Vegan product recommendations

I have tried vegan applewood & the smell is overpowering when you melt it in the microwave. It grossed out the rest of the family. It’s ok with jacket potatoes but the texture when melted resembles the sticky, stretchy glue they use to attach membership cards to letters in the post.
The Tesco’s vegan Wensleydale with cranberry was unpleasant.
The Sainsburys vegan cheese made from coconut smells of feet.
In short, I’ve yet to find an enjoyable vegan cheese.

Having said that, pizza express has a vegan pizza that’s okish.

You’d be better off with other vegan sandwich fillings like hummus, nut butters, smoked tofu slices, falafel, or tahini.
Leon sell a love burger sauce that is delicious. Tastes like ketchup, mayo, mustard & dill and is sooo good with Linda McCartney veggie burgers & vegan brioche style burger rolls from Sainsburys.

I just have to say that the comments made on this post are so kind & helpful.
So many times people make rude comments/personal comments when you say you’re vegetarian/vegan.
Thank you everyone x

I am vegan and love Morrisons vegan Red Leicester. Quorn vegan smokey ham slices. Aldi "beef" strips. Flora. Grinstead vegan pasty. Richmond meat free sausages. Tofu + tumeric makes "scrambled egg". Wicked raspberry + chocolate cake. Aldi's Tru choccy bars. Beyond Burger burgers (Tesco). Tesco Plant Chef mince. Also Tesco Plant Chef mince pies at Christmas are an absolute taste sensation. Wicked plant wellington. Plant Chef sausage rolls. Wicked choc chip cookies. Plus... fruit, veg, salad, herbs, spices.
And, yes, I'm a chubby vegan!

Ginsters* not Grinstead!!

I think it’s trial and error really to find out what she likes.Our two year old grandson has a mainly vegan diet due to allergies and Applewood is the only cheese he likes!

I tried Hellmans Vegan Mayo and it's really nice, just like the 'real' stuff. Every vegan cheese I've tried tastes absolutely vile and nothing like cheese and I am no cheese connoisseur, so it's definitely down to individual taste.

Not a mayo & cheese recommendation but this recipe for vegan brownies is delicious www.ruchiskitchen.com/vegan-chocolate-brownies/

And this one for vegan chocolate chip cookies is too
okonomikitchen.com/the-best-vegan-chocolate-chip-cookies/ (Use vegetable oil instead of coconut oil or vegan butter for a moist chewy texture)

We went to a pub for lunch and most of the menu was vegan, not even vegetarian, the only non vegan dish was chicken which I'm not keen on. The pub went bust because people didn't like not having much of a choice. The new landlord has a superb menu with lots of meat, and no fake food.

There are so many now, not like years ago. So I really would not worry about shopping for her, most brands are very nice even home brands now do vegan, that taste good ?

Oopsadaisy1

espee Hellmans is supposed to be good, I think they use oil instead of eggs.

They do and it’s a really good alternative. Don’t forget nut butters. High in protein - love it on toast with banana and for a treat drizzle of maple syrup (also vegan). Can really recommend Mani Life peanut butter. Once tasted you will never eat anything else! ? For cheese look at the Honestly Tasty website.

Most supermarkets do vegan mayonnaise, when it comes to cheese there are a few, it's just learning what you like. I like Morrisons V range taste cheddar sliced. If you have an Asda near they have a huge range of vegan products.

Violife Epic Mature is the best cheese by a long way and Hellmans vegan Mayonnaise is as good as the non vegan version. It's a bit trial and error really and has taken me nearly 8 years to find the ones I like.

My dd and gd are both lactose intolerant they both found vegan cheese horrible but they like goats cheese. Which doesn’t upset them.

Waitrose own grated "cheese" is good for sprinkling on pasta dishes, etc. (as is the Violife epic mature). Another vote for Hellmans. Naturli spread and block (for cooking) and coconut oil is good for cooking too. I think in a recent poll, Richmond vegan sausages won (haven't tried them yet). Loads of alternatives now - it's a growing market. A word of warning - as someone-else has pointed out, just because something is a substitute for a meat, egg or dairy product, doesn't mean it contains the same nutrients. So a lot of "not cheese" is actually higher in salt, sugar, carbs than cheese and no calcium; a lot of meat products are higher in all of them - and don't contain as much protein or iron. So, good to be aware of all of this. And talk to her about taking a supplement for things like B12, calcium and iron (can be difficult to get on a vegan diet).

Hellmans do a vegan mayo, I have yet to find a vegan cheese I like, you really have to try them.

Hell.ans mayo is edible and definitely better than most.
Most "cheese" options are horrible.
Trying to mimic the same diet as omnivores is destinedto fail.... Try to develop a different style of eating and you'll be fine.

My diet is mainly plant based. Hellmans make a lovely vegan mayo...some supermarkets are making them as well. All obese I have tasted have been lovely. As far as cheese is concerned I have yet to find a really nice one...the texture is so not right. Most ok for cooking with. Tesco do a smoked one that is probably the best I have tasted. I just go without...hopefully one day a good vegan cheese will appear. Oh...vegan soft spreading cheeses are ok

If you use Facebook, there is a group called Vegan Supermarket Finds UK which is a great resource and the members are very helpful.

Like Libman, Honestly Tasty cheese is lovely. They have their own website.

For £18.99 you can get a "selection box" of different vegan cheeses that she could try, from here:
www.yumbles.com/tyne-chease/vegan-cheese-selection-box.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwloCSBhAeEiwA3hVo_Rq7OwjE5FcmbV5Z21g_4osD1p74W_5BixrVUZ0tmSiXACxdYbRlXxoC4tMQAvD_BwE

Blue cheese from here:
thevegankind.com/p/honestly-tasty-veganzola-gorgonzola-100g?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=googleshopping&variant=32282654179422&gclid=CjwKCAjwloCSBhAeEiwA3hVo_cDsIHTXq9W8Sk4UtUy3jLrdCmyr6e9GSa9UgeVrRMb05DW45wTaXRoC2bgQAvD_BwE

More varieties, including Parmesan, here:
thevegankind.com/p/honestly-tasty-veganzola-gorgonzola-100g?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=googleshopping&variant=32282654179422&gclid=CjwKCAjwloCSBhAeEiwA3hVo_cDsIHTXq9W8Sk4UtUy3jLrdCmyr6e9GSa9UgeVrRMb05DW45wTaXRoC2bgQAvD_BwE

and lastly, a BBC Good Food survey of their opinion of the best vegan cheese:
www.bbcgoodfood.com/review/best-vegan-cheese

Vegan products do seem to vary greatly; my friend is uncomplaining and will eat virtually anything put before her, but a pizza from Sainsbury's 'Free From ' section, which was also vegan, completely defeated her. She said the cheese was the worst thing she had ever attempted to eat, and couldn't get through more than two mouthfuls - the second only to confirm how disgusting it really was.

Helmans mayo and Ilchester melting cheese are top choice in our house

I'm not vegan or vegetarian but do enjoy a meal made with vegetables. A local Indian restaurant advertised its "vegan menu" so I thought I'd give it a go. I was very disappointed to find that all of the meals were made with meat, poultry or fish substitutes rather than real vegetables or pulses as they would be in many traditionally vegetarian countries.
I appreciate that cheese is something many people enjoy, but surely trying to mimic a non-vegan/vegetarian food is just a bit odd.

One problem I see with 'vegan' products is that they are as 'ultra-processed' as any non-vegetarian/vegan products- maybe more so. How else do they produce something approaching cheese without having to use more processes than 'naturally' produced cheeses? Is is necessary to consume products made in a factory? I'm not a vegan as I don't think I could manage without eggs, cheese and yoghurt and yes, dairy products are processed to a greater or lesser extent, but plant-based foods, dressed up to look natural, are a result of far more processes.

I’m vegan and as others have said it may be better to wait a while before trying vegan cheese. Quite a lot of them taste absolutely vile when you first go vegan and still have the memory of dairy cheese. Your palate needs time to forget the taste. I even spat a few out when I tried them after only being a few weeks vegan. I’ve been vegan just over two years and I still can’t find a cheese that I 100% really like but we all have different tastes. It’s trial and error.
Hellmans mayo is fab and so is Tesco plant based. All the best for her vegan journey and I hope she’ll find a cheese really soon.