What is Vegetarian Cheese?

Vegetarian cheese is cheese without animal rennet. But plant-based vegan cheese substitutes are also suitable for a vegetarian diet. Vegan cheese is made from yeast flakes, cashews, almonds or soybeans, among other things. As a product, it is an animal-free alternative for pasta and many other dishes from casseroles to pizza.

Vegetarian cheese simply explained

When it comes to the popular ingredient cheese, the following applies: vegetarian does not mean vegan in this case. In practice, however, the differences often merge. Vegan means a complete renunciation of animal products, including milk and eggs. Vegetarian diets, on the other hand, can contain dairy products, since no animals are usually killed in their production. However, animal rennet is required for the production of many types of cheese. This comes from the abomasum of slaughtered young ruminants – mostly from calves. Consequently, cheese with animal rennet is not vegetarian. There are also vegetarian cheeses with microbial rennet on the market. Rennet is enzyme that cause milk to curdle: These enzymes are an important step in the traditional production of cheese

Rennet-free, vegetarian, vegan: cheese has many facets

If you want to eat cheese without animal rennet, you should pay attention to the product labeling “rennet-free” or the V-Label for “vegetarian”. If you are unsure, it is best to ask at the cheese counter. An example of rennet-free hard cheese is Italian Montello. Popular pasta cheeses such as Parmesan or Pecorino, on the other hand, are not vegetarian. However, many products are not clearly labelled. For this reason, vegan cheese substitutes are a suitable alternative if you want to play it safe or completely avoid animal products.

You can buy vegan cheese in stores or make it yourself, for example from cashew, almonds or yeast flakes. Ideally, you should use aromatic spices to refine it – according to your choice and taste. With plant-based vegan spread or processed cheese, lasagne, casseroles or pizza are completely milk and rennet-free and taste delicious!

By the way: Depending on the ingredients and the manufacturing process, vegan cheese is usually more sustainable than cheese made from milk, since conventional cattle farming in particular is commonly associated with climate-damaging processes. However, it makes sense to take a look at the climate balance of the ingredients of vegan cheese in order to keep an eye on your own ecological footprint.