I like to put parmesan cheese on everything, so I have been on the hunt for a vegan parm replacement. The first one I tried is Parmela Parmesan Style Aged Nut Cheese.
This vegan cheese is made from almonds, cashews, nutritional yeast, soybeans, salt, and tamari. It doesn't look like real parmesan cheese. It's light brown and looks more like breadcrumbs. It tastes kind of like breadcrumbs too.
This would work on pasta, but not as well on salad or soup. I tried it on a salad and it wouldn't hold on to the lettuce, it just fell to the bottom of the bowl. Because it doesn't melt, I don't think it would be good with soup. I haven't tried it for frying, but it would probably be great in a flour mixture for eggplant parm.
Review: Parmela Parmesan Style Aged Nut Cheese
First Impressions: "Weird." "Hmm." "It looks like breadcrumbs."
Taste: It tastes good, but is kind of boring. It does have a bit of a parmesan/salty taste, but mostly tastes like breadcrumbs. It tastes like a mixture of breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese that you might use for frying.
Texture: Soft and powdery. It doesn't melt.
Worth buying again? Probably not.
Better than non-vegan version? Not even close.
Better than non-vegan version? Not even close.
Overall: 2 out of 5.