Daiya Vegan Cheese: So good, I complained to my waiter
April 15th, 2011Any time I see vegan quesadillas on a menu, I have to order them. They were my breakfast this morning at Rancho’s Mexican & Vegetarian Restaurant in San Diego. I became instantly suspicious when my cheese was not only delicious, but also chewy and stretchy. Everyone knows that vegan cheese does not taste and feel like that. Not possible.
I called the waiter over to ask if they had made a mistake with my order, but he said no – it was Daiya cheese. This may be old news to a lot of people, but I’d never heard of Daiya so I figured it was some “lactose-free” cheese with casein in it. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, ate my quesadillas, and hoped that I wouldn’t be puking sick later from eating cow’s milk (which I was not).
It turns out that Rancho’s knows what it’s doing. I stopped off at a little hippie food coop to see if I could find it. There it was, Daiya vegan cheese. Holy crap, it’s good. You must eat it. It’s been a super long time for me, but I’m pretty sure this is just what eating cheese used to be like. Close, at least.
Even better, it’s allergen-free for most people. From their website:
Daiya products do not contain many of the common allergens including; soy, dairy (casein or lactose), gluten, egg, peanuts, and tree nuts (excluding coconut)
April 16th, 2011 at 12:36 pm
I wish I thought the stores here would carry it. Glad you found a vegan cheese that tastes like the “real” thing. I love cheese… too much. I can’t imagine life without it.
April 17th, 2011 at 10:50 pm
I love cheese…
April 18th, 2011 at 7:55 am
I just had a look over their website, looks pretty good, they have cheddar style, mozza style and it’s not that expensive, good vegan cheese is hard to find
May 2nd, 2011 at 10:59 pm
Daiya is quite good. I have a free bag I won from The Informed Vegan that’s just waiting in the fridge to be used 🙂
May 9th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
I’ve read many raving reviews about Daiya, but find it pretty gross tasting myself. And as a vegetarian just starting the transformation to vegan, I can assure you that it tastes nothing like real cheese :).
Regardless, I’m glad you found one you like!
June 1st, 2011 at 6:48 pm
OMG too funny. My hubby ADORES Daiya. And I think that on pizza it does emulate cheese pretty well. Plus, no cows were hurt in the process! Plus zero cholesterol. Now they have pepperjack as well. Cheddar is his fave.
June 7th, 2011 at 6:07 pm
I wish I could say the same for my experience with daiya. To be honest, I found it to have a plastic-y smell (from the package) and not the greatest taste (this is the mozzarella version). I tried it melted (it did melt very well, though!) on a lasagna, and though pretty, I found it disappointing (after having such high expectations from all the blogs I’ve found it reviewed on). I gave up cheese over a year ago and, at least to me, it did not taste like cheese.
Sorry for the rant. I actually am posting to say I love your blog. ^_^’ I just wanted to share my experience because no-one warned me that daiya might be just a weency bit less than perfect.
That said, it does have a “cheesy” taste and, mixed into dishes, has potential. 😉
June 7th, 2011 at 6:31 pm
I appreciate everyone’s feedback about Daiya! Even the negative ones. 🙂
I haven’t eaten actual cheese since 1997 so you can’t really trust my judgment!
February 18th, 2012 at 3:54 am
I am in the process of transitioning. At the moment, I am a vegetarian most days.
For those that have said Daiya doesn’t taste like real cheese, I would have to say that Daiya doesn’t taste like cheese right out of the bag, but it actually does once it is cooked. Melted Daiya tastes pretty much like real cheese.
It will go a LONG ways towards helping me successfully transition from sometimes omnivore to vegan. 🙂
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January 19th, 2013 at 5:48 pm
I’ve tried Daiya’s cheddar ‘cheese’, and have to be honest that I found it to taste so disgusting! Take cheese whiz, and then let it rot a bit, and then put it in a Daiya packaging and then call it vegan cheese. That’s how it tasted. I basically had to throw it away it was so gross.
There HAS to be better vegan ‘cheese ‘ out there.. HAS to!