Vegan Cheese Toastie

The secret to a vegan cheese toastie that pulls like a regular toastie is to use the same types of cheese that you would in a non-vegan version, i.e. a melting cheeses. In this one I used a mix of two: a low moisture vegan mozzarella for stretchiness and meltiness, and vegan cheddar cheese for flavour. This isn't the time to use an artisanal vegan cashew cheese that replicates goats cheese or something along those lines, as you wouldn't go for that when making a regular toastie. I used Violife mozzarella and Asda vegan cheddar in this, but feel free to go with your favourite and most trusted ones.

The other secret to a melty and gooey cheese toastie is to be patient when cooking it and to not skip steps. Don't be tempted to cook it quickly on high heat for example (as this will just burn the bread before the cheese has a chance to melt) and make sure you follow step 5 of the recipe where a little water is added to the pan. It might sound strange, but the moisture from that water helps to fully melt the cheese at the centre of the toastie. Commit to the melt cause and your toastie will reward you.

Last, let's quickly talk about the "mayo or butter" debate. It can be a heated one, but you'll see that in the recipe I use them interchangeable. That's because vegan mayonnaise and vegan butter are both made up of vegetable oils, so there's very little difference in how they cook and brown. Use your favourite, and just make sure it's at room temperature so it doesn't tear the bread.