Daiya Mozzarella Style Shreds and Recipe

I have already found out how nice Daiya Mozzarella Style Shreds are on pizza, when I created my own Whole Wheat Vegan Pizza with these shreds. So I figured why not see what other great meals I could create with them and figured a pasta bake would be a wonderful idea. Besides deliciously doughy pizza, my next favorite carb is pasta, but to keep it on the healthy side I added some fresh spinach. The cheese melted so well on the pizza, I expected the same results for my pasta bake.

This dairy-free mozzarella style shred is made from mostly simple ingredients; water, tapioca and/or arrowroot flours, non-GMO canola and/or safflower oil, coconut oil and a few other ingredients to make it the cheese texture you’ve come to expect. See a detailed list of ingredients here. Though I can’t say that the shreds are as good straight from the bag cold as traditional cheese is, but there is certainly no difference in its ability to melt, stretch, ooze or bubble when baked.

This simple pasta bake involves only four ingredients; your favorite pasta, pasta sauce, fresh spinach and Daiya Mozzarella Style Shreds then serve with optional side salad. Cook 1 package of pasta according to the directions on the package, drain. When draining the pasta, place your fresh spinach in the colander and pour pasta and hot water over to instantly wilt your spinach. Then mix one jar of pasta sauce with all of the pasta, add 2 handfuls of shreds and combine. Pour all into an oven safe dish and top with 2 more handfuls of shreds. Bake 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly browned. You can make this with you favorite veggie, frozen or fresh, peas, broccoli or edamame for some ideas.

I’ve even thrown some shreds into an omelet and finding it just as tasty as my usual eggs. If you’re not sure how you want to use your mozzarella style shreds, head over to Daiya’s website to find recipe ideas using specific products. If you don’t want to cook at all, pick up one of their pre-made frozen pizzas, available in cheese lover’s, margherita, fire roasted vegetable or mushroom and roasted garlic. My first taste test of these pizzas was at the NYC Green Festival last April and I could not believe the cheese lover’s had no dairy in it because it was indistinguishable. I think those who need to avoid dairy will be grateful of these cheese alternative shreds. Watch out now, their shreds also come in cheddar and pepperjack varieties too! I’ve got 3 more reviews featuring their cream cheese style spreads, slices-in flat style and wedge cheese. I’ll update this post with those links when they are live.