Best vegan cheese for baked Mac and cheese

[YaelAldrich]

The title says it all.  I have access to all the brands of vegan cheese out there (as long as they are kosher, which most of them are).

It's for Southern style baked Mac and cheese.

Thanks y'all!

[Ditto]

I have never tried mac and cheese with vegan cheese but really want to.   My favorite vegan cheese is Chao and that is the one I would want to try in mac and cheese.  I hope someone has been successful and will share what worked.   Most vegan cheese is just not good to me,  Chao is really good!

[Harriet Vane]

Kite Hill ricotta

[YaelAldrich]

1 hour ago, Harriet Vane said:

Kite Hill ricotta

Why?

[Drama Llama]

9 hours ago, Harriet Vane said:

Kite Hill ricotta

I can’t imagine making Southern Style baked Mac and Cheese with regular ricotta as the primary cheese so this surprises me.  

What my kids call “Italian Mac and Cheese” which is little pasta with ricotta and red sauce is delicious but a totally different dish.  I should try that with Kite Hill.

[Danae]

I made a cheese sauce with violife shredded mozzarella once.  I think it would have worked for Mac & Cheese.  
 

I wouldn’t use real mozzarella in Mac & cheese, but although this was labeled as mozzarella-style shreds it didn’t have the texture of mozzarella and it was a more generic “cheese” taste.  

[Harriet Vane]

10 hours ago, YaelAldrich said:

Why?

In the world of fake cheeses, I find that melty-style cheeses have the texture and the greasiness but none of the flavor. I cannot stand them. But the Kite Hill cheeses taste lovely and cheesy. 

I had a pasta-cheese dish in which I baked cherry tomatoes until they burst. I also baked a block of the Kite Hill cheese. This did not take long--the cheese was just warmed without breaking down. Then I mixed together fresh basil, gluten-free pasta, the tomatoes, and pepper. It was creamy and delicious.

I wouldn't bake it to death, though--that will simply cause it to break down. Instead, make your pasta. Mix in the warmed ricotta and whatever seasonings feel right in your world. You might experiment with adding some nutritional yeast (it's not my favorite but it does add a cheese-like umami). If you want a baked crust on it consider just a quick trip in the oven with a bread crumb mix over top or even a melty fake cheese if you just cannot live without that type of texture. I would be very, very sparing in my use of the fake melty cheese, though, as it adds only texture, not really much flavor.

[Corraleno]

I'd use Violife Sharp Cheddar (get the sharp one, not regular cheddar, and use the block, not the shreds) plus a little Violife Smoked Provolone (only comes in slices as far as I know). Those are the only two vegan cheeses I buy, as they taste closest to real cheese to me and they come out near the top in most taste tests I've seen. I would also use a cashew-based vegan mac & cheese recipe to get the same level of creaminess as regular mac & cheese, since vegan cheese doesn't have the same texture. And use nutritional yeast for extra umami and cheesiness, plus smoked paprika for color and flavor.

[Indigo Blue]

Just a note…….Violife cream cheese is really good. Really. Not for mac and cheese….just as a cream cheese substitute. Just in case you haven’t tried it.