Miss Cheese?
Many people new to plant-based eating miss cheese. Sure! What’s not to like? Cheese tastes good, and has a glorious texture in the mouth. Of course, a lot of that appeal comes from fat and salt, which aren’t particularly good for the body in the proportions offered by cheese. And cheese has other health issues, which you can read about here.
By the way, based on my own journey and the experiences of others I’ve spoken to about it, the craving does diminish or disappear, within months or a year or two — really!
There are 100% plant-based substitutes for cheese that are delicious. While these substitutes don’t achieve the gooey, melty properties of cheese, they provide an excellent substitute, with their creamy, salty, fermenty, and tangy combination of ingredients.
These recipes are healthy substitutes, i.e., unprocessed foods, no oil. You can, of course, buy vegan cheeses in the stores, and those products are getting better and better. But if you like to cook, I recommend trying one or more of these.
And I wrote a guide for making killer vegan pizza: Vegan Pizza Like You Wouldn’t Believe.
Also, here is an outstanding substitute for sour cream, which you can use with so many dishes. This version has smoked paprika and is especially good on Mexican-inspired dishes: Gracious Vegan Crema.
Also, check out this recipe for artichoke and spinach dip. With clever substitutes, I get at that cheesy hot goodness without the use of real cheese: Hot and Creamy Artichoke and Spinach Dip
In other words, if you like to cook, you can satisfy your cheesy cravings with a few recipe hacks like these.
Bon Appetit!