and Chow Creamy Original. To keep things as even as
0:45
possible I tried to choose cheddar whenever I could get the cheddar variety from that specific
0:52
brand. If I couldn't then I tried to go with American or, you know, in the case of Chow
0:58
the original, something that's a normal cheese flavor just to keep it even. So for the grilled
1:05
cheese I am using a cast iron pan over medium-low heat and I am using sourdough bread slices with
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vegan-aged vegan mayo on the outside, and I'm using two slices of cheese for each sandwich
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I am going to start the grilled cheese off with just one slice of bread on the bottom
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and I am covering the pan with a lid to help the cheese melt. So I'm using this clear lid even
1:34
though it doesn't fit the pan exactly, but I wanted to use a clear lid so that it's easier
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to see the cheese as it melts. And then when the first side is done I will cover the sandwich with
1:45
the second piece of bread and flip it. So that's my procedure. To try these vegan grilled cheeses
1:53
I have Dominique and Rosa here. And Dominique, you are vegan, right? I am vegan since 2011
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so 11 years by now. All right, actually longer than me. So I guess you're probably familiar with
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a lot of these cheeses. Yeah, yeah. I've tried all of them, the best, the worst, the ugly, everything in
2:15
between, yes. All right, so well I'm not going to tell you which ones are which, so you're just
2:19
going to judge them blindly. And Rosa? I am not vegan but I do have friends that are vegan and
2:28
family members too, so I'm here to try it. I've eaten in vegan restaurants and I like it, so
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have you tried any vegan cheeses? I have but I don't recall the names. Okay, so you just have no
2:40
idea. I have no idea whatsoever. Okay, perfect. So the first cheese we're testing is the Follow Your Heart
2:46
American. And I just want to point out that since I am making these sandwiches I will obviously know
2:52
which one I'm eating, but my other taste testers will not know until after they've told me what
2:59
they think. This cheese was pretty slow to melt. I let it cook for four minutes before I flipped it
3:06
and at that point it still wasn't fully melted. It did melt eventually, but it was the slowest
3:12
of all the cheeses to melt. Grilled cheese number one. Yay
3:30
Very light in flavor, right? I agree. I think there's a certain undertone of, but I'm not sure
3:35
what I'm tasting. Is it one of the oils? Probably the oil bases of the cheese. Yeah, it doesn't have
3:42
a very strong cheesy flavor. What do you think of the texture? I mean it is melty, but it's not
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you can't make like long threads with it. It's more like a bit goopy. Yeah. Like if you try
3:56
to pull it apart it's like, yes there is some melt to it, but it's not what you have like
4:04
in the commercial shots where you can really stretch it apart. But yeah, I don't know if any
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of the vegan cheeses are going to have that stretch. No. But it's not bad. It tastes, it all
4:14
tastes good. Yeah, I think it's okay. Like I don't think it's bad compared to a standard grilled
4:21
cheese, but it just doesn't have, I think as much flavor as like a regular cheese. True. And the
4:27
texture's not, obviously not spot on. No, but it does the trick. It's like, yeah, like you say
4:34
it's like a milder form. So you can really, if you want to go on the lighter side and not have
4:39
like a powerful, full on grilled cheese, it always depends on the personal preference. I think this
4:46
is a, it's good. Yeah. This is follow your heart, American flavor. Oh, okay. So actually, yeah
4:54
I've never tried this one before. I don't know if you've tried it. I think I had it, but not
4:59
obviously in the grilled cheese form because full disclosure, I'm not much of a grilled cheese
5:04
person currently, but yes, I had this before. Yeah. Okay. I do love cheese and I, that's why
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I said that the flavor's not strong, but it's, I'll guess it's okay. Okay. Let's go to the next
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one. Okay. The next one we're testing is the 365 Whole Foods brand vegan cheddar
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You can see that on this one, the sides that were hanging over the edge of the bread
5:34
melted really quickly, but actually when I flipped it after around four minutes
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it still wasn't fully melted yet. Grilled cheese number two is ready
5:53
This looks very different in terms of the melting factor. More melty? No, less. Less. Yeah. And a bit strange to be honest
6:04
You can still see the slice shape. Right. It has more flavor. Yes. A little more dense. Thicker? Oh, it has more flavor
6:18
These slices are a little bit bigger than the other ones. Not much. Kind of sticks to my teeth
6:26
Hmm. Yeah. It's again like, like with the Follow Your Heart where you have like
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it's not getting stringy. It's more like a saucy. It's always like saucy, like cheese sauce. Yeah
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When it's melted. I think I like this better because it has a bit of a sharper flavor
6:43
I agree. Yeah. The flavor is stronger on this one, but I don't know if it's like
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spot on knowing that I have American and cheddar cheeses. Right. What would you say
6:55
that it's closer to cheddar, American or something else? I think we've got to ask the
6:59
cheese expert. I would rather say American than cheddar. I'll say too. I think so. It's a cheddar
7:08
It's supposed to be cheddar. Okay. So yeah, that's what I was wondering because it doesn't have that
7:13
much of a cheddar taste to me. No. It's a little bit, but it's. But I feel another flavor in there
7:22
Not too cheesy. It has cheese, but it feels a little like if you have something else in it
7:30
I don't know. I don't know. Yeah. I mean, but definitely I like it better than the first one
7:37
Yes. I agree. I'll go with this one. Okay. This is the 365 Whole Foods brand cheddar. Okay. That's
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good. All right. All right. Let's try the next one. Yes. The third one in our test is the BioLife
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Mature cheddar. This one is supposed to be a sharp cheddar. So let's see if it lives up to
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its name. And this cheese did melt the fastest out of all the cheeses. By the three minute mark
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it was very melted. All right. Grilled cheese number three is ready. I'm excited because it's
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cheese. So I'm happy to try all of these. You were looking forward to this. Yes, of course
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It's a different ballgame. It kind of feels like the first one a little bit. Yeah. It's like this
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certain oil. I'm tasting again that certain oil. I don't know what it is. I can't narrow it down
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Is it maybe coconut oil? No, it doesn't taste. It does not taste coconutty, but it's kind of like
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It's not strong like the one before. It's melty, but it's, yeah, it is gooey. And this one I feel
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like it's sticking to my mouth. What about the flavor? Is it strong? It's not strong. No. I don't
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think so either. It's not as strong as I would like it to be. I do like it though. Yeah. It's not
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bad. As of right now, we'll stay with the second one, I think. Yeah, it's definitely mild. If you
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want subtle flavor, this is okay. But the second one, yeah, was a lot better. Okay. Let's go shop
9:20
it. Well, this one is the Violife mature cheddar. Oh. So I think that's supposed to be a strong
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cheddar flavor, right? But it's definitely not a cheddar. Yeah. It doesn't have as much flavor
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as I thought. It's not sharp. I remember cheddar being very sharp in its taste. Like if you go with
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Irish cheddar or something, where you have really like that distinct sharpness. And essentially
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none of the three had these. But if it was the closest, even though we said kind of like it
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tasted like American cheese, the second one was getting the closest to a cheddary flavor. This
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one has none of cheddar. Yeah. You kind of get lost in the bread. Let me see what that ingredient
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is. But it's like exactly like you said, it's very mild. Yeah. The first one is not there
10:10
This one is mild. And the second one was stronger. Yeah. Yeah, you are right. The
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second ingredient besides water in both of these is coconut oil. Oh, see, there you go
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It's the same. It's literally almost the exact same ingredients from one to the other
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Like they just copied off of each other. Beta carotene for color. But funny, they do taste or
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the consistency is different. Yeah, they do have differences, but it's almost exactly the same
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ingredients, which is... And especially the color. This is the first one and this one that we tried
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the first one. This is the one that we just tried. Yeah. But like I said, they're very mild. It's not there like the second one. All right. Well
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let's see if we find something better. Let's see. Our fourth contender is the Daiya cheddar
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This one was the second fastest to melt and it looked pretty well melted by around three minutes, 15 seconds
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Here's our sample number four. So we're going more orange again. Yeah. It's melty. Yeah, it is
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Yeah. And more sharpness. This is sharper. I feel like this one is like more towards the..
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Like more towards a real grilled cheese. It's not tasting like... I mean, it's not exactly
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but the flavor, it has a real like sharp inside flavor and cheesy. Yeah. This gets the closest to
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that. Yeah. I agree. I would eat a whole sandwich. Even the texture too, I would say. Yeah. There's
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like nice, a little bit of like threads when you pull it. Tiny little bit. Yeah. Not a ton, but..
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Very nice. Yes. All right. Well, this is the Daiya. I love Daiya. Daiya. Daiya. Is it Daiya or Daiya? I don't know. I think it's Daiya
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I think you might be right. Daiya, Daiya, whatever. As long as you can find it, you're good. Yeah
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This is the cheddar. Daiya cheddar. Okay. So they're like, even like, I think it's one of the
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older brands in terms of vegan cheese, if you call it that, because they were like one of the first
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So I'm surprised that they are. Yeah. Yeah. Because they used to be not very good. No
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I know. I remember that. Yeah. So they have upped their game. Yeah. Very good. Yeah. All right. Yes
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We have one more. Yeah. This one's the favorite so far. Yeah. So far. Okay. The last one for today
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is Chow Creamy Original. This one took an average amount of time to melt, but when it did melt
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it melted very well. It was very melted by the 3 minute 45 second mark
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All right. We've got the final cheese. A different color. Yes. This is a lighter one again
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Oh, this is like lava. This is very odd. Again, not a strong flavor. I think it has a stronger
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flavor than some of the others. I don't think it's as strong as the... No, not as strong as
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the other one, but it does. Yeah. It has that punch to it. Yeah. This be like, no, it's not
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liquid smoke, but it's kind of like, it has a bit of that smokiness, I want to say, lightly
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I don't know. Because I don't usually like smoky tasting things, so it doesn't jump out at me
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but it's possible. But it has something. It has some... Definitely more than the
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number one and three, where it was just like super mild. So this is not mild. It's not as
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pronounced as two and four, but I would say it's right in the middle. Exactly. When they're all
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in a scale, this is like right in the middle in terms of flavor. Yeah. Do you like it? I will
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stay with the one we had before. The... Yeah. Or the second one. Yeah. I think so too, which is..
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This is one that I actually have bought a lot. Yeah. But to make grilled cheese? No
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Not so much. I usually use it on like a veggie burger, so I don't like it. Yeah. You can use it
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for other things, but definitely for the grilled cheese, either the second one or the one we had
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before. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. This one is chow. The field roast. It doesn't have... But it does
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have a good taste. Yeah. But it doesn't have... It's not too strong, but it's not too mild either
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It's not too... Yeah, it's in the middle. Yeah. This one is good, as you say, for burgers. If
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you're not solely relying on this one singular taste, it's complementing nicely. But if you
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really want, as she said, if you want a grilled cheese and you want something that is strong and
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enough just to hold on its own. I agree. So I think we all agree that the day it was the best
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right? Yes. Surprise. Yeah. I know. I have not ever bought that before, so I..
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So we're going to start buying it now. That's why we're here for, to try it. Right. Yeah. Surprise. The last time I tried day of cheese, I did not like it. So I..
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Yeah, me too. Yeah. I might buy that in the future if I... Let's see. And I have no idea
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who to know now. Yeah. Yeah. If I have, you know, a reunion in my house or anything
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I have vegan friends, now I know if I want to get this. You know which one to go for. Which
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one exactly? Okay. Okay. The day of being the best for you compared to regular cheese
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How is it comparable to regular cheese? Is it... How far away from regular cheese is it
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I mean, again, the flavor. But it's not bad at all. It's like I said, a very good option
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Even if you have people that eat cheese normally, you can, you know, tell them or give this to them
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Maybe they will tell the difference. Okay. So you think that... They won't complain about it
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They'll be fine with it. Yes. Okay. So you think non-vegans would be... Yeah, of course. They'll
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be happy with it. Okay. Cool. It's a good option. All right. Now we know. Well, there you go
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Daya is our winner. One thing that we noticed about all of these cheeses is that the ingredients
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are very similar from one to the next. I would say that Daya is the most different out of the
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five. And we also noticed that the Daya is the only one that's made in Canada, while the other
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four are all made in Greece. So I don't know. I wonder if there is a single manufacturer in Greece
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who is making all of these vegan cheeses and packaging them under different brands
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I'm not really sure about that. I tried to research it. I couldn't find anything. So if you
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do know, leave me a comment. Let me know. And honestly, none of these cheeses are bad options
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The only one I probably wouldn't recommend buying is the Follow Your Heart American
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mostly just because it really doesn't have much of a cheesy flavor at all. But, you know, I would
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still eat it if it was offered to me. It wasn't bad. And if you prefer a milder cheese flavor
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rather than the sharp cheddar, you might actually prefer one of the other three cheeses rather than
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the Daya. So I hope this video has helped you if you are trying to figure out which vegan cheese
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to buy. Thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you in the next one
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