Daiya Vegan Cheese!

Giving up cheese was one of the hardest things I had to do when I decided to go vegan. I’m sure that holds true for most vegans. Vegan cheese sucks. I’ll admit it. Not ONE vegan cheese company out there comes close to tasting like real cheese. To give you an idea, vegan cheese usually tastes like a combination of rubber and cardboard and takes nothing less than a blow torch to get a shred of it to melt properly.

Until Daiya.

Thank you Jesus (or “Cheesus” as my German says with his adorable accent) for this magnificent company who created this fantastic product! If you haven’t had a chance to get your hands on this stuff, I HIGHLY recommend it. It smells like real cheese, it melts like real cheese, it bakes, stores and freezes like real cheese, and most importantly, it TASTES like real cheese. It is truly amazing and I have no doubts that I’ll be packing on an extra 10 pounds because of it. The best part?
 
It’s completely free of:

  • Animal products (parve)
  • Cholesterol-free 
  • Trans fat-free
  • Dairy free
  • Free of Artificial Ingredients
  • Free of  Hormones & Antibiotics
  • Free of Preservatives
  • Free of common allergies including: Casein, Lactose, Whey, Soy, Wheat, Barley, Corn, Rice, Gluten and Nuts!

With 33% less fat than dairy-based cheese, it’s also an excellent source of a naturally occurring vegan vitamin B-12 as well as an excellent source of B vitamins in general.

So what is Daiya made from?

Daiya is made entirely from plant-based ingredients including cassava, a tuberous root. The process is a large part of what makes Daiya possible.

The full list of ingredients are as follows:
 

Purified water, natural whole ground cassava and/or arrowroot flours, high oleic sunflower and/or safflower and/or identity-preserved high oleic canola oil, coconut oil, pea protein, salt, inactive yeast, vegetable glycerin, natural flavors (derived from plants), xanthan gum, sunflower lecithin, natural vegan enzymes, natural vegan bacterial cultures, citric acid, natural color.

I was so excited when I found out about this. I made it my mission to find out where I could get my hands on some immediately. Rumor has it, it’s sold at Rainbow Grocery in SF but I have yet to stop in there. According to Daiya’s website, it’s only available in So Cal and a few other states for now. Thankfully, there are some online ordering options such as:

Amici’s East Coast Pizzeria is also using Daiya (by request) on their pizzas! Coincidentally, we happened to be near one last night. This is where the magic happened.

Not only are their pizza’s delicious, but they also offer an entire gluten-free menu and online ordering. Wondering if there is one in your area? Here they are!

One large order of Amici’s Asante pizza with thin, crispy, chewy crust topped with tomato sauce, vegan soy mozzarella, baby spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, and fresh basil… I was in Daiya heaven. Vegans, bitch  no longer. The answer to your cheese prayers is here.

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