Vegan cheese doesn't melt like the real deal. That could soon change

Vegan cheeses are getting closer to the taste and texture of the real thing. Kevin White/ATK hide caption

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Kevin White/ATK

An Israeli company called DairyX claims to have created a milk protein in a lab that could revolutionize dairy-free cheeses.

DairyX has found a way to synthesize casein proteins, according to its CEO, Arik Ryvkin. Caseins help give cheese that wonderful, creamy, stretchy texture when melted.

“We take the casein gene from a cow and we put it into a yeast,” Ryvkin said. “This yeast creates a protein which is identical to the protein produced by cows, but no cow was involved in the process.”

The technology is part of a long-running effort to make veggie cheeses more appealing.

Dan Souza, chief content officer for America’s Test Kitchen, said there is a growing demand for better cow-free cheeses.

“When you ask people if they would ever want to be vegan, the thing that holds up a lot of people is actually cheese," Souza said. "They’re happy giving up meat but can’t give up cheese.”

The problem with vegan cheese isn’t so much taste as it is texture, Souza said.

“Stretching and melting is such an important part of cheese. [When it comes to] non dairy cheeses, this is an area where everyone struggles.”

These vegan cheeses are good for melting on pizza or a grilled cheese sandwich. The texture is close to cheese that comes from a cow. The taste is another story. Steve Klise/ATK hide caption

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Steve Klise/ATK

Souza said the casein protein helps cheese melt in a way “...that is really, really wonderful and pleasurable.” Think pizza or a grilled cheese sandwich, for example.

But Ryvkin said it’s going to be a couple years before the first blocks of cheese with lab-grown proteins make it to your kitchen.

In the meantime, Souza recommends trying vegan options, which he said have have come a long way.

The best veggie cheeses are made with cashews, Souza said. They’re rich and creamy and he added, “We’ve tested some bries that are really good copies of a solid supermarket brie.” America’s Test kitchen has some recommendations.

If you want something that melts well, Souza said there are several shredded vegan cheeses that are quite good.

“They’ve really figured out how to get the stretch [but not quite] like you would get with real cheese, but definitely better,” he said.

One way to get the texture even closer is to combine an imitation cheese with other ingredients. The Test kitchen has a recipe for a vegan nacho dip that uses potatoes to create a more cheesy consistency.

For now, you have to choose between cow-free cheeses that melt right or taste right. But either way your options are pretty….. gouda.

Olivia Hampton edited the audio version of this story.