The world’s largest oat milk firm is again at it with a brand new non-dairy product produced from—you guessed it—oats. Oatly’s plant-based cream cheese debuted this month nationwide, and you may discover it in grocery shops like Albertsons, Wegmans, and Recent Direct. The cream cheese is available in two flavors (plain and chive and onion) and it’s speculated to style similar to the dairy stuff.
However we’ve heard that earlier than. As a meals author tapped into the traits on this area, I’ve come throughout a bunch of plant-based merchandise touted as tasting indistinguishable from their dairy counterparts. And, I’ve to say, lots of them fall brief. So when Oatly despatched me a few tubs, I made a decision to provide it a go to see how they actually examine.
I do know what makes an excellent cream cheese: I went to high school in New York and spent my undergrad years virtually dwelling off bagels slathered with it. I’m additionally an avid baker, and I really like incorporating the unfold into carrot cake frosting and melting it onto heat cinnamon rolls. So for me, a fantastic cream cheese should style good by itself and complement my do-it-yourself pastries. I saved this identical standards in thoughts when testing this plant-based dupe. Listed here are my total ideas on the way it measures up.
How the Oatly Cream Cheese line spreads and tastes
By way of texture, Oatly nailed it by way of mimicking the sleek but thick schmear of cream cheese. I might transfer my butter knife shortly throughout the carton to scoop up sufficient for my bagel. I’ve tried different plant-based choices the place it’s a battle getting it out of the bathtub, making it troublesome to unfold onto pastries.
However many plant-based firms have mastered making vegan meals look like the actual factor, so for me, this wasn’t sufficient. It additionally must have the gentle, tart taste of milk-based cream cheese, which numerous non-dairy choices wrestle with. Actually, I usually discover they’re too bitter.
What pleasantly stunned me about Oatly’s plain choice was how shut its style got here to dairy cream cheese. It mimicked the gentle, creamy chew the unfold often provides, and even included that slight (however not overwhelming) tang. It had a lightweight oaty afternote, just like that of its well-known nondairy milk, however I didn’t thoughts it. The chive and onion model hit the savory spot—it was bursting with garlicky taste. When spreading it, I used to be in a position to see recent items of herbs slathered onto the bagel (which I liked!).
After making an attempt the plant-based unfold by itself, I needed to see what it could style like with different added elements. I really like incorporating toppings to my bagels, whether or not that’s some sautéed spinach or some kind of protein like a fried egg or smoked salmon. Once I examined the latter with the chive and onion Oatly schmear, it maintained its taste even towards some highly effective seafood bites. The mix of herbs paired with spicy fish had been so scrumptious I’d take into account nixing my non-vegan cream cheese for this one.
