Cheddar Cheese (dairy-free, vegan)

When we grew up, cheese was foreign to us. Our first introduction to “cheese” was the Kraft processed slices. We then upgraded to Cheddar, a generic Cheddar, which I am 100% sure wasn’t made in Cheddar. We’d often go with mild. As we grew up, our taste buds honed in on the maturer (sharper) Cheddar. I used to enjoy it as a snacking cheese, on toast, grated on a jacket potato slathered with butter and Heinz baked beans, and over chips (thick cut fries).

This dairy-free and vegan version of Cheddar is pretty good. It’s simple to make, pretty “mature” tasting, but still lacks some Cheddar elements that I miss. It does best when eaten cold, on crackers on in a salad, but not grated over hot dishes.

I give this cheeze a rating of 2 out of 5.

CHEDDAR CHEESE (dairy-free, vegan)

Adapted from jane’s healthy kitchen: dairy-free cheddar cheese

Ingredients

• 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons full-fat coconut milk
• 113 g (1/2 cup) softened creamed coconut (coconut butter)
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon vitamin c crystals
• 100 g (1/2 cup) melted coconut oil
• 3-6 tablespoons of finely grated carrot (use a microplane grater), for color

Method

1. Process the lemon juice, coconut milk, creamed coconut (coconut butter), nutritional yeast, salt and vitamin c crystals together in a food processor.

2. Add enough grated carrot to obtain the desired Cheddar cheese color, then add the coconut oil, and process again. The mixture will be thick.

3. Pour into a freeze-safe container and freeze until solid.

4. Grate directly onto salads from frozen, or let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!