The Key Tip To Remember When Making Vegan Grilled Cheese

One of the foods that newly minted vegans miss the most is cheese, as evidenced by a booming plant-based dairy industry. Vegan cheese has different properties than dairy based cheeses and may not bubble or brown. But one thing vegan cheese manufacturers have accomplished is its ability to melt, specifically into a vegan grilled cheese sandwich. We consulted a vegan recipe expert for some tips to remember when making vegan grilled cheese.

Nisha Vora, author of "The New York Times" bestselling cookbook "Big Vegan Flavor," echoes many of the same preparation and cooking tips you'd use in a conventional grilled cheese sandwich. Like dairy cheese, vegan cheese comes shredded, sliced, or in blocks. Vora says, "Since shredded cheese melts more quickly than sliced cheese, I opt for that when making a vegan grilled cheese (even if nontraditional)." You can buy pre-shredded vegan cheese, or you can use a box grater or food processor to grate a block before spreading it over your sandwich bread of choice.

When it comes to cooking a vegan grilled cheese, Vora advocates a low and slow method to help the vegan cheese melt into a gooey center at the same rate as your bread toasts, saying, "Using low heat helps prevent it from separating or becoming grainy, and gives it time to melt without the outside of the food (i.e., the bread in a grilled cheese) burning." Vora's own vegan grilled cheese recipe is a sophisticated affair, stuffed with two types of cheese and the addition of jalapeños, pesto and avocado.

With a growing diversity of vegan cheese brands imitating all kinds of cheeses, you can mix and match for a more complex sandwich. If you're not sure what to pick, our ranked list of vegan cheeses may help. Blending a harder cheese with a softer one should aid in your quest for a creamier interior. As per our recipe for the ultimate grilled cheese, you could make a blend by combining vegan cheddar, vegan mozzarella, and vegan ricotta in a food processor with herbs.

Vegan cheese brands use different ingredients, some of which are more conducive to melting than others. Tapioca starch and a seaweed derived ingredient called kappa carrageenan give vegan cheese elasticity and melting power. So if you're overwhelmed with the diversity of brands and vegan cheese products, you can narrow the list down to cheese with those ingredients present. If you're having trouble getting cheese to melt, you can heat it on the stove with plant-based milk until a thick sauce forms. Spread this over buttered bread to toast on the skillet.

The parallels between regular grilled cheeses and vegan varieties continues with the mayo vs butter debate. Mayonnaise and butter have long been available as vegan products that play a big role in browning your sandwich bread and helping the vegan-cheese melt. Just spread vegan butter on the outside of the sandwich bread, and a dollop of vegannaise between the layers of shredded vegan cheese.