Need A Substitute For Cheese

[ArtGirl]

There are several good casserole recipes that, unfortunately, call for cheese. I'm off dairy and soy, so any immitation cheeses are out. I was wondering if maybe mayonnaise would work as a replacement - does it do okay cooked?

[AndreaB]

I have a recipe for cashew cheese. It calls for emes kosher gel but you could use gelatin instead I imagine. It needs to be frozen and you just grate what you need. It has good flavor but of course doesn't work like regular cheese. I would think it would work in casseroles, you may want to decrease liquid a tad.

[lorka150]

The book I mentioned, the Uncheese Cookbook, has many things that 'melt' perfectly and work well in casseroles. Pending the recipe, you might be able to go cheeseless, add some nutritional yeast, and go from there.

[AndreaB]

Lorka,

Does the uncheese cookbook have a lot of different recipes that don't use soy? What types of ingredients do they use?

[lorka150]

most of them are based on nutritional yeast - some with cashews, agar agar for texture. they also have cheese recipes in it (not just cheese itself), but meaning soups, stews, casseroles, et cetera. it ranges from fake block cheese to cream cheese to nacho cheese to cheeze whiz.

[Nancym]

That is interesting, I'll have to look for those. When giving up dairy I decided stuff like casseroles was pretty much impossible, so I have been cooking more along the lines of SE asian things. Which is great, love their food!

[lorka150]

nancym - i mentioned in another post that i got the book from ebay for about 5$ instead of buying it brand new. either way, it is worth every penny.

[emcmaster]

If you can handle casein (which, of course, is dairy), Rice Shreds makes good rice milk-based cheese. I can't handle dairy whatsoever, but the casein in this rice cheese doesn't seem to bother me.

[Mongoose]

There are several good casserole recipes that, unfortunately, call for cheese. I'm off dairy and soy, so any immitation cheeses are out. I was wondering if maybe mayonnaise would work as a replacement - does it do okay cooked?

I think it depends on the role that cheese plays in the recipe.

Is it sprinkled on the top for flavor and color? If so, then chopped red pepper, chopped olives, gluten-free cracker or bread crumbs, etc., might play the same role. In fact, bread crumbs were the traditional topper for casseroles in decades past.

Is it an essential ingredient in the casserole itself, to help stick the ingredients together? I haven't done this yet but have been contemplating trying nut butters or seed butter (such as tahini). Nut butters are terribly expensive to buy, but can be made at much less cost in minutes in a food processor. Just process nuts with a little oil (experiment to find out how much by adding a tablespoon at a time) until butter forms. Add salt and/or sugar if desired.

I'm not big on casseroles, but have fond memories of savory rice patties (cakes?) made from cooked rice, cheese, herbs, etc., and then sauteed and served with a sauce. Hmm. This is making me hungry. I've got a couple of recipes like this that call for wild rice ... maybe pecan butter could replace the cheese

As for your question on mayo -- yes, that might work, and we do some cooking with it too, mostly to add flavor, not so much for its sticky quality. Another binder is eggs -- one or two beaten eggs added to your casserole would help it stick together.

[mmaccartney]

If you can tolerate Soy...

We use two kinds of soy cheese.

My children like Tofutti slices, but they haven't ever had milk cheese. I don't like it much.

We also use Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Cheese Alternative. This stuff I really like. They have a Monterey Jack, Nacho, Chedder and Mozzarella. I haven't tried the nacho or chedder yet. We use it on pizza, macaroni and cheese, and many other things. Check out their website: Open Original Shared Link I get it at Wild Oats!

[ArtGirl]

Thanks for all the tips. I'll give some a try (except for those with soy) and will try to find the cookbook.

(I found I had forgotten to "track" this thread so didn't think there was anymore activity on it - oops!)

[AndreaB]

I just got the uncheese cookbook on ebay. If you decide to do that, watch for shipping to see if it is fair. Amazon also has it. I haven't checked Barned & Noble or Borders.