From peta.org.uk
Vegan cheese has come a long way. It’s not only kinder, more sustainable, and tastier than dairy, but it even looks and melts like it, too. Dairy-free cheese is typically made from a clever blend of ingredients, including nuts, coconut oil, tapioca starch, nutritional yeast, garlic, onion, and other flavourings. These all work together to create some of the best and most iconic vegan cheeses we know and love today.
Find out the most popular ingredients that make that signature rich, tangy, and umami taste – and, crucially, the all-important meltiness.
What Is Vegan Cheese?
Vegan cheeses are used by conscientious consumers instead of dairy because there’s never an excuse to pay for gentle cows to be forcibly impregnated and have their babies taken from them.
Especially when there are so many varieties of vegan cheeses, and they’re getting tastier all the time. So, if you tried it a few years ago and didn’t like it, you can bet you’ll find one to suit you in 2026.
Perhaps the most popular vegan cheese is cheddar, with mozzarella, feta, and Red Leicester also widely available at supermarkets. These tend to be sold in block or shredded form in packets that look similar – and are often placed next to – dairy cheese, so it’s simple to make the swap. Popular everyday dairy-free cheese brands include Violife, Cathedral City Plant-Based, and Applewood Vegan. Major supermarkets, like Aldi, Sainsbury’s, and Tesco, also offer own-brand vegan cheeses.
Dairy-free artisan cheeses are also easy to find in 2026. These cheeses are made using traditional cheesemaking processes, but starting with milk from plants instead of dairy. High-quality stilton, camembert, and brie are all sold by innovative makers like Vegan Food Award 2025 winner Jay & Joy, La Fauxmagerie, Honestly Tasty, Mouse’s Favourite, Kinda Co, and I Am Nut OK.
And if you’re a pizza lover, you’re in luck. Most pizza chains, including Pizza Express, Zizzi, Papa Johns, and Domino’s, offer vegan cheese pizzas.
The Most Popular Vegan Cheese Ingredients
The ingredients used in vegan cheese vary and depend on the brand and variety (for example, an artisan brie will have a very different ingredients list to a supermarket cheddar). If you prefer to avoid certain ingredients for any reason or have allergies, you will almost certainly be able to find a vegan cheese to suit.
The most widely used ingredients for vegan cheese include:
- Coconut oil – perhaps the most famous vegan cheese ingredient that’s popular in brands like Violife, Cathedral City Plant-Based, and Applewood Vegan Block, as well as some artisan vegan cheeses.
- Cashews – a key ingredient with most artisan vegan cheesemakers like La Fauxmagerie, I Am Nut OK, and Jay & Joy. Cashews give soft vegan cheeses their signature creaminess.
- Almonds – also popular with La Fauxmagerie and Jay & Joy for creaminess and an added protein boost.
- Seeds – many vegan cheese recipes include sunflower seeds, watermelon seeds, or hemp seeds as their high-protein and fibre-rich base.
- Rice – an allergen-friendly base that’s growing in popularity. It’s best known as the base ingredient of Cathedral City Plant-Based.
Other popular vegan cheese ingredients:
- Potato, corn, or tapioca starch – used to bind the ingredients together and increase stretchability.
- Nutritional yeast – gives products a cheesy, umami flavour, as well as a B12 and protein boost.
- Salt – a key ingredient in all cheese.
- Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar – to add acidity and balance richness.
- Natural flavourings like onion and garlic.
- Vegan cultures – beneficial bacteria used to ferment vegan cheeses, creating a tangy taste that’s even more similar to dairy. Jay & Joy and La Fauxmagerie are key players in the production of fermented vegan cheese.
- Miso paste – used to create a deep, rich, umami flavour.
- B12 and calcium – Many plant-based cheeses you’ll find in the supermarket are fortified with vitamins and minerals.
This list is by no means exhaustive – innovative cheesemakers use many different ingredient combinations and invent new recipes all the time!
How Vegan Cheese Melts
Over the last few years, brands have been perfecting the meltability of vegan cheese. Many varieties now melt beautifully thanks to clever combinations of plant-based fats, starches, and proteins.
The key ingredient that helps most vegan cheeses melt is fat, mostly in the form of coconut oil. When heated, coconut oil liquefies, playing a key role in the meltability. Other plant oils can also be used.
Coconut oil works alongside starches like potato and tapioca, which thicken, stretch, and create a gooey-like texture associated with melted cheese.
Other common melt‑enhancing ingredients include thickeners and gums, such as agar or xanthan gum, which help the cheese hold together as it melts and create a cohesive, creamy consistency. When these components work together – fats for softness, starches for stretch, and stabilizers for smoothness – they allow vegan cheese to melt in dishes like grilled sandwiches, pizzas, and sauces.
As we move further into 2026, it’s likely that the meltability of some vegan cheeses will improve, thanks to innovation in dairy-free food technology. Scientists in Denmark recently made a “breakthrough” in dairy-free cheese meltability when they engineered an animal-free casein. Casein is the protein that makes dairy cheese melt.
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