Home / Substitution Guides / Melting Cheese
Melt is the hardest thing to replace in dairy-free cooking. Success is half product choice, half technique · dairy-free shreds melt with moisture and cover, not dry oven heat alone.
Best for: Pizza, quesadillas, grilled cheese
Add a few drops of water and cover the pan to steam-melt.
Best for: Mac and cheese, nachos
Not nut-free; potato starch gives the stretch.
Best for: Burgers and sandwiches · nut-free melt
Dairy-free shreds brown poorly and dry out under a broiler. For pizza, add them for the last 5–7 minutes only, or tent with foil so they steam-melt first.
Adapt a recipe free with RecipeFix → · Dairy-Free Recipe Converter · Vegan Recipe Converter · Nut-Free Recipe Converter
Most plant cheeses need moisture and trapped heat to melt. Add a teaspoon of water beside a quesadilla or grilled cheese and cover the pan; in ovens, tent with foil until the last minutes.
Coconut-oil-based shreds is the closest match, at 1:1. Pizza, quesadillas, grilled cheese. Add a few drops of water and cover the pan to steam-melt.
Coconut-oil-based shreds (1:1) if you want the closest result, or Cashew queso (cashews + potato + carrot, blended hot) (as sauce) for mac and cheese, nachos. Which one is right depends on what the melting cheese was doing in the dish.
Related guides: Parmesan Cheese · Cream Cheese · Heavy Cream · All guides