The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook: Delicious Dairy-Free Cheeses and Classic "Uncheese" Dishes

by Joanne Stepaniak

Enjoy eating and cooking all your favourite cheesy dishes without the cholesterol, animal products and dairy allergies that can be harmful to your health.

Genres: Cookbooks, Vegan, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Vegetarian

191 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Joanne Stepaniak, M.S.Ed., is a writer, an educator, a cooking instructor, and the author of several cookbooks.

Reviews

[Colelea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fabulous recipes. My criticism is the cheeses can be really hard to make. The sauces and stuff are easy and wonderful but the cheeses require materials most people do not keep on hand so update yr pantry immediately after buying this to include copious amounts of cheesecloth, pimentos, raw cashews, nutritional yeast and tahini (seriously these things are in almost every recipe!)

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book. As a long time vegan, one of the few animal foods I still occasionally miss is cheese, especially sharp cheddar cheese. Unfortunately, all vegan cheeses I've tried, including the recipes in this book, don't taste anything like the "real thing" to me. At least they tried, and I know some people who have really enjoyed the recipes. Also, a lot of vegan cheese recipes seem to call for mustard (a food I don't like at all and can taste in food even in tiny amounts), and mustard is not in many of the recipes in this book, so I appreciate that.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite cookbook ever. Seriously. The "cheddar" soup with veggies is amazing. I love the fact that her cheese recipes aren't just variations on the old flour and nutritional yeast theme. Although she does have some great nut. yeast recipes, she also gets really creative with ingredients like white beans, roasted red peppers, and tofu.

[A. B · Rating 2 out of 5]

These recipes call for a lot of tofu and soy and yeast, corn, and nuts. The tofu and the soy are used in almost every recipe and it is well known that they are disastrous to health. It's too hard to substitute both of these in every recipe. There are other things that are not healthy but they can be easily substituted or disregarded. The soy and the tofu however have too much of an important role in these recipes.
There was some really great information given in the first 32 pages! But I decided to return the book because after reading it and looking at all the ingredients I knew this wouldn't be useful for me.
Also, readers should've been cautioned about the ill effects of tofu and soy. Because the author seems to not be aware of these effects in the slightest it makes me distrustful of everything she has written.
This book definitely doesn't fit into my organic and health conscious life style.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of my favorites a few years ago, right after I first turned vegan and missed cheese. It got me through, and now, since I rarely crave that gooey cheezyness, I don't use it much. But I keep it just in case - a few of these recipes are useful for convincing the doubters and cheese-addicts that there is life after cheese.

[gilleoin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly, I have only made a few of the recipes in this one, but I always come back to the one for on the French onion soup- I use my own soup recipe, but love her vegan cheese for on the toasts XD

There were a couple more I've used and liked- the Welsh Rarebit and some of the fondue recipes are pretty tasty.

[Tisha (IG: Bluestocking629) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some cookbooks I can review and rate just by reading them because I know the recipes will turn out terrific. This one was really tough. I earmarked a gaggle of recipes but who's to say how they will turn out... so I may change that rating once I make a couple of the "uncheese" dishes 😊

[Gillycat · Rating 5 out of 5]

can't wait to try some of these recipes

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many people seem to like this book. I want to like it too, but the recipes I've tried have been hit or miss, mostly to do with personal taste, not with preparation. I do like a cheeze sauce she includes--it's one of the easiest vegan "cheeze" sauces that I've encountered. The vegan muenster cheese is quite a treat; not in any way mistakable for the real thing, but certainly not bad and somewhat impressive as a party dish, with crackers and olives, pickles, etc. Other things in the book haven't gone so well, but I intend to try again. I've found that lots of things can be omitted or substituted. Many of the recipes call for tahini, but I can't stand tahini so I often leave it out or substitute cashew butter, and it works out just fine.

Merged review:

So many people seem to like this book. I want to like it too, but the recipes I've tried have been hit or miss, mostly to do with personal taste, not with preparation. I do like a cheeze sauce she includes--it's one of the easiest vegan "cheeze" sauces that I've encountered. The vegan muenster cheese is quite a treat; not in any way mistakable for the real thing, but certainly not bad and somewhat impressive as a party dish, with crackers and olives, pickles, etc. Other things in the book haven't gone so well, but I intend to try again. I've found that lots of things can be omitted or substituted. Many of the recipes call for tahini, but I can't stand tahini so I often leave it out or substitute cashew butter, and it works out just fine.

[Ronny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to be a vegan, and cheese was the one product for which a reasonable facsimile could not be found. Therefore, this book was a Godsend. I only remember making two recipes.

1. A pimento cheese spread. It was good.
2. Mozzarella (sauce?). It was great hot, but terrible cold.

That was enough to make this book essential for me. Since I didn't make more recipes, I did not feel right giving it a higher score.

[Lisita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skimmed over it and found some great ideas for non-dairy items I never knew existed. My DD outgrew her allergy and I didn't end up trying very many recipes. I was helpful so I rate it a 3 for what I learned but not more because my DD never would eat anything I made from the book. Never look good to her.

[Sarah Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very well organized and informative book. I haven't yet gained the courage to try any of these recipes (or maybe it's desperation that's required) but I haven't eaten cheese for so long that I don't really miss it. I have been using a vegan cheese on my gluten-free pizzas, so maybe this summer I'll get around to trying out a couple of these recipes.

[Jayme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tons of cheesy goodness. Gives a lot of great, healthy cheese alternatives. Everything from spreads to main courses to blocks of cheese to desserts. Could have scored more points with more pictures. I can't wait to try making my own cheese block, they look delicious!

[McArthur Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have ever *loved cheese* and for some reason or another can no longer eat it, this is your NEW BEST FRIEND! Really easy, simple recipes with ingredients you can buy easily right in your town. Delicious, nutritious; a fantastic resource.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book has some great recipes that will satisfy most people's cheese cravings.. most of the recipes are easy to prepare...

[Marty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually have the older edition but anytime you want to make a vegan "cheese" this will have a good solution.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never tried a recipe, but they were intriguing efforts of chemistry.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the vegan feta! yum!

[Deanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book saved my life! For those of you looking for dairy-free cheese substitutes that actually taste GREAT, this is the book. Woooohoooooo!!

[Brianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The baked macaroni was great, but the Fettuccine Alfonso was lacking. Definitely put some more flavor into the dishes when you make them!

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's face it, nothing rakes the place of cheese, but this has some pretty good recipes. (Helps if you like nutritional yeast.)

[Lynee · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a long time vegan, I was really excited to try this book. Every recipe I tried tasted nothing like cheese and did not match the texture or look of cheese.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute must for any vegan kitchen!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would have been much more appealing with pictures, but even without I found a lot of recipes I would like to make.

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very good recipes, also some equally not good ones. I use this pretty frequently.

[Ann Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good recipes and great encouragement for those living on a dairy restricted diet who miss cheese terribly!

[Daniel Schulte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really should try some of the recipes before I rate the book, but they all sound fantastic. Must try them!

[Cristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow! Lots of alternative ways to have that "cheese" flavor without the cheese! Wonderful resource!

[Shannon Lionheart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yumo!

[matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helped me many years ago to transition to a vegan diet - the recipes have now been updated and are even better with lots of soy free options.