As part of pizza week here on the blog, I decided to include a store-bought vegan "pizza cheese" review!
While I have already done a more general big vegan cheese review, I thought it would be pretty cool to see how a few favorite vegan cheeses perform in a side-by-side comparison, on pizza.
Literally side-by-side, as in all on one pizza!
Here are the results...
Before baking..
Just a small sample of cheeses today. There are a bunch of vegan cheeses out there for pizza. But I did this review based on the vegan brands that Whole Foods just happen to have in stock the day I went shopping. These are some pretty common brands that I hope you will be able to find.
Spoiler alert: ALL the vegan cheeses on today's featured pizza are super flavorful and good options. We ate them ALL, very happily. But yes, I do have my personal faves. My faves might be very different from your faves, and results will sometimes vary based on oven temps, amount of sauce and other variables in making pizza. These were just my results on a one day test.....
Vegan "Pizza Cheese" Review
1. SO Delicious, Cheddar Jack Shreds - I love the flavor of these whenever we us them on tacos and nachos. But I was a little disappointed how they performed on this pizza. They dried out just a bit and didn't melt exactly how I expected. Flavor-wise they were delicious, but if you are going to use these on pizza, maybe try baking at a lower temp that I did (475 degrees F) and see if the cheese likes that better. Also, I realize I didn't use the Mozzarella flavor, which would have been ideal for pizza, but they didn't have it in stock. Overall, I really love these shreds, but they didn't behave exactly like dairy cheese down on pizza. Next time I try the Mozz flavor I will update this post for sure.?
Bottom Line: Dried out a bit on the pizza, not the best melt, but flavor is excellent. We love these on other recipes. (I need to try the Mozz flavor to see if they melt better..)
2. Daiya Shreds, Mozzarella - These shreds absolutely look the most like real cheese. They also act the most like real cheese. Holding up very well at hot oven temperatures. They keep their opaque white look and cheezy texture in tact. Taste-wise I actually think these shreds have excellent flavor. The only problem that I have with this product is really the texture when you eat it. I find it a bit too thick for my tastes. The thickness is actually it's strength for achieving such an awesome look, but it can be a bit overwhelming biting into. The quick fix: Use sparingly! I used A LOT of Daiya on this pizza. Too much for my tastes. The fix for me is to use just a teeny bit of Daiya. It achieves a beautiful look and flavor without the dense, thick texture I had here. Daiya is awesome because it absolutely melts and looks like dairy cheese. But if you are like my, you just don't want to go overboard with the amount you add.
Bottom Line: Melts + looks great. But a little goes a long way. I use very sparingly for best results.
3. Follow Your Heart, block, Mozzarella - If you checked out my vegan cheese review, you will see that I LOVE the new FYH cheese slices. They melt perfectly and are super flavorful. I actually rarely buy the blocks anymore because we always buy the pepper jack slices for grilled cheese and breakfast sandwiches. So I was actually excited to see how this performed on pizza! As I was shredding it, I was worried because it felt very watery and even a bit rubbery. Not good. But I was very pleasantly surprised with the melting results after baking! The cheese kept a very good flavor and melted pretty well. I was super skeptical, just based on the block's texture right out of the package, but it was a good win for me.
Bottom Line: Great flavor, texture and hydration. Second fave here!
4. Miyoko's Kitchen Fresh Mozzarella round - OK, so this is a funny review. I LOVE the cheese rounds that Miyoko's sells. OMG, they are the BEST "wine + cheese + crackers" cheeses I have found. I love their specialty flavors that you can buy online and there are even a few in stores now. But the first time I tried this fresh Mozzarella product to make vegan Caprese sandwiches, I was not happy. I did a raw, uncooked taste-test of this cheese and I just hated it! It tasted bland to me and the texture wasn't much better. And at $7.99 a pop, I was very confused. But guys! I finally see the light on this product. It really is made for using on pizza. I sliced a fat round of it for this test and it cooked up perfectly. The Miyoko's slice was my absolute FAVORITE slice on tis pizza. What a huge turnaround for me. Downside: this is also the most expensive product on this list. But for a special occasion pizza, go for it. Just make sure you cook it at a high temp so that it browns and bubbles a bit!
Bottom Line: SO good! Expensive, but amazing. Probably my fave here.
5. Daiya block Monterey Jack - So this is kinda odd. We LOVE this cheese grated on breakfast sandwiches. And even quesadillas. But for some reason, under the HOT pizza oven temps, it din't perform its best. Not sure why. It is definitely a different recipe from the Daiya shreds, which melt exceedingly well. Taste-wise it is still excellent, but texture-wise it got a bit dry and oily. We still adore this product, just not my first pick for pizza.
Bottom Line: Love this cheese on other things, but lost it's texture on the pizza.
6. Homemade Parm sprinkle - So I had a space to fill, so I decided to just add my homemade Parm sprinkle onto the sauce. Flavor-wise it was delicious!! Obviously, it didn't melt or anything like that. But if you are going for a cheese-free vegan pizza, but still want a hint of "cheeziness," this sprinkle works well! I would just be sure to add some veggie toppings too to give the pizza more texture, moisture and density.
Bottom Line: DIY chese can absolutely include vegan Parm and also cashew ricotta!
Read my full vegan cheese review post here. (Some awesome brands I have missed here!)
Ricotta, from Cashews. One option I did not fully mention in this post is my homemade ricotta cheese! It works SO well on pizza and tastes delicious. A few pics from when I made it a few years ago. Love this pizza...
My Miyoko's slice..
More vegan cheeeese...
Pizza Week Posts:
- Pizza Sauce
- Vegan Parm
- Pizza cheeses (mini review!)
- Pizza Dough
