We hear from a lot of Vevanites who are new in their dairy-free or plant-based journey. They tell us Vevan is simply the best dairy-free cheese for stacking on a sandwich, and they love that it’s a plant-based cheese that melts like magic for pizza and other gooey goodness.
But there’s only so many sandwiches and pizza a person can eat. And, lets be honest, when you have an option that tastes as good as Vevan, it’s pretty tempting to have some fun in the kitchen.
Fortunately, our kitchen crew LOOOVES to experiment, so not only does that make our jobs lots of yummy fun, we also get to learn all sorts of tricks for cooking with plant-based cheese. We also get to see all the tasty ideas for recipes using vegan cheese that our loyal fans share on social media.
The good news is: We love to share, especially if it means helping someone new in their journey discover new ways to love food again!
Here are a few of our favorite hacks for cooking with vegan cheese:
Dairy-Free Cheese Crisps
Cheese and chips – two of the tastiest snacks on the planet! We’re pretty partial to cheese crisps around here, so when Vevan rolled out, of course we had to figure out how to make a dairy-free crisp. We showcased crisps in our Chickpea Soup and Mozza Crisp recipe earlier this spring, but here’s the short version:
Place a piece of parchment paper on a microwave-safe plate. Add 1 Tbsp. of Vevan Mozza-Shred (or Ched or P’Jack) to the parchment paper. Spread the pile into a rectangular shape with the shreds just touching in a single layer. Microwave on high for 45 seconds.
This will give you a good-sized crisp to enjoy with a bowl of soup or in place of a breadstick or baguette at dinner. You can also try a smaller amount to make smaller crisps that are incredible over a salad or to add a crunchy layer to a noodle dish.
Snax Re-imagined
We’re all about getting creative with ingredients, especially when it comes to delicious bite-size bits of Vevan – like the ones you find in Vevan Snax. There’s not much else to say about this brilliant idea to use the Lemon Poppyseed Mozza as a salad topper – except bravo, @flwernhoney. We love this!
PS – It seems like she might be sharing brain waves with our product developers. More on that soon!
Super Sauces (and Fondue!)
This isn’t the first time you’ve seen us talk about making a creamy vegan cheese sauce, and we can guarantee it won’t be the last. Vevan’s melt is just that amazing. We’re throwing this one into our list so you have an easy cheat sheet with some of the best vegan hacks to bookmark or print and save.
For a sauce, your first step is to decide if you want a thicker sauce or something a little on the thinner side. If you’re going thick and cheesy, use about 2 cups of cheese with ¼ cup milk alternative or water. For a thinner creamy sauce, use the same amount of cheese but add an extra ¼ cup of liquid (½ cup total).
On the stove, add the ingredients to the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for about 6 minutes. In the microwave, add ingredients to a microwave-safe bowl and cook on high 1 minute. Stir, then alternate cooking and stirring in 30-second intervals until you achieve a total melt.
A vegan fondue with dairy-free cheese is a great idea when you’re entertaining a group with diverse dietary preferences. We made ours using the thinner cream sauce recipe above, along with some prepared pumpkin butter. Other ideas include herbs and spices, a touch of Dijon mustard or even a bit of beer in place of the milk alternative.
Our best advice: Channel your inner chef and mix and match flavors until you find exactly what you like. Worst case, you’ll get to do a lot of taste testing.
What’s your favorite hack for cooking with vegan cheese? Be sure to tag #GetVevafied when you share your creations on IG, and we might showcase you in a future blog!
