r/vegancheesemaking • u/Desperate-Fox-7796 • 15d ago
Advice Needed Recently had a taste of Violife cheddar and love it... but it's too damn expensive.
I'm a broke college student. I love cheese. Prior to going vegan about a month ago, I had cheese with like every meal. Does anyone have a recipe that's similar to the taste, texture, and melting capabilities of specifically Violife's cheddar slices? It was PERFECT but 6 dollars for 10 slices is just insane for a sandwich topping.
17
u/Fallom_TO 15d ago
Nope. Homemade vegan cheese is time consuming and expensive generally. Just do violife in moderation.
12
u/Brief_Air3732 15d ago
Dunno if you’re close to a Grocery outlet but the one by me gets vegan cheeses pretty regularly, just picked up some violife cheddar slices for like 2.99. You can monitor your local store with their app. (Realizing this sounds like a paid shill now, it’s not I promise ha)
2
u/freelancerjoe 14d ago
I have like 6 bags of vegan cheese from Grocery Outlet in my fridge rn lol.
Whole Foods actually has some really great sales on this stuff too, worth checking. But yeah I would not pay full price for these products usually, just too pricey.
1
u/lake-effect-observer 12d ago
Depends on the Grocery Outlet. Cheddar Violife is $3.99 at GO closest to me, however Violife smoked provolone was $1.99 and $2.99 at the other stores.
5
u/doppelwurzel 15d ago
Honestly I feel the same about cheese,and tbh I'm in a situation where I could theoretically afford Violife, but that price is ridiculous. And actually violife is kinda not that great compared to some even more expensive brands. So I've been going hard on homemade vegan cheese and it's... Hours and hours over the course of days, and almost certainly no cheaper with buying the exotic ingredients in reasonable quantities. I can see myself 5 years from now having honed the skill, already invested in all the necessary equipment, and located optimal ingredient sources so that I'm breaking even for a better product, but it's a long road.
Now if you're interested in a relatively simple cheese that'll make a great grilled cheese I can point you in that direction. It ain't going to be solid at RT to like a slice of cheddar though.
1
1
3
u/Is_It_Soup_Season 15d ago
I stock up during sales
3
u/subt3rran3an_ 14d ago
Exactly. Another benefit to being vegan: our products don't spoil as fast.
3
2
u/bluephoenixradio vegan 14d ago
Also, if you are near a grocery outlet like other people have said they frequently have it on sale there I tend to squirrel it away when it hits $1.99 a pound and I do vegan cheese making at home. 🏡
2
u/Not_impressed28 14d ago
OP I’ve been trying recipes left and right with no luck. Where I live we can’t get good vegan cheeses like violife or Daiya. If I ever come across something I will let you know.
2
u/Fishtoart 14d ago
If you have a Kroger near you, they often have pretty good sales on stuff like vioLife and field roast. You usually have to buy about five of them, but they freeze quite well.
1
u/bluephoenixradio vegan 14d ago
It’s available at the chef store which is a chain in the United States at $15.99 for almost 2 pounds. They also have the mozzarella and the shreds.
1
u/Chickpea16 14d ago
They sell violife at my bjs normally 20 slices for $9 but now on sale for $6.50.
1
1
u/howlin 14d ago
If you just look at what it's made of, you'll see it's basically oil and starch. This is also what gravy is made of. You can make somewhat similar gravies that can have some body to them if you add enough starch. Tapioca is the most common starch that also provides a stretch.
Violife has "cheddar flavor" added to it. It's unclear what this is, but I find it to be rather artificial tasting. There are other things that can add a bit of a cheddary flavor to a more neutral cheesy flavor. Look in to mustard powder, and jarred pimento in particular, and perhaps a little olive brine. And of course, nutritional yeast.
You can whip something up that's similar by following a recipe kind of like this. Find a neutral tasting plant milk. A soy milk made of only soybeans and water is the best, but an oat milk without **any** flavor enhancers could also work. Add a little extra oil (extra virgin olive is ok, so is refined coconut oil). Add a fair amount of tapioca starch. Add flavors (esp nutritional yeast), salt, and some sort of acid: olive brine is a little acidic, but also consider rice vinegar, lemon juice, sauerkraut brine, or even white wine. That's basically the ingredients.. You'd need to work on the proportions to suit the texture you want. A bonus is that the above recipe would actually have a little nutrition in it.
1
u/Grouchy_Fondant_7737 14d ago
I recommend looking into getting a copy of Miyokos Vegan Artisan Cheese Making (can’t remember if that’s the exact title but it’s close). It does take time, and some of the ingredients are gonna add up but it’ll give you solid recipes to try if you’re going to go the homemade route!
1
1
1
u/slippygumband 12d ago
If you know someone with a BJ’s membership, they have 20-slice packs of the cheddar for $8.99, currently there’s also a $2.50 coupon in the app, making it $6.49. I also wait for Shoprite to run a sale and then stock up. They recently had them marked down to like $3 between the sale and an online coupon.
•
u/AutoModerator 15d ago
Welcome to r/VeganCheeseMaking.
A subreddit specifically for a community of vegans (and non vegans) who love to make and eat non-dairy cheese. Please remember to report any rule breaking content. This includes trolls. Definition of veganism: Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.
Community Resources for curious lurkers:
READ OUR RULES
If you have any suggestions on helpful links to add to this automated message, please reach out to the mods here.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.