Velveeta, also called Velveeta cheese, is a famous ingredient that brings texture and taste to countless recipes. And yet, there are times when you’d rather work with Velveeta substitutes or alternatives.
There can be numerous reasons for wanting a substitute, including availability, diet preferences, eating requirements, or even the fact that it is no longer cheese, but a “pasteurized prepared cheese product”.
Yet, since recipes treat it as a cheese, a suitable substitute comes from the use of different types of cheese. Those who want a vegan or dairy-free alternative to Velveeta might have to look a little harder, but there are suitable commercial options as well as traditional options available to fit that role.
Conventionally, top substitutes for Velveeta are American cheese products, Swiss cheese, Colby, cheddar, Gruyere, Muenster, and Fontina.
In many situations, it would be more useful to use sodium citrate with a cheese substitute, create a blend of different cheese varieties, or even consider making a white sauce (béchamel sauce) as a substitute.
For a vegan or dairy-free diet, it might be worth considering commercial packaged products like Daiya, or work with silken tofu and similar options.
Table of Contents
Top Velveeta Substitutes – Best Choices, Some Tips, Plus Vegan And Dairy-Free Alternatives
1. American Cheese Products
This is a substitute idea to employ if you don’t mind using processed cheese or prepared cheese products. Many people choose to substitute for Velveeta precisely because of the laundry list of ingredients that goes into making this product.
American Cheese generally represents a group of processed that are labeled as “pasteurized process American cheese”.
Velveeta was perhaps the most famous cheese in this category, until its composition changed enough for the FDA to object to the continued use of this labeling. Thus, Velveeta and other products that don’t fit this category use the somewhat unregulated (by the FDA) label of “pasteurized prepared cheese product”. Incidentally, Cheez Whiz also falls into the same category and can be used as an alternative to Velveeta.
American cheese encompasses a wide variety of products, including deli cheese, spreads, cheese slices, and more. Many of these would be closer to Velveeta’s original recipe, but of course, not the same, and certainly different from the modern Velveeta recipe.
The substitute you choose should be easy to melt and generally have a similar texture to Velveeta. This would be especially important for those intending to make a dip or sauce. Also, it’s worth remembering that cheese should be melted slowly.
A notable thing about prepared products like Velveeta is that the formula has gone through significant iterations to ensure that the product is pretty good at its conventional culinary uses. As such, a substitute like American cheese will show differences in terms of texture and perhaps the behavior of the recipe on reheating.
2. Muenster Cheese
To be rather simplistic, a big reason for the existence of Muenster cheese is to be a melty delicacy. Keep in mind, we’re considering the American Muenster cheese here, not the European Munster.
The smooth texture of muenster, along with its easy melting makes it a rather good choice for several sauces and dips.
While muenster by itself is amazing and pretty good as a real cheese, some adjustments might be necessary when using it to substitute for Velveeta, which is a processed cheese product.
If a smoother texture is desired from the sauce or dip, adding a little bit of milk or cream could help smoothen out things. Blending muenster with another melty cheese like Colby or cheddar can help with the flavors and texture.
3. Blend Of Colby, Swiss, And Cheddar Cheese
The old recipe of Velveeta as well as older advertisements of the product advertised it as a blend of three famous cheese ingredients. These being Colby cheese, Swiss cheese, and Cheddar cheese.
While the modern Velveeta no longer follows the same path, it is possible to create a good substitute using this old combination. It helps that these ingredient cheese are easy to melt and provide a rather good approximation for the flavor and taste of Velveeta.
What this combination doesn’t hit as well though, is the texture. As a cheese product Velveeta (including the older recipe that contained real cheese) makes use of several ingredients and emulsifiers to get its well-known flavor and texture.
One of the ways to do this is to add a little bit of sodium citrate to the blend of cheese. This helps keep the flavor intact, while also bringing a wonderful texture to the cheese. Additionally, it removes the need to add any cream or milk to further smoothen the texture of the recipe. Although, it might be possible to add some water to manage the texture.
4. Using Sodium Citrate With Cheese
Sodium citrate is a very useful ingredient often used in processed cheese and similar products. It helps soften the cheese, giving it a rather smooth and wonderful texture. It works its magic by acting as an emulsifier for cheese and water, creating a rather smooth mix in the process.
It is possible to work with most cheese this way, including the choices I have included in this list as substitutes for Velveeta cheese.
The conventional method is to start heating some water in a pan – a saucepan would perhaps be preferable for our purpose. Then add sodium citrate to water and let it completely dissolve. After this, slowly add the grated cheese to the solution, allowing it to melt.
Once all this cheese makes its way to the saucepan, using an immersion blender should help get a mix with wonderful texture and style. Using a whisk by hand could work too, but it’s a lot of work and may not give results comparable to using an immersion blender.
Sodium citrate should help keep this mix stable. Since it works only with water, there is no flavor dilution of the cheese with other ingredients like cream or milk. Additionally, the emulsifier is fairly stable, so the product doesn’t degrade while you’re working on your recipe.
Using this salt is suitable because it simply acts as an emulsifier and doesn’t interfere with the overall flavor or chemistry of the cheese. Something like citric acid would interfere with the cheese and could even cause curdling.
It works rather well for queso recipes too, especially where substitute recipes usually involve the use of evaporated milk and cream. In such a situation, cheese softened with sodium citrate might be more desirable, as compared to substitutes made with the use of additional ingredients like milk or cream.
5. Suitable Cheese Options
There are a lot of cheese varieties that can work as suitable substitutes for Velveeta in recipes like sauces, soups, or mac and cheese.
Conventional wisdom suggests the use of soft, mild-flavored cheese as preferred Velveeta substitutes. For best results, a blend of cheese with sodium citrate is worth considering. Other ways to manage texture including adding some milk or cream to the melted cheese.
Here are a few options to consider:
- Swiss Cheese: A mild-flavored Swiss cheese like Emmental cheese is a great choice to substitute for Velveeta. It melts well, can be easily sliced, and overall has a flavor and texture that is generally loved.
- Cheddar: The famous cheddar is another classic ingredient for the old Velveeta recipe and is also useful as a substitute for the current Velveeta. A mild cheddar would be a suitable fit for this purpose.
- Colby: Though a semi-hard cheese, Colby cheese is one of the original ingredients in Velveeta. It’s still a suitable substitute, and works wonderfully for sauces and substitutes.
- Gruyere: A young, soft gruyere cheese can work rather well to substitute Velveeta in several recipes. It fits well in sauces, soups, dips, and works rather well for mac and cheese too.
- Fontina: As a cheese that loves to melt and shows off amazing texture, fontina can work as a suitable substitute for Velveeta in several recipes.
6. White Sauce (Béchamel)
Making a white sauce like a béchamel based on cheese can work as a suitable Velveeta substitute for several recipes. This is especially true for recipes like mac and cheese, where béchamel can provide a lovely base and additional cheese might be added to the recipe for more flavors.
A similar approach can be taken for soups too, where a cheese-based béchamel adds more volume, taste, and texture for the recipe.
Using a thickening agent like cornstarch or potato starch can be useful to give more substance and thickness to béchamel. This way, the white sauce may appear more suitable for recipes like mac and cheese.
7. Packaged Commercial Products As Vegan Velveeta Substitutes (Dairy-Free)
Vegan products can be a suitable Velveeta substitute for vegans as well as those looking for a dairy-free alternative.
Several brands offer products suitable for such diet requirements and preferences. Better-known brands in this niche include Violife, Daiya, and Jovial, with offerings like (dairy-free) mac and cheese and cheese sauce.
Other brands might also be available for such products. For example, Modern Table had a pretty good vegan mac and cheese. However, it’s not possible for me to create an exhaustive list for this niche. I suggest picking one of these well-known brands here, or look at store shelves to see what product works best for you.
8. Silken Tofu
Silken tofu can work rather well for vegans as an alternative to Velveeta. It can come in handy when making a sauce, cheese dip, rotel dip, and several other recipes.
The idea is to blend silken tofu with a little bit of water to get a nice consistency. Adding some flavor ingredients like paprika, salt, etc. should be okay to get the best flavor. If the blend is intended for baking and further cooking, it is often worthwhile to make the silken tofu blend a little more watery than it needs to be. It gets thicker while baking and then cooling, so the consistency should get right on point once the recipe is ready.
Do make sure to blend thoroughly so that there are no lumps once the recipe is ready and the consistency feels right.
In case you don’t like silken tofu, other suitable alternatives include cashews and white beans (both need to be soaked before blending). It might be useful to search for vegan Velveeta or fauxveeta recipes to get a better understanding of the steps involved. I don’t currently have these recipes on this website, but do intend to add them soon.
9. Cream Cheese
A wide variety of cream cheese products can work as suitable Velveeta substitutes, especially for dips. To be fair, given the difference in taste and texture, cream cheese works better defined as an alternative for Velveeta, rather than a plain substitute.
It’s possible to work with the cream cheese of your choice to get the desired texture and flavor.
Velveeta Substitutes That Hit The Spot
As seen in this discussion, there are plenty of Velveeta substitutes that can work just fine. However, it’s worth remembering that the modern Velveeta is the result of careful food engineering and is not so easily replaced in all aspects.
As such, any substitution will likely bring some changes to aspects like flavor and texture to some degree. Yet, with the wide variety of products and options available, it is possible to get pretty close to the desired flavor and texture. One of the ways to achieve this is to use a blend of Colby, cheddar, and Swiss cheese with some sodium citrate.
Other cheese options can work quite as well, especially with healthier real cheese choices, rather than all the additional ingredients that make their way to a processed product like Velveeta.
Besides, there is a good range of vegan and dairy-free alternatives that can work to replace Velveeta, thus accommodating different diet preferences.