Vegan Review: Daiya Cheddar Shreds

Ok, so in my quest to go mostly vegan, one of the HARDEST things to give up (or find a suitable replacement for) is cheese. I've had some soy cheeses I use in burritos and sometimes even quesadillas, or on veggie burgers or in wraps and sandwiches. But there's something missing. After a little online research, I came across Daiya cheese, which is vegan and soy-free. The secret ingredient is stretchy tapioca.

Since I live in Southern California, we've got all kinds of Whole Foods, neighborhood health stores and even our big chain grocery stores carry stuff like this that is all but impossible to find in other parts of the country. I found it at Ralph's. So upon looking at the bag, I noticed it looked similar to the shredded soy cheese I get at Trader Joe's, but it also boasted $2 more on the price tag (Daiya retails for $5.99 at Ralph's for a 2-cup bag of shreds, soy shreds at TJ's retail at $3.99).

So the price tag hurt a little. Then I opened up the bag. It had a similar scent to the soy shreds, kind of a dry parmesan-y cheddar-y scent. So far not seeming much different from my soy shreds. But then I went in and grabbed a handful to put on my pre-heated whole wheat and flax seed tortilla and it was surprisingly fluffy, which is a lot different from the soy shreds, which are dense and dry. So my brows peaked a little.

Then I toasted it inside the tortilla to make a quesadilla. I could actually feel the Daiya bubbling inside the tortilla like real cheese does, which was exciting! Once the cheese was bubbly and the tortilla toasted, I took it off the heat, plopped it on a plate and cut it in half.

NOT BAD. When it's hot the cheese does get a little TOO melty, almost liquidy. It tastes pretty good, not EXACTLY like cheese, but pretty good. I'll have to try it again before I say it's BETTER than my soy shreds, but it's definitely at least as good. In fact, a good idea might be to use part Daiya and part soy shreds, as the more dense and firm melted soy shreds might help with the almost-too-melted quality of the heated Daiya. I'm going to try that next time!!

At any rate, I enjoyed it with Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream, Mrs. Renfro's Habanero Salsa, half an avocado and a handful of pickled jalapenos. Especially with all the trimmings, this "cheese" is pretty damn tasty. Gotta try it as a bean and cheese burrito....


Also I should note that I have had the mozzarella version of the Daiya cheese, as well. In fact, I had it last night from Z Pizza. Z Pizza is a kind of California boutique-type pizza chain. They have a vegan pizza called The Berkeley that they make with the Daiya mozzarella variety. I had pretty much the same reaction - pretty damn good, but the cheese IS more melty than firm so at times it could almost feel like I was eating a cheese SAUCE, as opposed to shreds. But don't get me wrong, still delicious!


EDIT (9:30pm) - Had the Daiya cheddar shreds on a baked potato and you know what? Held it's melty for quite awhile!! It stretched, oozed, stayed melty even after several minutes. Since I was also eating corn on the cob and slicing avocado pieces to go with it, it had the chance to set more than it did when I had the quesadilla and I gotta say - it was super good.

Bottom line: REALLY good cheese substitute.



UPDATE: Made a black bean and cheese quesadilla (pictured above). Accoutrement: sliced avocado, picked jalapenos, Mrs. Renfro's Habanero Salsa, Tofutti Sour Supreme Better Than Sour Cream

UNBELIEVABLY DELICIOUS!!!!

A Daiya convert for sure!!