What Is Vegan Cream Cheese? Plus, Your Information to the Greatest Dairy-Free Manufacturers

For one thing so easy, dairy-free cream cheese has grow to be a behemoth of a subject. Some desire a layer so skinny it’s virtually translucent whereas others desire a two-to-one ratio of bagel to cream cheese. Then there are the flavors—plain, all the things, chive, lox, cinnamon raisin (don’t @ us for that final one—it exists, even if you happen to don’t prefer it). Whether or not looking for one of the best dairy-free cream cheese for bagels or for desserts, use this information to navigate by means of the swirly, luscious wonders of a vegan schmear.

What’s dairy-free cream cheese?

To make clear, once we check with “dairy-free cream cheese,” we’re additionally referring to vegan cream cheese. We’ve but to return throughout a dairy-free cream cheese that wasn’t vegan, largely as a consequence of the truth that different animal substances sometimes will not be used to make the essential schmear. Packaged cream cheese is fabricated from pasteurized entire milk, salt, carob bean gum (a thickener, stabilizer, and emulsifier), and cheese cultures. Most home made vegan cream cheese recipes substitute the cultures for an acid, reminiscent of lemon juice, to curdle the dairy-free base. 

Daiya

To make a vegan model of a standard cow milk-dependent product, just a few further substances are wanted. Totally different corporations depend on completely different meals and strategies to achieve that thick texture and mildly tart style. Tofutti, for instance, makes use of soy, an oil mix, and non-dairy lactic acid; more moderen vegan cream cheese innovators reminiscent of Miyoko’s Creamery depend on cashews, coconut cream, and vegan cultures. Someday, it’d even be made out of precision fermentation, an rising method that’s slowly making its approach into the vegan meals area. Solely time will inform.

There’s a seemingly infinite variety of methods to make it, however the common rule of thumb is the emulsification of fats, liquid, salt, and cultures, typically with the addition of a stabilizer.

Is dairy-free cream cheese wholesome?

Whereas the substances for dairy-free cream cheese fluctuate, the vitamin label throughout manufacturers appears to be like comparable. Vegan or not, cream cheese is calorically-dense and excessive in fats, and “wholesome” is a relative time period. As a result of it doesn’t use cow’s milk, it doesn’t comprise trans fats and tends to be decrease in saturated fats than an animal-based schmear. An excessive amount of saturated fats is related to increased ranges of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), also called “dangerous” ldl cholesterol. Excessive LDL ranges can improve the danger of coronary heart illness, based on the American Coronary heart Affiliation.

The healthfulness of vegan cream cheese varies from model to model. If saturated fats is a priority, preserve a watch out for coconut oil-based vegan cream cheeses. Coconut oil is about 90 p.c saturated fats.

Should you’re on the lookout for one which’s on the better-for-you aspect, keep away from the dairy-free varieties made out of oil and persist with those made out of entire meals substances like nuts, seeds, and even beans. That’s to not say that oil-based vegan cream cheeses are dangerous for you. Oil generally is a wholesome a part of your weight loss plan when consumed sparsely. 

The perfect dairy-free cream cheese manufacturers

Beneath are our high picks for vegan cream cheeses whether or not you’re utilizing them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert.

Philadelphia

1 Philadelphia

Yep, essentially the most iconic cream cheese model of all of them, Philadelphia, is now within the vegan recreation. It launched its first plant-based cream cheese on the finish of 2022, and in June 2023, it launched three vegan flavors nationwide: Unique, Strawberry, and Chive & Onion.
Discover it right here

Miyoko’s Creamery

2 Miyoko’s Creamery

On the lookout for one thing with minimal substances? Miyoko’s is a stable alternative. Made solely with cashews, coconut cream, salt, and cultures, these items is as unprocessed as you may get within the schmear division. It’s tremendous thick and velvety and is available in 4 flavors: basic plain, All the things, Savory Scallion, and cinnamon raisin.  
Discover it right here

Kite Hill

3 Kite Hill

An outlier within the vegan cream cheese market, Kite Hill makes use of almond milk as a base for its many creamy spreads. It’s barely thinner than different manufacturers, however what it could lack in thickness it makes up for in taste. Choices embrace plain, chive, all the things, and backyard veggie.
Discover it right here

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4 Tofutti

From the makers of the novelty ice cream, this old-school vegan model’s Higher Than Cream Cheese lives as much as its title. Whereas newer manufacturers could have obtained extra hype, this schmear is completely serviceable in baked items and by itself. You’ll find it in most grocers and it tends to be essentially the most reasonably priced possibility as nicely. 
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Dealer Joe’s

5 Dealer Joe’s 

The grocery store is nicely on its approach to providing a vegan possibility for each product it sells. Labeled as Vegan Cream Cheese Various, this plain unfold is one other win for all plant-based Dealer Joe’s customers. Professional tip: combine in just a few shakes of Dealer Joe’s All the things Bagel Seasoning to make this schmear a bit extra attention-grabbing.
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Daiya

6 Daiya 

Identify a dairy product, and this long-standing vegan firm possible makes it. The model not too long ago reformulated its inaugural cream cheese to enhance its wealthy style and silky texture. Among the many 4 flavors, our favourite is the Roasted Garlic & Herbs. Additionally, if you happen to had been questioning, it’s pronounced Day-ah. 
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Violife

7 Violife

Excellent for baked items like vegan cheesecake and cream cheese swirled brownies, Violife’s Simply Like Cream Cheese is a comparatively new product underneath this non-dairy meals model’s title. Should you’re on the lookout for one of the best vegan cheesecake recipe, don’t miss our information right here.
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Easy Reality

8Kroger Easy Reality

Kroger’s Easy Reality Natural Plant-Primarily based Cream Cheese Various is simply one of many 50-plus new vegan merchandise the name-brand line launched within the fall of 2020. When a serious grocery store invests in non-dairy cream cheese, you understand the “development” is right here to remain.
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Go Veggie

9 Go Veggie

Have you ever ever bought a bathtub of non-dairy cream cheese solely to understand you picked up the Chive & Garlic taste simply earlier than making your vegan cream cheese frosting? Yep, we’ve been there. Go Veggie gives each Chives & Garlic and basic plain, and whereas each are creamy and scrumptious, positively double-check the label if you happen to’re making one thing candy.
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Treeline

10Treeline

After gaining recognition by means of its luscious, European-style gentle vegan cheeses, it’s solely pure that this firm churns out a decadent dairy-free cream cheese. The three, minimal-ingredient flavors embrace plain, Chive & Onion, and All the things.
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Spero

11Spero Meals

This vegan gentle cheese model differentiates itself from the remainder through the use of sunflower seeds for its thick and creamy base. Every of the flavors is infused with probiotics to greatest mimic their dairy-based counterparts. Select from unique, strawberry, Smoked Salmon, Herb, and pumpkin varieties the following time you’ve got toasty bagels ready for you at residence.
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Wildbrine

12 Wildbrine

This easy dairy-free cream cheese is made out of a mix of cashews and coconut cream. It will get a lift of gut-healthy micro organism from lactobacillus cultures, plus, it’s versatile sufficient to make use of as a ramification or in decadent desserts.
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WayFare

13 WayFare

Identified for its vegan bitter cream and butter, this plant-based model’s cream cheese includes a base made out of natural butter beans and natural oats. The result’s a dairy-free unfold that has a thick texture, good for bagels and crackers.
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Nurishh

14 Nurishh

Owned by Bel (additionally the house owners of two iconic cheese manufacturers, Babybel and Boursin), Nurishh first launched again in 2020, providing vegan mozzarella, camembert, and extra. Since then, it has expanded its vary additional, and in early 2023, it launched its personal sunflower seed-based cream cheese in two scrumptious flavors: Plain and Garlic & Herbs.
Discover it right here

Monty’s

15 Monty’s

Monty’s cultured cashew-based cream cheese is “mild as air,” which is why it has the suitable title of Cloud Cheese. It’s just a little completely different from many others available on the market as a result of it’s packaged inside a squeezable sachet. In keeping with the model, this makes it simpler “to seize and simpler to squeeze.”
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Oatly

16Oatly

This Swedish model is likely to be recognized greatest for its oat milk, however that’s not the one scrumptious product in its portfolio. Alongside merchandise like Oatgurt and ice lotions, it additionally gives velvety oat-based cream cheese unfold, too.
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Observe Your Coronary heart

17 Observe Your Coronary heart

California-based vegan cheese model Observe Your Coronary heart’s dairy-free vary is in depth, tasty, and, after all, it consists of vegan cream cheese. Made with coconut oil, it is usually gluten-free, soy-free, non-GMO, and, most significantly, good on a freshly toasted bagel.
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Darë

18 Darë

Primarily based in North Carolina, Darë makes a speciality of aged, artisan, completely vegan cheeses. However alongside wedge choices like Pepperjack, Balsamic Fig, and Roasted Garlic, you may as well discover cashew-based cream cheeses in three tasty flavors: Unique, Smoked Pimento, and Veggie.
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Nature’s Fynd

19 Nature’s Fynd

This vegan cream cheese from Nature’s Fynd is made with the model’s signature Fy Protein, which is derived from fungi. It’s easy, creamy, simply spreadable, and way more sustainable than the choice. Plus, it’s additionally nut- and soy-free.
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Vevan

20 Vevan

Vevan is aware of its cheese, and that’s as a result of it was based by actual cheesemakers. Owned by Shuman Cheese, it has mixed the ability of cheese specialists with plant-based substances to create scrumptious one hundred pc vegan merchandise which might be simply as tasty as their animal-derived counterparts. It has a number of completely different UnCreamCheese flavors on supply, together with Plain, Strawberries & Cream, and Caramelized Peach & Maple.
Discover it right here

Charlotte is a author and editor based mostly in sunny Southsea on England’s southern coast.

Tanya Flink is a Digital Editor at VegNews in addition to a author and runner residing in Orange County, CA.