It's true! In fact, most cheeses aren't vegetarian, especially European ones and those that are modeled after Old World recipes and techniques. But don't start cheese fretting yet — there are tons of great vegetarian cheeses, and with our recommended list in hand you won't go wrong.
First things first: Cheese becomes cheese through a process called acidification. It's a process that coagulates and isolates the solids in milk, which then allows the cheesemaker to manipulate those solids into various cheese styles.
Most cheeses are coagulated with an enzyme known as rennet, which is derived from the stomach lining of unweaned young animals; this enzyme helps them digest their mother's milk. In cheesemaking, that same enzyme breaks down the protein chains in liquid milk. Generally speaking, cow milk cheeses use calf rennet, goat cheeses use kid rennet, and sheep cheese uses lamb rennet. Rennet is also sometimes extracted from the lining of pigs' stomachs. Rennet usually comes in powder or liquid form, and an incredibly small amount is used to coagulate a very large amount of milk.
Vegetarian cheeses, on the other hand, are coagulated with either a synthetic, or microbial rennet, derived from mold or yeast, or with a vegetable- or plant-derived rennet, which would typically come from the cardoon thistle plant.
Rarely would you ever be able to taste a difference in taste between the two, and truly great cheeses can be made from both types of rennet.
Here's a list of some of our very favorite vegetarian cheeses:
- Cabot Clothbound Cheddar
- Consider Bardwell Dorset
- Cowgirl Creamery Redhawk and Mt. Tam
- Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog
- Fresh cheeses-- virtually all of them!
- Queso de la Serena
- River's Edge Up in Smoke
- Sartori Stravecchio
- Sweet Grass Dairy Green Hill
- Valencay
- Vermont Butter and Cheese Company cheeses
Related: Help Me Find Some Healthy, Satisfying Vegetarian Recipes
Nora Singley is an avid lover of cheese, and for some time she was a Cheesemonger and the Director of Education at Murray's Cheese Shop in New York City, where she continues to teach cheese classes for the public. She is currently an assistant chef on The Martha Stewart Show.
(Image: Flickr member nshepard licensed under Creative Commons)
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I am vegetarian and never knew this! Would rennet be mentioned in the ingredient list on the packaging?
OH NO!!!!! No more slice of pizza? I may have to rethink my vegetarianism.
@shayna, if the mozz is fresh, you're good. @Archie, rennet is usually listed on the packaging, but if you buy at a cheese shop, ask. Staff at specialty cheese shops usually know a whole lot about their product.
I know that Whole Foods labels their vegetarian cheeses as such -- offhand I'm positive that their goat cheese is.
Oh, that's the last straw! Here I am, taking pride in my six months of vegetariansm, when my cheese-eating has skyrocketed. Is there a word for a rennet-eating vegetarian? I always see rennet on ingredient lists, but did not know its origins.
I'm surprised that this even had to be mentioned.. do that many people really not know how cheese is made?
Um, pardon my ignorance, but, enzymes aside, doesn't the milk from which these are made negate the whole vegetarian thing anyhow?
I always just automatically assumed for that reason, no cheese was vegetarian.
What am I missing? Do vegans drink milk? Isn't milk an animal protein?
Trader Joe's also labels their cheeses. I believe they have a handy chart on the wall by the cheese case listing what cheeses are vegetarian.
@Archie29 If the packaging doesn't list "rennet" as an ingredient it will then be listed under "enzymes".
Patrick, vegans don't drink milk but vegetarians might. Milk comes from animals, but you only have to exploit them for it, not kill them ;)
Nearly all of the vegetarians I know (including me!) eat rennet and gelatin -- enough that when cooking for vegetarians, I assume it's not a problem unless they specify. And I don't think I know any vegetarians who avoid carmine or white sugar (which may be refined using bone char), although both are common concerns among vegans. Maybe the moral of the story for cooks is "it never hurts to ask! " :)
@ patrick (the other one): milk is an animal by-product, while rennet is not. The reason many go vegan, apart from for health reasons, is because of the poor ethical practices/politics associated with the harvesting of these by-products (of my understanding.)
I'm surprised this has to be mentioned, but then most of the vegetarians I know have no idea that most cheese is not vegetarian. Many of the vegetarians I used to wait on at the restaurant I worked at thought caesar dressing and French Onion Soup were vegetarian, toon (although if you're pescetarian, caesar dressing isn't an issue.) Some alcoholic beverages aren't vegetarian, either (Guinness, for one.)
@ASeasonToTaste: Really? Most veggies I know avoid gelatin (even kosher fish gelatin), isinglass (used to clarify some beers and wines, comes from a fish's swim bladder), and non-vegetarian rennet, though typically don't worry about it too much if consumption is accidental. "Best effort" seems to be the name of the game.
Tillamook Cheddar is vegetarian, and thus it is our go-to cheese. From the Tillamook website:
The ingredients used to make Tillamook cheddar cheese include cultured milk, enzymes, salt, and annatto. All of our cheeses are made with a microbial/vegetable based enzymes, with the exception of Tillamook Vintage White Medium Cheddar Cheese and Tillamook Vintage White Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese, which use a traditional rennet.
Most high volume cheese manufacturers in America use the synthetic Rennet since it is easier to source.
So, eggs = okay, chicken wings, notsomuch. Got it. :)
Thanks for the clarification. But I wish the rules associated with "Vegetarian" and "Vegan" were more clearcut. Guess there are too many issues and reasons associated that blur the lines.
Rennet really isn't a big hurdle, not nearly as tough as that sneaky gelatin! Even at our regular Midwest supermarkets: Cabot, some Sargento, Tillamook, BelGioioso, some of Costco's stuff, just read the ingredients. And if you don't already make your pizza with fresh mozzarella, you'll never want to go back to the shredded stuff anyway.
Seriously though, if cheese is a central part of one's vegetarian diet, maybe filling in where a leaner protein once was, perhaps it's time to rethink the approach and treat it more as a... treat.
Hello, beans :)
Trader Joe's has a great selection of cheeses made with microbial rennet.
@patrick (the other one) yeah, me too. I have a friend who is vegetarian-ish for health reasons (not ethical, thank goodness, so if I slip up I can just warn her and she'll usually eat it anyway) but she still eats fish, eggs, cheese, etc. I usually ask people if they have any foods that I should avoid when cooking for them anyway so that's a good time for new entertainees to say "Oh, I'm a vegetarian," and for me to ask if they still eat eggs and cheese. Vegans are just nuts, though.
@ASeasonToTaste Carmine is derived from a crushed bug; I was under the impression that that's why it isn't vegetarian. Didn't know bone char was involved in it's production, too.
Vegetarian is term that needs a more widely known definition. There are terms for different levels of vegetarianism but many people don't know them. And of course everyone will give up/avoid certain things (gelatine, rennet, isinglass etc) to their discretion and use a blanket term.
My pet-peeve is the ppl who call themselves "vegetarians" but still eat fish/seafood. I actually get a little offended when I hear that because they are sullying the name of proper vegetarians everywhere!
I'm the most common type, a lacto-ovo vegetarian, meaning I'll eat dairy and eggs but no flesh (aka "nothing with a face").
@ASeasonToTaste:
Oh, I don't think this (to disregard rennet or gelatin once aware of its source) is at all the norm for lacto-ovo vegetarians, not at all. I'd be sort of sad to find food prepared by a vegetarian friend contained one of the main things I avoid. I'm not bashing your choices, just saying they're certainly more on the unique side.
I think it's fair for people to set whatever boundaries they are comfortable with. I eat what I eat and I'm not a saint - I do the best I can, and I think that as long as people are thinking and making active choices, then good for them. I did not realize this about cheese but I'm going to continue to eat it. If that makes me a hypocrite I'm sorry. I also feed my dog meat dog food while I don't eat it myself but don't really see that as problematic either.
The vast majority of vegetarians I know eat cheese, and whether or not they know about rennet, I can't say.
@ejbrammer: I can't see how what your pet eats would make anyone a hypocrite. Have you seen instances where that sort of thing is implied?
I think that more people should eat what they're comfortable with and realise that many of us are just comfortable with different things.
@ patrick, who said "I wish the rules associated with "Vegetarian" and "Vegan" were more clearcut."
Haha, you say that like they're a club that won't admit you if you don't fill the dietary prerequisites
But I would say that the basic "rules" are that vegetarians don't eat animal products, and vegans don't eat any animal products or byproducts.
So a vegan is a vegetarian, but a vegetarian is not a vegan.
@ejbrammer I, personally, congratulate you on your decision to feed your dog in accordance to it's natural diet. I don't know if it's true for dogs, but cats are carnivores and will suffer from malnutrition if you try to feed them vegetarian food. It's not fair to them at all to be forced to follow their human's ethical choices.
Here's a great list of vegetarian cheeses. http://www.natural-connection.com/resource/tnc_reference_library/cheese.html
There's microbial rennet and vegetable rennet. Both are vegetarian by most standards. Tilamook is always vegetarian, as far as I can tell, so that's a good brand to grab for when you're just looking for a block of cheddar and don't have time to read ingredients.
Also, according to Wikipedia, some soft cheese are coagulated with acid, not rennet. These include paneer, cream cheese, and some mozzerellas.
I'm confused. So are baby animals killed and an enzyme from their stomachs is extracted and...what, put in a jar? For cheesemaking?
If so, does this apply to cheeses like brie or edam? And what about like kraft white american singles. I need to know!
Patrick:
vegans eat NO animal products and don't wear them either.
vegetarians eat cheese, dairy eggs and no meat. it doesn't make sense to draw lines between animal products.
if you're vegetarian for ethics, you should just realize it's easier to be vegan. no trying to justify why eggs and dairy are okay, and probably fish too for some reason classify as "vegetarian".
just simple vegan. no animals all the way.
Not to mention that pretty much all processed foods have animal products used as preservatives: mono- and diglycerides are often animal-derived (although they can be vegetable or synthetic, but the packaging wouldn't tell you). Many beers and wines also have animal products in them. The list goes on and on...
I found this a while back and found it to be quite helpful. I've not become fully vegetarian yet, but I find myself staying away from cheese made with animal rennet and gelatin as much as possible.
"Vegan" has always been clear. Hardcore. No faces. I get it. And the Kitchn has opened my eyes about the hidden difficulties of living such a stringent life. So my respect has grown, and my eyes opened. All good.
But don't make it sound like the "Vegetarian" title is just as clear cut...
It gets understandably murky because there are (as evidenced here, and the "Are eggs meat?" post debacle), MANY personal takes on it.. on both the rules of what's ingested (Beer? Fish? Eggs? Dairy? Gelatin? Isinglass??), and why. Or why not.
I find it VERY funny, though, that you can bend the personal rules (even as a Vegan) to feed a pet! I'll remember that the next time a House Tour on AT shows a cowskin rug or taxidermy, and a pet, since people seem to find that questionable behavior!
Akay--
Re: "Haha, you say that like they're a club that won't admit you if you don't fill the dietary prerequisites"
That's not far from the truth. When the subject comes up, it does seem to be (TO ME) always from a semi-exclusionary angle. When "ethics" are cited as the reason, the implication then seems to be that any other dietary regime is unethical, no... or is that just my take? It might be.
Not trying to incite anything with anyone, just interesting territory that the whole cheese thing opened up to me.
Patrick, I think that the pet aspect is only bending the rules if you're a vegetarian/vegan for ethical reasons, which not everyone is. If it's for your own health, then it doesn't matter that your pet eats animal products. And, depending on when you got your pet Vs when you became a non-meat eater.. you might not have much choice. Many types of pets don't have the luxury of being able to be non-meat eaters; I know that none of mine do (snakes and a cat).
Not sure "the pet aspect is bending the rules if you're a vegetarian/vegan for ethical reasons" works for me-- because it doesn't seem ethical to replace a carnivore's diet with anything else...so the question becomes what IS ethical to feed a carnivore?
Certainly not the bargain (or even better sometimes) brand petfoods that literally feed off the factory farmplex. At the moment, as a vegan myself, I'm feeding the carnivores in my household (one of which is a person :) the most "ethically-produced/local/clean/etc." meat I can find, including buying local and organic "raw meaty bones" to transition to "micro-local" for the dogs. This until I can raise the rabbits and chickens to supplement the purchased dog food.
The dogs have thrived on the changeover so far...less skin problems, better teeth and gums.
Kind of a "nature" ethics-- as in, what is the nature of the animal to eat? It seems to me that milk from grass fed, non-feedlot dairy is more "ethical" because it produces less suffering of the animals, although, clearly, there are the other issues involved in keeping a cow "in milk" for years-- hence, I'm a vegan, but I can see eventually perhaps letting goatmilk or goat cheese from my own goats back into my diet, on a very small, seasonal scale.
I think patrick the other one is right, there is the implication that one "dietary regime" is more ethical-- but if animals that eventually were eaten suffered less and weren't mass produced or fed what they were never intended to eat (so yes, there would be fewer, and everyone would eat less animal products), then the ethics (which includes the damage to the environment, water usage, etc involved in factory farming) would be WAY more even between vegan and every other parsing of what to eat or not, and it would come down to purely "no faces" or "faces."
Contrary to patrick the other one, vegan eating is WAY easier than any other vegetarian-esque version I've tried, but vegan shoes, not so much :)
patrick:
my 2 dogs are vegan (completely vegan since day 1).
they eat vegan kibble and get legumes for protein.
the longest living dog was vegan, by the way.
and i don't know one vegan who would be okay with fur or cowskin rugs. gross.
hotfolks--
I think you missed the point I found somewhat amusing... I was commenting on the hardcore vegans who still feed their pets meat. Especially if they are vegan for ethical, not personal health/dietary reasons, since I'm pretty sure the pet food industry ranks pretty low (in general) on meat "procurement" and handling.
If you are vegan for health reasons, then *of course* it's cool to feed your labradoodle or python or kids or guests anything you please.
Not pointing any fingers, again. I just like irony. :)
And if a vegan is vegan for health reasons, love or hate of leather Jimmy Choos or a cowskin rug is not necessarily a foregone conclusion... no?
Note to self: work on concept for a Vegan leather bar...
patrick, actually i'm allowed to feed my pets whatever i want, even if i'm vegan. it isn't exactly ironic either.
some animals are carnivores and some are omnivores. i'm an omnivore so i have a choice as to what i eat. my frog (who has passed, sadly) was a carnivore. i couldn't feed it vegan food, it wouldn't have been able to digest it.
dogs are also omnivores.
and as for keeping a frog, it's a sketchy proposition, i know, but my boyfriend got her when he was 5 and not a vegetarian.
You *do* understand that my saying I find something is ironic is not the same as passing judgment, right?
OF COURSE you're "allowed." It's just a facet of hardcore veganism I never considered. But I still find it funny that one would object to the killing of animals to feed one's self, but still do it to feed a household pet.
And I'm allowed to find that funny. :)
Patrick.. I would love to feed my snakes "labradoodles" or kids.. that's what you REALLY meant isn't it? :D
Labradoodles can have a lot of fur. I recommend something smoother, like beagles or chihuahuas.
d4kk1tt3n--
Never! I love labradoodles! :)
PS: Thanks to you and juliescript for acknowledging the humor in all of this. It's what I sometimes miss on the vegan threads...
...well, that, and the beauty shot of the big dripping bacon cheeseburger.
Omg, stop! you're making me hungry!
A vegan dog? Seriously? Look, I don't want to judge - you can make your own ethical choices and eat what makes you feel like you've achieved something. But to impose your own personal viewpoints on your pet that are contrary to the law of nature is to me the most hypocritical you can do. Why would you torture an animal clearly made to be carnivorous (and some people might argue opportunistic omnivore) with a vegan diet?
It makes me so angry when people decide to feed their cats or dogs a vegetarian diet just to make them feel good about themselves. Your cats and dogs don't benefit from legumes you know.
Sorry for the rant.
@patrick (the other one): I definitely agree with you about what a vegetarian diet/vegetarian ethics imply. Many vegetarians will claim that they don't mind and believe everyone should make their own choices; this is probably the truth. But a vegetarian's choice to exclude animals or animal byproducts from their diet does, whether consciously or unsconsciously, says that a vegetarian or vegan diet is superior for some reason or another.
I really do think that diet is extremely personal. We're told to eat lots of fruits, vegetables, good-quality protein, good fats, and complex carbohydrates. I think this makes sense. But how we negotiate that is up to the individual, really. Personally, I don't view those who continue to consume rennet, gelatin, chicken stock/broth vegetarian, but that's me. And although I'm not a vegetarian, I still think it's important, as someone who loves food and cooking, to be well-informed on dietary issues and dietary restrictions -- it softens divides and makes for an easier community as far as the culinary is concerned.
Ok, interesting discussion about pets and all, but something else in this thread bothered me--I don't get why people are saying it's hard to avoid gelatin. Gelatin isn't even IN that much stuff. No s'mores, no Easter peeps, no Jell-o, and you're pretty much good. I have been vegetarian and/or vegan for the last 17 years, and so I have been reading labels all that time--the gelatin thing has never been a big deal.
As for rennet and isinglass and so forth--I think that a lot of vegetarians don't know about this, and have different reactions when they find out. They either stop eating the products that contain those things, or they feel set in their ways and just sort of figuratively stick their fingers in their ears and say LA LA LA and try to pretend that they never heard it, because they are addicted to those products and find it too hard to change.
Oh, and people who eat fish are not vegetarians. In the animal/mineral/vegetable game, fish are NOT vegetables or minerals, are they?
People are funny in that they argue about other peoples' diets. It seems meat eaters are easily offended. Vegetarians who eat seafood are pescetarians. And, yes, there is a difference. Again, why can't you just accept someone's diet and not judge or argue?
A note for pets; just because I may choose to a certain diet, that does not mean that I will impose that diet on my pet. Animals have different diets: cows, horses don't eat meat, but wolves, tigers do. I don't recall any debates in the animal kingdom about diets either.
If you want to be more knowledgeable about your foods, read and research. It really is that simple.
re: "It seems meat eaters are easily offended."
Um, okay, we'll go with that.
On the pet thing, I just (still) find it funny that someone can suspend their hardcore beliefs about the ethics of slaughtered-for-food animals because their domesticated pet is by nature, carnivorous.
Understand it. Don't begrudge it. Don't judge it. Still find it funny.
Not sure it's "suspend"-- in buddhism, as I was taught, it's part of the same thing...in the chain of cause and effect, if you keep domesticated animals, less suffering is caused by staying close to the original nature of the animal...
As we have more choices, and can choose less suffering, we could also move to keeping the animals used for food closer to their natures ("free range" "grass fed" etc.), which would also cause less damage to the environment.
Yes, the killing part is intense, no way around the burden/responsibility of it...but even that can be done to minimize suffering.
I don't think that "meat eaters are easily offended".. I think that sometimes we just get tired of being told that we're less-than-moral because we eat/wear other animals. I know some very lovely and non-judgmental vegetarians & vegans but I've also known more than a few who think that anyone who eats meat has some kind of moral failing because they eat animals and animal products. We've seen a lot of that kind of judgment here at AT, not necessarily in this thread, but in other areas. I think that no matter what you DO eat, once you admit to others what your diet is, you're always opening yourself up to criticism of some sort, because SOMEONE out there is going to believe that you are wrong.
@viciouslips -- it's actually not that unnatural to feed a dog a vegetarian or vegan diet. dogs are not carnivores, they are omnivores, and so feeding a dog a vegetarian diet is no different than feeding a human a vegetarian diet. there are plenty of veggie dog foods on the market since a lot of dogs have allergies. we feed our dog vegetarian food because i don't trust the crap meat they put in most dog food (let's not forget the recent scandal with the chinese dog food that killed so many animals here in the US).
cats, on the other hand, ARE carnivorous, and it is definitely unhealthy to feed them a vegetarian or vegan diet, which is why there are no vegetarian cat foods on the market.
My vegetarian boyfriend was so pissed off when I sauntered into the room and broke the news. I crushed his culinary world! I'm curious as to how people following the no-animal-rennet rule deal with eating out? Is it ridiculous to ask the server at a restaurant? Or just succumb to the futility and avoid anything with cheese altogether?
Vegans are not nuts. I actually find that very insulting and not at all funny considering the amount of work we put in to live such a lifestyle.
Vegetarianism is easy, but it's all some people are able to do so I completely respect it. I also won't think any less of a person because they choose to eat meat, or try to guilt them or preach to them about their diet. However I think it's kinda ridiculous the special names people come up with for different kinds of omnivores, and then call them vegetarian.
Fact is, if you eat any type of product that required the death of an animal, including casein and gelatin, then you are not a vegetarian. If you eat fish you are not a vegetarian. If you only eat meat sometimes you are not a vegetarian. And that's ok. But just say that you are an omnivore. Don't confuse people with different labels.
Also, I don't think that most vegans are vegan to feel good about themselves. I personally do it because it is a small change I am making in the world that I know will improve it. Even if I am missing out on certain delicious foods, I would rather live a slightly less tasty vegan lifestyle because it is truly something I believe in.
Finally the whole feeding your pets a vegan diet thing is kinda sad. Cats will become very ill if they don't eat meat because they need a certain amino acid to live. I don't know about dogs but unless you can afford to pay for and spend the time planning a healthy vegan diet for them, I don't think they will be very healthy or happy. I just try to feed my pets the most humanely raised meat I can afford. They don't have the luxury to choose what they eat because they are carnivores, but they were strays and needed homes so I wasnt about to turn them away so they could be killed at a pound or die in the street.
Whoops forgot to tag @Patrick (theotherone)