Best non-cows milk cheese for melting that is also tasty?

[OMGitsnotgood]

We often have friends over for informal meals. One regular visitor has been advised to trial removing cows milk from his diet.

A lot of the dishes I make for this sort of occasion involve grated melted cheese - pizza, shepherds pie, fish pie, lasagne etc. Of course I could make something that doesn’t contain cheese, but am interested to know anyway. I also know I could just pick out something at the supermarket but I would like some suggestions based on how well a cheese melts and whether they taste ok. I bought some vegan cheese for a visitor once and it wasn’t pleasant. I don’t know whether Manchego would melt for example? Or whether there are now some decent plant based alternatives?
thanks

There are a variety of different vegan cheeses most of which take some getting used to. That’s the polite version.

personally I like goats cheese but it’s not a good replacement for grated cheese on the top of lasagna or similar and many people do not like it.

There’s nothing that even approaches palatable in my view. Sorry.

They don’t exist. Sorry. For a shepherds pie, just don’t add cheese - instead use 2/3 potato to 1/3 sweet potato for the topping instead of just potato and reserve a little of the water you cooked them in to add back to mash instead of milk plus a little chopped parsley.

Is goats cheese ok? Because there are loads of soft mild goats logs that melt into things easy and taste grand - I strongly prefer it in some things

but if it’s lactose to avoid then I’d avoid soft goats cheeses whilst he is being evaluated ( and hard cows cheeses would be ok often )

My daughter likes the Arla Lactose Free one, the ones that are vegan don't work. I buy it from Asda or Sainsburys and comes as a block or grated. Parmesan is very low in lactose and my daughter can tolerate it. Don't need much as its a strong flavour, I buy it as a block not pre grated.

I like Cathedral city plant based.

For things like shepherds pie though, you could just use nutritional yeast mixed in with the potato to give it that cheesy flavour.

I use goats cheddar for things like cottage pie topping, or cheese on toast. Soft goats cheese (the stuff in pots, not logs) for anything that needs Philadelphia style cheese. Buffalo mozzarella for pizza.

thanks all. Have those who say there isn’t a palatable one tried either the cathedral city plant based or the Arla that have been mentioned above? If theee are unpalatable to some I will just avoid cheese. Thought it worth asking. Thanks all

I put vegan smoked cheese slices on top of the quorn mince, before the potato, on a cottage pie and was nice.

The arlo locatose free cheese is good ( just hard to get round here!) but it’s still cows milk - so not necessarily suitable

I tried the cathedral city plant based and it’s not bad.

How about Halloumi? Just double check it hasn't been made with any cow's milk, they do sometimes.

I’m vegan and use Cathedral city plant based. It’s the one that I find closest to cheddar and it melts. A pp made a good suggestion of using nutritional yeast to add a cheesy flavour. I add it to lots of things.

Hey. You are all forgetting many tasty Spanish cheeses made from sheep's (oveja) or blended goat and sheep milk. Hard, tasty, meltable: Zamorano,Manchego....

Sheeps and goats cheese are perfectly suitable and will act the same as cows milk cheeses depending on what you get

Manchego and pecorino are sheeps milk and come in different stages of maturity which will affect its melting point

You can get lots of different types of hard goats cheese as well as the Welsh crumbly stuff or the French runny stuff.

Entirely depends what you're looking for

I would suggest Burrata which is buffalo but I suspect that is too similar in biology to a cow so might not suit.

I wouldnt touch any vegan stuff

The Arla lactose free cheddar is beautiful. I haven’t tried the other one mentioned. However if it’s the milk protein that has to be avoided and not just lactose, these won’t work either.

Yes that was part of my question - would eg Manchego melt ok?

Yes that was part of my OP - would eg Manchego melt ok. That would be a good option if so as it is tasty.

I can't have cow's milk but can have goat and sheep milk.
I gave up trying vegan cheese as it's just rubbish at melting.

I find Manchego works well in toasties but if I want to have something that melts e.g. over pasta, I prefer St Helens goats cheese: https://sthelensfarm.co.uk/
Personally I prefer the mild (which I get from Sainsburys) as the mature is just a bit too much for me.

Fresh young manchego yes, Fresco or semi curado.

All the ones I suggested melt fine - I use them a lot. The own brand or St Helens goats cheddar is my go to, though buffalo mozzarella is better on pizza.

I often use feta in risotto, and I think it goes well with fish, so it would be good in a fish pie or on pizza I think.

Not so sure about shepherds pie though.

I would use Manchego: it’s delicious and melts quite well. Those suggesting buffalo mozzarella, have you ever served it to someone who can’t eat dairy products? I ask because I found I was even more sensitive to buffalo mozzarella than I am to cheeses made with cows’ milk!

@cheapskatemum Yes, I’m fine with buffalo mozzarella, just not cows milk cheese.