It’s creamy, melty, gooey, and 100-percent addictive. We’re talking, of course, about vegan cheese. Over the years, recipes have been reformulated, refined, and sometimes completely reinvented—making up for the rubbery, bland, and generally off-putting dairy-free cheeses of the past. Today, vegan cheese is something worth celebrating. Find some of our top picks below, from everyday staples to creamy spreads to artisanal delights.
Every day dairy-free cheese staples
These are the cheeses we eat daily …
- Perfect for sandwiches, grilled cheese, pasta, and salads
- Easy-to-melt, layer, shred, or snack on
- Convenient formats like slices, shreds, and blocks
- Reliable go-to options for quick meals
- Familiar flavors and textures that work with almost anything
- Great for stocking the fridge and using on repeat
Violife
1 Violife
A popular and widely available brand in the US, Canada, UK, and throughout Europe, Greece-based Violife comes in shreds, slices, blocks, and more, impressing people with its flavor and meltability. The next time you’re craving some comfort food, try the Colby Jack Shreds on homemade nachos with the works.
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2 Daiya
Daiya is one of the early influencers of the vegan cheese movement. Founded in 2008, the brand unveiled a new, extra cheesy formula in 2023. Now made with Daiya’s proprietary oat cream blend, the brand’s shreds, blocks, and slices are tastier and achieve dairy-like meltability like never before.
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Follow Your Heart
3 Follow Your Heart
This 55-year-old company makes more than just Vegenaise, and it does it well. The shreds, slices, and crumbles are terrific as-is or melted on a vegan patty, gooey grilled cheese, or luscious pasta sauce. The variety is wide, and we encourage you to try them all and find your favorite. Oh, and pro tip for that grilled cheese: spread a thin layer of vegan mayonnaise on the outside of each bread slice for the crispiest, melt-in-your-mouth bite of sandwich you’ve ever eaten.
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Good Planet Foods
4 Good Planet Foods
Offering a variety of familiar flavors, Good Planet Foods delivers dairy-free slices, shreds, wedges, cubes, and blocks. From on-the-go snacking to elegant charcuterie boards, there’s a cheese for every occasion.
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Field Roast
5 Chao
For a neutral-tasting cheese that goes with almost everything, check out Chao’s Creamy Original in shred or slice form. While mild on its own, this white cheese adds that creamy element and a touch of funk to sandwiches, salads, and flatbreads. The Chao brand falls under Field Roast—the makers of some of our favorite vegan sausages and wings—so you can be confident in the quality.
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Moocho
6 Moocho
From the makers of Tofurky comes Moocho, boasting meltier, cheesier, more Wisconsin-y vegan cheese. The dairy-free shreds are particularly worth noting, as flavors like Fiesta Blend, mozzarella, and cheddar make for gooey vegan lasagnas, enchiladas, nachos, and pizza.
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Parmela Creamery
7 Parmela Creamery
Parmela uses the classic cheesemaking processes to transform cashews into cultured vegan cheeses with just the right amount of funk. Try melting the Sharp Cheddar shreds on a plant-based patty or sprinkling them on a thick vegan cold-cut sandwich.
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Armored Fresh
8Armored Fresh
Armored Fresh is a science-led food technology company dedicated to creating game-changing vegan products. The result of its technology is dairy-free cheeses that truly taste like they were made from cow’s milk.
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Never Better Foods
9Never Better Foods
Never Better Foods used to make dairy cheese, but not anymore. Now it’s committed to creating delicious cheese products that are entirely free from dairy but more delicious than ever before. Check out its slices and shreds in flavors like cheddar, mozzarella, and parmesan.
Miyoko’s Creamery
10Miyoko’s Creamery
Launched in 2012, this vegan cheese company may not have been the first non-dairy brand on the market, but it remains a pioneer in its own right. For many consumers, Miyoko’s mozzarella was one of the first vegan cheeses to truly turn heads. The brand has weathered a rocky few years: founder Miyoko Schinner stepped away in 2023 before launching a bid to buy the company back in 2025. While Schinner ultimately lost the bid, Prosperity Organic Foods acquired Miyoko’s Creamery, and products are expected to return to shelves this month.
Spreadable dairy-free cream cheeses and sauces
Opt for these brands if you’re looking for cheeses that are …
- Creamy, rich, and highly spreadable
- Perfect for bagels, crackers, grazing boards, and snacks
- Great for entertaining and appetizer spreads
- Smooth, scoopable, and easy to share
- Ideal for dips, sauces, and comfort-food favorites
Kite Hill
11Kite Hill
The search for the best vegan cream cheese ends with Kite Hill (winner of the 2026 Veggie Award for “Best Cream Cheese”). The almond milk-based vegan cheese company makes a perfect replica of thick, New York-style cream cheese that won’t weigh you down. Kite Hill’s spreadable cheese is perfect for grazing boards, and its ricotta (and ricotta-filled pasta) are also products to check out if you’re in the mood for gourmet Italian.
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Treeline
12 Treeline
Based on European cheese-making traditions, Treeline’s nut-based cheeses are cultured and aged to perfection. Styles range from French-style soft cheeses to cashew ricotta, aged artisanal wheels, and goat-style cheese. You could create a wonderfully varied and delicious vegan cheese board with just a few of Treeline’s outstanding products, accompanied, of course, by some jam, dried fruit, sliced baguettes, and crackers.
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Monty’s
13 Monty’s
In addition to plant-based butter, this popular New York vegan brand makes dreamy, velvety, cashew-based squeezable cream cheese. The Original is a must-try, of course, but the scallion flavor is also not to be missed.
Love and Lemons
14 Trader Joe’s
Who would have guessed that Trader Joe’s would have its own range of vegan cheeses? The grocer carries its own brand of non-dairy shreds, crumbles, and spreads, along with other popular brands like vegan Boursin.
Artisanal dairy-free cheeses
If your ideal cheese moment involves a charcuterie board and a glass of wine, these artisanal dairy-free cheeses are for you. Expect options that are:
- Rich, cultured, and full of complex flavor
- Inspired by traditional cheesemaking techniques
- Perfect for entertaining and grazing boards
- Crafted for savoring, not just melting
- Impressive enough for vegans and non-vegans alike
Rebel Cheese
15 Rebel Cheese
If you want to put together an outstanding vegan cheese board, one of the first brands you need to check out is Rebel Cheese. With options like Truffle Brie, Tomato Herb Fromage, and Honee Pistachio Chèvre, this unique Texas-based brand (which appeared on Shark Tank in 2023) will help you create the vegan charcuterie spread of your dreams.
UmYum
16UmYum
Canadian vegan cheese brand UmYum made its US debut last year, and its artisanal plant-based creations are well worth trying. We’re especially fond of the brand’s unique flavor combinations, like Mango Chutney & Saffron and Za’atar & Spices, but the classic Monroe vegan camembert is hard to beat, too.
Rind
17 Rind
New York-based brand Rind is another must-try brand for truly show-stopping and unique cheeses that taste just as good as they look. Options include the Classic Cambleu, which, according to the brand, is a “sharp, rich, and umami soft-ripened cheese,” and Lapsang, which features real lapsang souchong tea leaves.
Nuts for Cheese
18 Nuts for Cheese
Made with fermented cashew nuts, this Canadian brand is a master at creating creamy, rich, crowd-pleasing vegan cheeses. One of its standout products has to be the Un-Brie-Lievable, which, just like its animal-based counterpart, is mild, perfectly creamy, and incredibly satisfying.
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Dare Vegan Cheese
19Darë Vegan Cheese
What began as a passion project in a restaurant basement has since grown into a thriving brand, but Darë hasn’t lost sight of its commitment to quality, sustainability, and nourishment. From Balsamic Fig to Roasted Garlic, its cultured dairy-free cheeses are guaranteed to be the star of your next charcuterie board.
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Minimally-processed dairy-free cheeses
Trying to reduce your intake of processed foods? We’ve got you. These cheeses are …
- Made with recognizable, whole-food ingredients
- Minimally processed without sacrificing flavor
- Often crafted from nuts, vegetables, oats, or legumes
- Great for health-conscious snacking and meals
- Rich, satisfying textures with simple ingredient lists
- Designed to feel nourishing as well as delicious
Veggie Underground
20Veggie Underground
Veggie Underground also specializes in vegan cheese, but it’s a little different from many others on this list. As the brand name suggests, its slices are made with real vegetables, like carrots, parsnips, and bell peppers. The result is deliciously cheesy and nutritious slices that can be eaten with everything from burgers to sandwiches to pizzas.
21 Gloriously Vegan
For the cheesiest nutritional yeast products that will enhance everything from pasta to pizza to your favorite salads, look no further than Gloriously Vegan. Many of its products, like Mozzalicious, are made with just a handful of recognizable ingredients and packed with umami flavor and delicious cheesy goodness.
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House Party
22House Party
We wouldn’t be surprised if we found this crave-worthy vegan queso in stadiums one day. It’s thick, a little salty, and perfectly spicy. Surprisingly, it’s made with ingredients everyone can pronounce, such as potatoes, carrots, jalapeños, nutritional yeast, and spices. Heat it and drown a pile of tortilla chips in it. Finger-licking is unavoidable.
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Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England's southern coast.
Tanya Flink is a VegNews writer and runner living in Orange County, CA.
Here at VegNews, we live and breathe the plant-based lifestyle, and only recommend products we feel make our lives amazing. Occasionally, articles may include links where we might earn a small commission, but in no way does this effect the editorial integrity of VegNews.
