Hi Vegetarian Carnivores! As you know, I am all about creating vegan versions of all of our favorite comfort foods. And espeically now during shelter in place/ lockdown/ quarantine/ whatever you want to call it, comfort foods are an absolute must on our to do list. That is why I am SO grateful to the wonderful Miyoko’s Creamery for sending me a lovely (and amazing!) care package with their wonderful products! For those of you who don’t know, Miyoko’s is a plant based dairy substitute brand. Their mission is to extend compassion to all beings, while not compromising one bit on taste or integrity. It is so in line with what my own mission, so I am very thankful for the opportunity to create recipes with their tasty products! Today’s tasty comfort food is a loaded vegan grilled cheese!
Vegan cheese is best!
Grilled cheese has always been special to me. I remember when I was a kid and my mom and I would make and eat grilled cheese together and she’d put it in my scrambled eggs and it was just heaven in a bowl.
When I stopped eating cheese I REALLY missed cheese. I don’t miss it anymore, but cheese was one of the hardest things for me to stop eating. I missed my mac and cheese, I missed grilled cheese, and I just missed all the warm comforting foods that I associated with feeling safe and cozy.
Little did I know there was a way! And it is a way that now I truly believe tastes way better than the dairy version. Back when I was still transitioning away from dairy, I remember going to a party (ah back in the days before lockdown) and seeing a pot of piping hot mac and cheese in the buffet line. It had been a few months since I had cheese at that point, but since I still considered myself transitioning I let myself have some. After all, the smell was so inviting.
But let me tell you, the yumminess stopped at the smell. As soon as I took a bite, I was immediately repulsed by the taste. It was like I had been deconditioned from cheese. I did a bit of digging after that and found out that dairy actually creates an addiction-like dependence in your brain, similar to what opiates do!
I NEVER though I could say I don’t like dairy cheese. But trust me, if I (who used to eat cheese every day multiple times) can get to this point, there is definitely hope for all of you!
Miyoko’s
I found everything I was looking for in cheese when I found vegan cheeses, specifically Miyoko’s. Their cheese has all the same textures and flavors, while containing such wholesome ingredients. Their cheeses melt exactly the same and create that *cheeeeeze pull* that is oh-so-satisfying. They taste so delicious, and leave me feeling energized, instead of gross and bloated, like dairy used to make me.
And perhaps most importantly, they are kind. They are kind to the earth, creating a far smaller footprint from being plant based. They are kind to animals, by letting them live in peace, without disrupting their lives. And they are kind to humans. Dairy contains so many harmful hormones and some pretty disgusting ingredients that we should not be putting into our bodies. Vegan cheeses, including Miyoko’s, make their products from whole foods that I can feel good about putting in my body
Let’s get started!
Ingredients
- 4 slices bread (I used Dave’s Killer Bread, which is naturally darker brown, so my grilled cheeses turned out pretty dark after grilling)
- 2 tbsp Miyoko’s butter, plus 1 tbsp for sauteing
- 4 slices Miyoko’s farmhouse cheddar and pepperjack
- 4 1-inch thick slices firm tomatoes
- 1 medium white onion, julienned
- Vegan parmesan, to garnish
- Cilantro, to garnish
Instructions
- Caramelize the onions in 1 tbsp butter- around 20 minutes on medium heat. Set aside.
- Spread half a tbsp butter on each slice of bread.
- On low heat place two bread slices butter side down and distribute cheese slices evenly.
- When the cheese starts to melt, distrubute the tomatoes and caramelized onions evenly across the sandwiches.
- Put the other two slices of bread on the slices already on the stove and flip over carefully (butter side down)
- Let sit for two minutes and flip over again until each side is uniformly golden brown.
- Garnish with Parmesan and cilantro.
- Enjoy!
Results
These grilled cheeses we SO good I couldn’t stop eating them! The cheese was perfectly gooey, and everything we look for in a perfect grilled cheese sandwich. I promise you won’t miss the dairy in this recipe!
Give it a try and let me know what you think! And definitely check out Miyoko’s creamery for some incredible vegan dairy substitutes!
See you soon!
Janani <3 <3
Like I reiterated, my goal is to simply learn the ways to Cook the right cuisnes and be able to treat myself to delicacies such as this, so I am actually very okay with eating both the vegan and non-vegan meals. This grilled cheese and crispy shared here is actually good and might be tried very soon. Would lobe to share my experience with it. Thanks
That’s awesome! One of my goals is to inspire non vegans to eat more vegan food so I’m so glad you feel this way
What a great deal of information that you have given out in this awesome and interesting article I must give you a big thumbs up… I encountered an article like this on the internet and it changed my knowledge about Vegan Grilled Cheese and gave me a new system to approach it…This high protein-rich Vegan Grilled Cheese I enjoyed a vegetarian restaurant which is really awesome. And I will try to make it in my house following your complete instructions. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Thank you for your comment! I’m glad you are inspired to try this!