Review: Violife Just Like Cheddar Slices

Violife is one of the most recommended vegan cheeses I see on vegan food blogs. It's also used by a lot of vegan restaurants. So I thought this would be a good choice to start trying vegan cheese.

First of all I love their packaging. The inside plastic package is resealable and easy to open. It's also labeled, so you still know what it is if you get rid of the paper outside. 

I tried this both cold and melted. When cold, it was easier to tell that it's vegan. The texture is not quite there, but it does look and taste more like dairy cheddar cheese than I expected. 

Next, I tried it on a vegan egg sandwich with JUST egg. I tried melting it from the residual heat of the hot sandwich but that wasn't enough. The edges didn't melt and the texture was slightly gritty.  

I tried again but this time by I put the Violife slice on top of the JUST egg in the pan and covered with a lid. This worked a lot better and it melted all the way. I did get a funny giant bubble though.

Final verdict? Pretty good on a sandwich, but I wouldn't eat it by itself. 

Violife Just Like Cheddar Slices ingredients:

Filtered Water, Coconut Oil, Food Starch-Modified (Potato & Corn), Potato Starch, Salt (Sea Salt), Cheddar Flavor (vegan sources), Olive Extract, Paprika extract & Beta Carotene (Color), Vitamin B12.

Review: Violife Just Like Cheddar Slices

First impressions: Looks more like dairy cheddar cheese than I expected

Taste: Similar to cheddar cheese but doesn't have as strong of a flavor

Texture: Takes longer to melt than dairy cheese, but once melted the texture is similar

Can you tell it's vegan? Yes
Better than other vegan options? This is the first one I've tried.

Worth buying again? Maybe

Overall: 4/5

Review: Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Flavor Squares

I'm already a fan of Earth Balance Buttery Spread as a vegan butter replacement, so I thought I'd try their Vegan Cheddar Flavor Squares. It looks like they also make Vegan White Cheddar Flavor Puffs. I'll have to try those next!

The cheddar flavor squares are surprisingly cheesy tasting! I was blown away and couldn't stop eating them. 

While I could tell that these plant-based crackers were not Cheez-Its, I could not tell that they were vegan. If it were a blind taste test, I would probably guess that they're off-brand Cheez-Its, but would not guess that they're vegan. The cheese taste is just too real. 

Cheese is one of the most notoriously difficult foods to replicate in a vegan version. I guess it makes sense that the first vegan cheese I like would be in a cracker, because a cracker texture is easier to imitate than cheese by itself. 

The cheddar flavor of these vegan cheesy crackers comes from a seasoning blend that includes yeast extract, which adds a savory, salty taste (not the same as nutritional yeast).

Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Flavor Squares ingredients: Unbleached pastry flour, enriched wheat flour (flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, canola oil, corn starch, seasoning (maltodextrin, yeast extract, gum acacia, natural flavor), palm oil, sunflower lecithin, salt, baking soda, monocalcium phosphate, ammonium bicarbonate, sugar, paprika oleoresin color, yeast extract, annatto extract (water, annatto), lactic acid, dehydrated toasted onion, garlic powder. 


Review: Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Flavor Squares
First impressions: Wow, these really tastes like cheese!
Taste: They actually taste more like cheese than real Cheez-Its. Not as salty. 
Texture: Reminds me of Cheese Nips or off-brand Cheez-Its. Not quite as crunchy as Cheez-Its, but pretty close. 
Can you tell it's vegan? No
Worth buying again? Yes, I will definitely buy these again. 
Good enough to replace the non-vegan version? Yes, but more expensive. 
Overall: 5/5

Review: Annie's Organic Vegan Mac - Pumpkin and Sweet Potato

I was skeptical about the pumpkin and sweet potato, but had heard good things about Annie's Vegan Mac. Note that it doesn't say "mac and cheese." So it's not necessarily trying to imitate cheese, just providing a vegan comfort food alternative.

This is one of the first vegan products I've tried where the texture was spot on but the flavor was not for me. Usually texture is the more difficult part so this was surprising.

The taste was not bad, but would take some getting used to. If you're vegan and craving mac and cheese, this would do the trick. And it was better than some restaurant vegan macs I've tried. But for people who still eat cheese, this will probably not be good enough to replace your favorite cheesy mac.

I also liked that the ingredient list is pretty simple and recognizable, especially considering it's a processed food that comes in a box.

Annie's Vegan Mac Pumpkin and Sweet Potato ingredients: Organic Pasta (Organic Wheat Flower), Organic Pumpkin Powder (Organic Pumpkin, [Organic Maltodextrin, Organic Sunflower Oil, Sunflower Lecithin]), Organic Sweet Potato Powder (Organic Sweet Potato, [Organic Maltodextrin, Organic Corn Starch, Organic Sunflower Oil, Sunflower Lecithin]), Organic Corn Starch, Organic Tapioca Starch, Sea Salt, Natural Flavor, Organic Paprika, Organic Onion Powder, Organic Garlic Powder.

Review: Annie's Vegan Mac - Pumpkin and Sweet Potato
First impressions: When I was making it, it seemed identical to non-vegan boxed mac and cheese. Kids would have fun making this. 
Taste: Not too sweet or pumpkin-y. It had a surprisingly cheesy flavor, especially given that there's no nutritional yeast. But after eating several bites, it felt like something was missing and wasn't quite as satisfying as cheese. 
Texture: Creamy and very similar to traditional boxed mac and cheese. 
Can you tell it's vegan? Yes
Better than other vegan versions? Yes, better than some vegan macs I've tried at restaurants. 
Worth buying again? I probably won't buy this again but some people might like to eat it regularly. 
Overall: 3/5

Product Review: Parmela Parmesan Style Aged Nut Cheese

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. 

Overall: 2 out of 5.