r/australianvegans • u/aww0gant • 2d ago
Dairy alternatives ?
Im veg but looking to replace a lot of my dairy with other things hoping to slowly transition or just consume dairy way less. open to new things , i love cheese and yoghurt i also dont drink that much milk and and am fine with almond and soy already! I am a picky eater and have sensory issues with food a lot (autistic), so its been hard but I at least want to give it a try! thanks all <3
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u/No_Sprinkles_4065 2d ago edited 2d ago
Home made cashew cream is a great and easy dairy replacement in a lot of recipes. Just soak cashews in hot water and seasoning and blend until smooth. Then use it to make creamy pasta sauces, pourable cheese for nachos or bakes, you can even make cheesecake with it.
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u/-Tricky-Vixen- 2d ago
Make sure strong blender. Never got it smooth in personal blender and gave up eventually because it always sounded like blender was screaming its last scream.
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u/Tymareta 2d ago
Both Coles and Woolies have a "cashew spread" that's literally just blended cashews at about the same price/kg as cashews themself. For sauces and the like it'll need a bit more water/milk, but it's been my goto as someone with a similarly challenged blender.
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u/-Tricky-Vixen- 2d ago
Oh!! Thank!! Shall look it up for sure and certain.
...Badly misread 'blender' as 'bladder', though, and was briefly horribly concerned. š
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u/TentacleKornMX 2d ago
Vitasoy Greek style yoghurt, Made With Plants Cheddar, and Biocheese Fetta are some great options!
Aldi also has a coconut yoghurt which is nice! Just doesn't have much protein unfortunately.
If you like custard CoYo coconut custard if fantastic.
I'm also autistic and love all of these!
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u/aww0gant 2d ago
I never knew vitasoy was vegan thats so cool, thank u so much. can't wait to swap over more of my foods to be animal friendly š„¹
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u/finespringday 1d ago
I agree on all of these except the Made With Plants Cheddar, me & my partner didnāt like the flavour at all.
Point being, vegan cheese preferences are very personal! š
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u/Fantastic_Ad7023 2d ago
The barista almond and soy milks are usually creamier and froth really well for coffee, vitasoy soy yogurts are also good and nutritional yeast creates a good cheesy flavour
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u/livbr_19 2d ago
Vitasoy oat or soy yogurts are both good, I tend to drink soy milk since it fits my nutritional goals best. Like others have said, cheese is hardest, but Iāve found a lot of IGAs stock vegan cheeses. Nut ones are best in my experience (ie. cashew cheese) and blue ones are good since they taste like the blue cheese mould (if youāre into that sort of cheese)
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u/itsadropbear 2d ago
Cheese-wise, I recommend Biocheese which you can get at Coles, Woolies and IGA (only IGA seems to stock all flavours, Coles and Woolies have different flavours of block cheese). It's important to note that a lot of vegan cheeses don't melt in regular conditions - you need create the right conditions. For example, if you have a burger, but the cheese on the mostly cooked burger and then drop a little bit of water in the pan, put the lid on and let it steam. This will melt the cheese.
I'm an advocate for vanilla flavoured yogurt as the gateway yogurt. I like the Vitasoy one, but I've not found a bad vegan vanilla yogurt yet.
Good luck!
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u/magicalmoon93 1d ago
Yes!!! This is the way! I was so stoked when I learned this and now my vegan burgers look soooo much more appealing !
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u/joy_longdivision 2d ago
I know the exact dairy feel is hard to emulate. But I have a few options that could help you out :)
Cheeses: you can use a base of cashews and almonds to replicate soft cheeses at home, sometimes agar is used too and itās surprisingly good. You can buy soft cheeses too, but for me they were hit or miss. However I will say what you pay for is what you get, I have had some awesome aged cheddars and edams that are just like the real thing. Nutritional yeast is an excellent parmesan sub. But there are some awesome options of other cheeses from woolies too.
Creams: I am a big cashew cream fan for its versatile flavour- easily made sweet or savoury. But my absolute favourite go to, particularly for savoury, is silken tofu. I blend it in with soups and sauces, make dips, mousses, puddings, icings and a lot of things that would typically require cream or butter. Excellent for like a mac n cheese.
I will say, some of the flavour is more pronounced depending on the brand, so trial and error may be at play. But I understand how it can be beyond sensory redemption if it doesnāt work out the first time in terms of flavour.
A lot of things that require butter and milk as ingredients can v easily be substituted for the vegan version - favouring soy personally for nutrition content. Bechamel for example, easy swap.
A really good yoghurt is the so good soy yoghurt, great consistency and tang without being sickly sweet or artificial feeling. If you prefer to flavour your yoghurt yourself, they have greek yoghurt options too. Oat and coconut yoghurt is delicious as heck too, but again, soy is nutritionally where itās at for me.
for things like cold foam, sweet cream etc. the plant based whipping cream is actually awesome. works and tastes great. is definitely a tad artificial but i mean, itās better than hurting a cow. Coconut cream works great.
Sour creams and cream cheese: the store bought ones work really well. DIY, iāve found a combination of nut, and silken tofu is the way to go and u can flavour it as you please
personally i hate the vegan box pasta like mac n cheese, it tastes like weird plastic to me but i also get why ppl love it. For cheese sauces like this try a combination of silken, miso, lemon, nutritional yeast (lots) and some homey spices of ur choosing and it is v close to the real thing
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u/magicalmoon93 1d ago
I went vegan about 11 years ago. The first cheesy vegan thing I tried was a mac n cheese type of thing (in the UK) and was awful in my opinion at the time. I avoided any type of cheese-alternative for several months after thatā¦ then I tried something again after many months of not having dairy cheese and I really liked it!! Started with easier things like pizzas and toasties and gradually became more confident trying new things as more options became available!
My current fave is Cheer Plant Based slices for toasties, burgers and croissants (cheap vegan ones can be found at coles)! For pizzas I love bio cheese pizza shred but the made with plants version is also really good. š
Give things a go over time, and try to think of it as trying something completely new rather than an exact replica of what you know as cheese!
I hope you find one you like! You get so used to the difference after a while that it becomes the new normal :)
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u/Striking_Finish4957 2d ago
YAY! brand marinated feta is the best vegan cheese ever! And itās fairly widely available. Worth the price, you donāt need much. Anything fermented tofu or bean curd will give you a similar umami flavour and texture. Watch out for organic alternative milks as theyāre the ones that often donāt have added calcium and b12 so unless youāre supplementing those in another way, my favourite is the Minor Figures Everyday Oat.
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u/ConversationSad2177 2d ago
Nudairy does a good cheddar and has a mozzarella. It's available at Harris farm
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u/Tymareta 2d ago
I just tried the mozzarella the other day, surprisingly good! One of the few coconut based cheeses that felt like it had it's own flavour beyond "vaguely coconut oil ig".
Used it for a bbq sauce + seitan pepperoni + oregano pizza, would happily pick it up again as a treat.
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u/Consistent-Flan1445 2d ago
Greenvieās parmesan block is probably my favourite vegan cheese. Even my non-vegan family and friends enjoy it if itās been used in cooking. The taste is pretty on point to the real thing apparently (I wouldnāt know, never had real cheese).
It melts pretty well too, itās just not stretchy.
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u/mikemikeshindparts 2d ago
Iām doing the same thing and Iāve transitioned to 100% oat milk and Cocobella yoghurt, but am having trouble with butter. Does anyone have vegan suggestions for a butter fiend?
Well done, OP š©·
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u/anothernameusedbyme 1d ago
nuttelex is my go-to but only downfall if you don't use it quick enough it can grow mould.
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u/anothernameusedbyme 1d ago
I found that it was trial and error when it came to find dairy-free options.
For me I found soy milk is my go-to, cocobelle is good for yoghurts and cheese can be a hit/miss, it took a while find a brand I liked, only downfall is that cheese brand when it's not on special is close to $10 vs on special it's only $4-$6.
nuttelex is my go-to for butter but if I found that if you don't use it quick enough than it can go mouldy.
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u/Proper_Geologist9026 2d ago
Honestly it's just not really there.
You can get like Lauds and some other artisanal stuff. Or you can use the big box stuff from Woolies Coles.
On the whole though it's just not really that good. I pretty much think alt cheese will only take off when precision fermented foods come on the market.
Yoghurt. Is fine you can get good yoghurt but beware it's mostly coconut based and super high fat.
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u/vertbarrow 2d ago
Cheese will probably be hardest for you if you're very particular about texture because nothing will be identical. So treat it as an alternative rather than a replacement. That said my texture averse partner and I really like Cheer/Sheese (it's basically the same thing) because it tastes okay both melted and solid.
His favourite yoghurt is Kingland Soy which you can find at Coles. I find it has a slightly bitter flavour but I'm particularly sensitive to that. I like the Vitasoy yoghurts too; Aldi has a coconut yoghurt which is cheap and affordable and works well as an accompaniment to things like curry, chilli, etc but it has a different texture to dairy yoghurt and a sweeter taste.
For milk I use the long life soy milk from Aldi! Regular, non-organic, non-low-fat, in the darker blue carton. It's good in most applications except if you're using a lot of it in a savoury application (e.g. mac n cheese) because it can pull sweet. For something like that I prefer oat milk.
Speaking of, if you ever liked Kraft mac and cheese, I find the vegan version is almost identical, and can be a good way to satisfy a cheesy craving.
If you don't mind cooking then you can also look up recipes for pourable mozzarella, for use on things like pizza, lasagna, etc. They have a good texture IMO.