What's the best brand of vegan cheese? A 2025 Buyer's Guide

December 18, 2025 •

4 min read

The global vegan cheese market continues to expand rapidly, with reports expecting strong growth in the coming years as more consumers seek plant-based alternatives. With this surge in popularity comes an incredible variety of products, from aged wheels to shredded blends, all vying for the top spot.

Quick Summary

This guide reviews leading vegan cheese brands and identifies the top choices for specific applications like melting on pizza, slicing for sandwiches, or creating an artisan cheeseboard. The best option depends on your personal taste and intended use.

Key Points

For Melting: Violife is a widely available and reliable choice for a gooey, satisfying melt on pizzas, grilled cheese, and casseroles.
For Artisan Boards: Miyoko's Creamery excels with its organic, cultured cashew-based wheels and spreads, offering gourmet flavor profiles.
For Sandwiches: Chao Creamery slices, made with fermented tofu, are a favorite for their creamy texture and superior performance in cold or heated sandwiches.
Ingredients Matter: Cashew-based cheeses offer rich, creamy flavor, while coconut oil and starch blends are optimized for melting and accessibility.
The Best Varies by Use: There is no single 'best' brand; the ideal choice depends on your specific needs, whether for melting, spreading, or serving on a cheeseboard.
Accessibility is Key: Brands like Violife and Daiya (with its improved Oat Cream blend) are widely available in mainstream supermarkets, making them easy go-to options.
Specialty Options: Beyond the mainstream, brands like Rebel Cheese cater to specific high-end, artisan cheese styles.

Navigating the Diverse World of Vegan Cheese

Finding the perfect vegan cheese is a highly personal journey, as preferences for taste, texture, and meltability vary greatly. The modern vegan cheese landscape offers a vast improvement over early products, with innovations in ingredients and fermentation processes resulting in incredibly realistic alternatives. Today's top brands use bases ranging from nuts like cashews and almonds to coconut oil, starches, and legumes like soy or peas, each providing a unique characteristic to the final product. Whether you're making a gooey grilled cheese, topping a pizza, or building an elegant cheeseboard, there is a brand designed to excel at your specific need.

Top Contenders for the Best Vegan Cheese Brand

Miyoko's Creamery

Renowned for its artisan, cultured, and organic products, Miyoko's is a frequent favorite among vegans and omnivores alike. It's best for artisan cheese boards, gourmet spreads, and authentic mozzarella melt. Key products include the Fresh Vegan Mozzarella for pizzas and caprese salads, and the Double Cream Garlic Herb wheel for cheeseboards. Miyoko's primarily uses organic cashews, coconut oil, and other clean ingredients; the liquid mozzarella is oat milk-based. It's widely available in many natural food stores and large grocery chains.

Violife

A hugely accessible and versatile brand, Violife offers a comprehensive range of products that melt exceptionally well. It's best for all-purpose melting, slicing, and accessible supermarket options. Key products like Just Like Cheddar shreds and slices are perfect for grilled cheese and casseroles, while the Just Like Feta block is popular for salads. Violife is primarily made from coconut oil, starches, and vitamin B12, and is soy-free and gluten-free. It's found in most major supermarkets globally.

Chao Creamery (by Field Roast)

Chao has a loyal following for its creamy and flavorful sliced cheeses, noted for their excellent texture. It's best for sandwiches, quesadillas, and burgers. The Creamy Original Slices, which get their tang from fermented tofu, are a key product. Made with coconut oil and fermented tofu, they offer a rich, creamy texture. Chao is widely available in many grocery stores in the US and Canada.

Follow Your Heart

A long-standing vegan brand, Follow Your Heart offers a variety of shreds, slices, and feta crumbles. It's best for general-purpose shredded cheese and high-quality feta crumbles. The Dairy-Free Feta Crumbles are a standout, and their Cheddar and Mozzarella shreds also perform well. Ingredients include modified corn and potato starches, with some products using palm oil. It's a staple in many health food stores and conventional supermarkets.

Kite Hill

Specializing in almond-based products, Kite Hill is praised for its creamy spreads and ricotta alternatives. It's best for cream cheese for bagels and rich ricotta for lasagna or stuffed shells. The Original Almond Milk Cream Cheese is a fan favorite for its tang and smooth consistency. Made from an almond milk base, live cultures, and thickening agents. It's available in most health food stores and major retailers like Whole Foods.

Vegan Cheese Brand Comparison Table


Brand	Best For	Key Ingredient	Meltability	Accessibility
Miyoko's Creamery	Artisan Boards & Pizza	Cashews, Oat Milk	Excellent (varies by product)	High (Specialty & Major Retailers)
Violife	All-Purpose & Melting	Coconut Oil	Excellent	Very High (Mainstream Supermarkets)
Chao Creamery	Sliced Sandwiches & Burgers	Fermented Tofu, Coconut Oil	Excellent	High (US & Canada)
Follow Your Heart	Feta & Shreds	Modified Starches, Palm Oil	Good	High (Mainstream Supermarkets)
Kite Hill	Ricotta & Cream Cheese	Almond Milk	Not Applicable	High (Specialty & Major Retailers)
Daiya	Pizza & Grilled Cheese	Oat Cream Blend	Good (Improved recently)	Very High (Widespread)
Rebel Cheese	Artisan & Gourmet	Cashews	Varies	Low (Specialty & Online)

Understanding Vegan Cheese Ingredients and Their Impact

The ingredient list largely determines a vegan cheese's flavor, texture, and function. Plant-based versions are engineered to replicate the characteristics of dairy cheese.

Key Ingredients Explained

Key ingredients include cashews for creamy, aged flavors, coconut oil for meltability, starches for binding and stretch, nutritional yeast for cheesy flavor, and legumes like fermented tofu for unique profiles. Probiotics are used in cultured artisan cheeses for tang and aged flavor.

The Importance of Ingredients

Choosing based on ingredients improves the cooking and dining experience. Coconut oil and starch bases are good for melting (e.g., on pizza), while cultured cashew products offer complex flavors for spreads. Always check ingredients for dietary needs.

Finding the Right Vegan Cheese for Every Occasion

Consider how you plan to use the cheese:

For Melting: Violife, Chao, and Daiya's Oat Cream blend are good options. Miyoko's Liquid Mozzarella is excellent for pizza.
For Cheeseboards: Miyoko's and Rebel Cheese offer aged, complex options.
For Spreading: Kite Hill and Treeline provide creamy spreads.
For Everyday Slicing: Chao Creamery is a top choice.

Final Verdict: What's the Best Brand of Vegan Cheese?

Determining the "best" depends on application and taste. Violife is a versatile, accessible choice excelling at melting. For premium artisan cheeses, Miyoko's Creamery is a leader. Chao Creamery stands out for sliced cheese. With many great options in 2025, experimenting is key to finding your favorite.

Check out more vegan product reviews and resources from The Spruce Eats for further research.

Frequently Asked Questions

Violife is consistently praised for its excellent meltability, particularly in its shreds and slices, due to its coconut oil base. Other strong contenders include Chao Creamery and Miyoko's liquid mozzarella.

Miyoko's Liquid Vegan Pizza Mozzarella is often cited as the best for pizza, as it browns and melts beautifully. The reformulated Daiya Oat Cream blend is also an accessible option that melts well.

For a gourmet cheeseboard, Miyoko's Creamery is a top choice, featuring a variety of aged, cultured cashew wheels. Other specialty brands like Rebel Cheese and Treeline also offer high-quality, flavorful artisan options.

High-quality vegan cheeses are often made from a base of nuts (like cashews or almonds), coconut oil, or legumes. They achieve cheesy flavor and texture through fermentation with cultures or the addition of nutritional yeast and starches.

Neither is universally 'better.' Nut-based cheeses (e.g., Miyoko's, Kite Hill) often have a richer, more complex flavor, making them great for spreads and artisan wheels. Coconut-based cheeses (e.g., Violife) typically offer superior meltability and broader accessibility for cooking.

Many major brands like Violife, Daiya, and Follow Your Heart are now widely available in mainstream supermarkets. Artisan brands like Miyoko's and Kite Hill can be found in natural and specialty food stores, or ordered online.

While taste preferences vary, brands like Violife and Daiya are generally more affordable and widely available in most conventional grocery stores, making them excellent budget-friendly options.