Yes, some vegan cheese really melts, and we can name the ones that do. After a month of pizzas, grilled cheese sandwiches and pots of mac and cheese in our kitchen, the winners are Daiya Mozzarella Shreds for pizza, Chao Creamery Creamy Original Slices for grilled cheese, and Daiya Cheddar Shreds whisked into a plant milk sauce for mac and cheese. Below we explain why most vegan cheese fails the melt test, how we ran ours, and the small tricks that make even a stubborn shred behave.
Why most vegan cheese does not melt like dairy
Dairy cheese is a web of casein proteins holding fat and water in place. Heat loosens that web, so the cheese flows, stretches and eventually browns as its proteins and milk sugars react. Every trick of a good pizza cheese comes from casein.
Vegan cheese has no casein. Most supermarket shreds and slices are coconut oil suspended in a gel of tapioca or potato starch, with pea protein, salt and flavoring. Heat melts the oil and softens the starch, so the cheese goes glossy and soft, but there is no protein web to pull into strings and almost no sugar to brown.
Cashew and almond cheeses behave differently again. They are essentially a thick, cultured nut puree, so under heat they loosen into a sauce rather than a stretchy blanket. That makes them excellent for mac and cheese and useless for a pizza pull, as we explain in our guide to vegan cheese substitutes.
How we tested
We wanted identical conditions for every product, so each use got one fixed method:
- Pizza: store-bought dough, plain tomato sauce, a small handful of cheese, baked on a preheated steel at 500 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes. We photographed each pie at the end and again after a one minute broil.
- Grilled cheese: two slices of sourdough, two slices of cheese, spread with vegan butter, cooked in a covered nonstick skillet over medium-low heat for about 4 minutes per side.
- Mac and cheese: a stovetop sauce made from one cup of oat milk thickened with a tablespoon each of vegan butter and flour, then one cup of cheese stirred in off the heat.
For each test we scored melt (does it soften and flow), stretch (does it pull when you lift a slice), browning (any color under the broiler) and flavor. Nut-free status came straight from the label.
Best vegan cheese for pizza
Winner: Daiya Mozzarella Style Shreds. These melt into an even, glossy layer that covers the sauce and holds toppings in place. Stretch is modest, maybe an inch before the strand breaks, but the texture is soft and chewy rather than waxy.
Runner-up: So Delicious Mozzarella Style Shreds. Coconut milk based, slightly creamier in flavor than Daiya, and it melts almost as evenly. It softens a little faster, so add it halfway through the bake if your oven runs hot.
Both are nut-free, which matters when you cook for a mixed crowd. The trick that made the biggest difference: spray a little oil on the shreds and broil for the last minute. Coconut oil shreds will not brown on their own, but the oil film and the direct heat give you the tan spots that make a pizza look finished.
Best vegan cheese for grilled cheese
Winner: Chao Creamery Creamy Original Slices. Chao is built on fermented tofu rather than starch, and it shows. It melts fully, stretches when you pull the halves apart, and has a mild, slightly tangy flavor that tastes like cheese instead of coconut.
Also excellent: Violife Epic Mature Cheddar Block, sliced thin. The sharp flavor is the best in this group, and thin slices melt cleanly under a lid. Cut it thick and the middle stays firm, a point we cover in our full Violife cheese review.
Budget pick: Follow Your Heart American Style Slices. They melt like the wrapped dairy singles you grew up with, mild and gooey, with no attempt at complexity. Kids do not notice the difference.
Best vegan cheese for mac and cheese
Mac and cheese rewards cheese that turns into sauce, which is where coconut oil shreds are weakest on their own. Dump Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds straight onto hot pasta and you get clumps. Melt them into a starch-thickened plant milk sauce and they disappear into a smooth, orange, properly cheesy coating.
The method is simple. Melt a tablespoon of vegan butter, whisk in a tablespoon of flour, add a cup of unsweetened oat milk and simmer until thick, then pull the pan off the heat and stir in the shreds a handful at a time. Overheating splits the oil out, so patience at the end matters.
The alternative is a cashew sauce: soaked cashews blended with nutritional yeast, lemon juice, a spoon of miso and enough hot water to pour. It has more flavor than any shred sauce and needs no cheese at all, only a strong blender or a food processor that can get it silky.
Best vegan cheese for quesadillas and nachos
Quesadillas want a cheese that melts fast between two tortillas without leaking oil, and nachos want a cheese that stays soft after it comes out of the oven. Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds handle both: they soften quickly, stay put, and taste enough like cheddar to work with salsa and jalapenos.
For more flavor, Follow Your Heart Pepper Jack Style Slices chopped into strips add a little heat and melt nearly as well. Skip the harder blocks here; they take too long to soften and the tortilla burns first.
Melt comparison table
Scores from our kitchen tests, on a simple scale of poor, fair, good and excellent:
| Product | Melt | Stretch | Browning | Flavor | Nut-free |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daiya Mozzarella Style Shreds | Excellent | Fair | Fair with oil | Mild | Yes |
| So Delicious Mozzarella Style Shreds | Good | Fair | Fair with oil | Mild, creamy | Yes |
| Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds | Excellent in sauce | Poor | Poor | Mild cheddar | Yes |
| Chao Creamery Creamy Original Slices | Excellent | Good | Fair | Mild, tangy | Yes |
| Violife Epic Mature Cheddar Block | Good when thin | Fair | Fair | Sharp | Yes |
| Violife Just Like Provolone Slices | Good | Fair | Poor | Smoky | Yes |
| Follow Your Heart American Style Slices | Excellent | Fair | Poor | Very mild | Yes |
| Follow Your Heart Pepper Jack Style Slices | Good | Fair | Poor | Mild with heat | Yes |
| Good Planet Smoked Gouda Slices | Good | Poor | Poor | Smoky | Yes |
| Cashew cheeses (Miyoko's, Treeline) | Melts to sauce | None | Poor | Rich, complex | No |
Tricks to get a better melt
- Grate finer. Blocks like Violife Epic Mature melt far better on the small holes of a box grater than in thick slices.
- Cover the pan. Trapped steam melts the top of a grilled cheese before the bread burns.
- Add moisture. A few drops of water on nachos or a splash of plant milk in a sauce helps starch-based cheese loosen up.
- Do not overheat coconut oil cheeses. Past a gentle simmer the oil separates and the sauce turns greasy. Stir shreds in off the heat.
- Finish under the broiler. One minute with a light spray of oil is the only way we found to get color on a pizza.
- Season the dish, not the cheese. Most vegan cheese is mild, so a pinch of salt, garlic powder and nutritional yeast in the sauce or on the pie makes up the difference.
Frequently asked questions
Does vegan cheese melt?
Some does. Coconut oil shreds such as Daiya and So Delicious soften and go glossy in the oven, tofu-based Chao slices melt and stretch, and cashew cheeses melt into a sauce. None of them brown or stretch as much as dairy mozzarella, because they contain no casein protein.
What is the best vegan cheese for pizza?
In our tests Daiya Mozzarella Style Shreds gave the most even melt, with So Delicious Mozzarella Style Shreds close behind. Both are nut-free. Spray a little oil on top and broil for the last minute to get some color.
What is the best vegan cheese for mac and cheese?
Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds melted into a flour-thickened oat milk sauce gave us the smoothest result. A homemade cashew and nutritional yeast sauce has more flavor and is a good choice if nuts are not a problem in your house.
Why does my vegan cheese not brown?
Browning in dairy cheese comes from milk proteins and sugars reacting under heat. Plant-based cheese has almost none of either, so it stays pale. A light coat of oil and a minute under the broiler is the workaround.
Which melting vegan cheeses are nut-free?
Daiya, So Delicious, Chao, Violife, Follow Your Heart and Good Planet are all made without nuts. Cashew-based brands such as Miyoko's and Treeline are not nut-free, so check the label if you are cooking for someone with an allergy.
Bottom line
Vegan cheese that melts exists, but you have to match the product to the job. Daiya and So Delicious shreds for pizza, Chao or thin-sliced Violife for grilled cheese, and a shred-based or cashew sauce for mac and cheese will cover almost every craving.
Use a little oil, a lid and the broiler, and keep the heat gentle on anything coconut based. Browse every product we have tested on our vegan cheese alternatives page.
