The first test for any vegan cheese is the meltability test. The pre-grated shreds means you can shortcut a pizza or cheese-on-toast in next to no time. We naturally went for the mozzarella flavour on our test pizza.
Vegan cheeses generally need higher temperatures to melt than the dairy stuff, at least 200C or higher. We always test at 200C, because not everything can be cooked as hot as pizza might be.
The shreds melted a little and fused together, but not much better than Cheezly or other UK brands. At hotter temperatures you'd probably get a little more spread and stretchiness. As pizza cheese it's ok, if a little sticky.
It's also melty enough to bind things together. We made a sausage and cheese melt with some chopped Tofurky sausage and the Vegan Gourmet shreds, grilled until bound together. It works pretty well in something like this.
Uncooked, the cheese is ok too, but again no better than say Cheezly. In a sandwich the cheesy taste is mild but pleasant.
Unlike Violife cheese, you can expect nothing in the way of melty-ness when used as a topping to hot pasta. It's a useful topping to add a bit of flavour though.
Round Up
It's great to see north American brands reach the UK, although you'll find prices reflect the costs of import. Vegan Gourmet shreds are a useful addition to the chiller cabinet, alongside British and European brands.
Alternatives
If you're looking for the best melty cheese available in the UK, our recommendation for MozzaRisella still stands. For a simple cheese sandwich on the other hand, it's hard to beat the value of VBites Cheezly.
Veganoo Score: ★★★★☆
"Follow Your Heart" - Vegan Gourmet - Cheese Shreds
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"Follow Your Heart" - Vegan Gourmet - Cheese Shreds
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The Good: Mild and somewhat melty
The Not-so-Good: A little sticky when melted
Here are the ingredients panels from the packs we reviewed.
The product uses palm oil, but from a sustainable source. This cheese has no protein component. Contains carrageenan. Labelled as vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, soya-free, non-gmo.
The product uses palm oil, but from a sustainable source. This cheese has no protein component. Contains carrageenan. Labelled as vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, soya-free, non-gmo.
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| Ingredients: Mozzarella |
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| Ingredients: Cheddar |
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