A great vegan cheeseboard should be simple. Pair just two or three special blocks of vegan cheese with a well thought out combination of flavours and textures.
Let’s face it most vegan cheese tastes just as much like plastic as the packaging it comes in. And while abundant charcuterie boards and lavish platters are trending hard at the moment, they are often more style than substance.
It sounds counter-intuitive but if you want to put together an exceptional vegan cheeseboard then you need to make the cheese part of the board minimal. Avoid the temptation of grabbing every vegan cheese you can find in the supermarket and hunt down a local vegan cheese producer instead. Go for quality over quantity and purchase just two or three artisanal vegan cheeses. Sure, an artisan block of cheese costs three times as much but it will also taste three times better!
A great vegan cheese board should also be simple. Pair those two or three special blocks of cheeses with a well thought out combination of flavours and textures. I like to break it down into four elements; creamy, crunchy, salty and sweet.
Vegan Cheese Board Guide
Creamy
Cheese
The best vegan cheeses are the creamy varieties. The vegan community hasn’t quite accomplished a sharp mature cheddar and while I’m sure there is one in development, for now, it’s best to stick with a vegan brie, feta or soft block.
There are a growing number of vegan artisanal cheese producers. In the UK look for brands like I Am Nut Ok, Mouse’s Favourite, New Roots and Kinda Co. who are all making an incredible variety of cheeses.
I haven’t tried them all but the ones I have tried I’ve been impressed with. For this cheese board I used the I Am Nut Ok PapaRica and Fetamorphosis.
If you can only make it to the supermarket, I also highly recommend the Violife Greek Block.
Hummus
Another great addition to the vegan cheese board is hummus. Sure adding hummus seems a little rogue considering its Middle Eastern heritage but I truly think no vegan meal is complete without it.
Hummus is creamy and flavourful and an excellent way to bulk out a vegan cheeseboard when you’ve just dropped £20 on two blocks of small-batch vegan cheese.
To keep all the flavours on the board cohesive, make sure your hummus recipe is simple. Garlic and lemon are perfect additions or try our recipe for caramelised onion hummus.
Crunchy
To balance out all those creamy textures, you need to come in hot with 2 or 3 varieties of crunchy crackers. Crackers rather than bread are a great way to balance your textures better and an easy means to keep the board gluten-free.
I recommend making your own crackers to add a little extra finesse to the board. Remember we are going for quality over quantity!
We have two great cracker recipes on the blog which I’ve included on my cheeseboard. The cheesy-mite crackers made with chickpea flour and the super-seeded crackers which are completely grain-free.
Salty
No cheeseboard is complete without a very salty element.
While most cheese boards include some sort of cured meat the plant-based options are a little more limited. My go-to is olives, simple pitted green olives, kalamata olives or marinated olives will all make wonderful additions to your board.
If you’re not a massive olive fan then try some dry-packed sundried tomatoes! These are a game-changer if you’ve only ever eaten sundried tomatoes in oil!
Sweet
Whether you like fresh fruit, quince paste or dried fruit on your cheeseboard a little bit of sweet will always elevate cheese and crackers.
I prefer to serve my board with just one sweet element and went with a bunch of amber coloured muscat grapes. Muscat grapes are intensely sweet and have a beautiful floral aroma which makes them a real treat to include on your board.
If you can’t find Muscat grapes just go with your favourite grape variety. Pears are also great with cheese but will brown quickly once cut so make sure to plunge them in lemon water before assembling on your board.
Of course, quince paste, soft prunes, Medjool dates and dried apricots are also classic options for your board.
In Summary
A great vegan cheeseboard is simple, mostly homemade and includes a well-balanced combination of flavours and textures such as:
- 2-3 artisanal vegan cheese varieties
- 1 creamy dip, like hummus
- 2 types of crunchy crackers
- Olives or dry-packed sundried tomatoes
- A bunch of good quality grapes, quince paste or dried fruit
Vegan Cheeseboard Recipe
ingredients
- 2-3 vegan artisanal cheese varieties
- 1 portion super seeded crackers
- ½ portion cheesy-mite crackers
- 200g olives or dry-packed sundried tomatoes
- 1 portion caramelised onion hummus
- 1 bunch muscat grapes, 100g quince paste or 200g dried fruit
process
Place your olives, hummus and feta (if using) in small ramekins.
Add your crackers to the board first, placing the different varieties on opposite sides of your board. Place one of the cheeses beside one of the cracker varieties and then alternate the hummus and olive ramekins with the feta or second cheese.
Use your fruit of choice to fill in any gaps on the board.
Finish the hummus and feta with a drizzle of olive oil and freshly ground black pepper.
