A Day of Vegan Cheese Making at River Cottage

On Thursday 11th December, my dad and I spent the day at River Cottage Kitchen HQ on a one-day vegan cheese-making course, led by Ellie Brown, founder of Kinda Co.

Having been vegan for over a year and a half, the hunt for good vegan cheese has been a familiar frustration. Some are passable, many are forgettable, and very few feel genuinely exciting. As with most things, I had a suspicion they might be better when made at home, rather than endlessly searching for shop-bought alternatives that never quite hit the mark. This course felt like a chance to finally find out whether vegan cheese could truly live up to the hype. And it turns out, it was a grate success.

A day at River Cottage

The cookery school sits just beside the old farmhouse at River Cottage, tucked into the Devon countryside. You can stay overnight if you want to make a weekend of it, but even arriving for the day feels like stepping into a slower rhythm. Just beyond the farmhouse sits an impressive kitchen garden. Although it isn’t the most abundant time of year, you can still sense how productive the space is when everything is growing. Sheep and cows roam the fields beyond, and a ginger farm cat patrols the grounds, taking his role of resident mouser very seriously.

Even in winter, the whole place feels deeply connected to food, seasonality and care. River Cottage has built its reputation on farm-to-plate dining, using whatever is growing in the kitchen garden, farm and polytunnels, and working closely with local growers to shape what ends up on the plate. You can feel that philosophy running quietly in the background of the day, from the ingredients we used to the fresh herbs sourced straight from the garden.

Our group was small, just five of us, which immediately set the tone for the day. Relaxed, friendly and unhurried. There was plenty of space to ask questions, to make mistakes, and to take things at a pace that felt comfortable. It felt less like a formal course and more like being welcomed into a shared kitchen.

Learning from Ellie

Ellie is the kind of teacher who puts you instantly at ease. She is passionate, generous with her knowledge, and genuinely enthusiastic about what she does. She demonstrated each cheese before letting us have a go ourselves, explaining not just the how, but the why behind each step. Understanding what was happening as we cooked gave a real sense of confidence and made the whole process feel far more accessible. Throughout the day she drifted between workstations, checking in, answering questions, and offering reassurance if something didn’t look quite right.

She also treated us to a vegan fondue, created a beautiful cheese board to accompany lunch, and spoke openly about her journey with Kindaco. For me, there was something especially inspiring about learning from someone I had admired on Instagram for a while. It’s inspiring to see someone young, driven and clear in her vision, who discovered a gap in the market, and built exactly what she wanted to see exist.

The cheeses we made

We began the day with a creamy ricotta, and I was immediately surprised by how simple the process was. We gently heated soy milk until it was near boiling point, then added vinegar and watched as it curdled almost instantly. The transformation felt slightly magical. What started as milk slowly separated, becoming lumpy and textured, before the liquid turned clearer and water-like. Once strained and left to cool, the ricotta became recognisably cheese-like. I chose chilli and garlic as my flavouring, while my dad went for lemon and sea salt. We mixed in our seasonings, spooned the ricotta into moulds, and left it to firm up. The final result was creamy, slightly tangy and surprisingly rich. Perfect on crackers or layered into a lasagne or pasta bake as the cheesy, creamy accompaniment. It was incredibly satisfying to see something so simple come together so successfully, part cooking, part kitchen science.

Next, we moved on to a smoked cheddar, the hard cheese of the day. This one involved a few more steps, blending humble ingredients together with potato starch until silky smooth, before pouring the mixture into moulds and steaming it for around forty-five minutes. Ellie talked us through the changes happening during the cooking process, which was fascinating to watch. The mixture initially puffed up like a soufflé before slowly settling into something firmer and more structured. Once cooled, we coated our cheddars in food-grade wax and sealed them with festive ribbon, instantly transforming them into perfect Christmas gifts. I still haven’t cut into mine, partly because I’m saving it for the right moment, and partly because it feels almost too pretty to break open. I’m planning to unveil it on Christmas Day, the perfect addition to a vegan cheese board.

Lunch, but make it cheese

By this point, lunch was very welcome. Ellie put together a generous vegan cheese board featuring a selection of her Kindaco cheeses, alongside a beetroot and caraway soup made by the River Cottage chefs, followed by a decadent dessert of vegan chocolate tart with crème anglaise. It was deeply comforting and indulgent, the kind of lunch that felt perfectly placed in the middle of a cheese-filled day. My personal highlights from the board were the creamy garlic and chive, and the summer truffle, both rich, balanced and deeply flavourful. The kind of cheeses you enjoy without feeling like you’re missing out on anything at all.

Back to the kitchen

After lunch, we returned to our workstations to make two more cheeses. First was a soft cream cheese made from sunflower seeds. I opted for garlic, chive and lemon for one batch, and a more festive cranberry version for the other. Both came together quickly and easily and soon became firm favourites. I took them along to a family get-together later that week, where they were an instant hit. They worked beautifully with brunch plates of garlic mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach and scrambled tofu, but were just as good simply spread on toasted sourdough with a spoonful of homemade chutney. It’s the kind of recipe that invites experimentation and is easy to adapt depending on what you have to hand.

The final cheese of the day was mozzarella, the most theatrical to make. Using tapioca starch and carrageenan (a natural seaweed-derived thickener), we heated the mixture on the hob until it thickened into a glossy, stretchy mass. Slowly, it transformed, pulling away from the pan and becoming unmistakably mozzarella-like. At just the right moment, we scooped spoonfuls into bowls of ice water, forming little mozzarella balls. Mine were admittedly rustic, but undeniably mozzarella. Ellie melted some onto small pieces of toast for us to try, proving that proper, melty vegan cheese is absolutely achievable. Perfect for pizza, cheese on toast, or any moment that calls for comfort food.

Final thoughts

Everyone we met throughout the day was welcoming and friendly, and it felt genuinely refreshing to step away from routine and spend time learning something hands-on. The course demystified vegan cheese-making completely, showing that once you understand the basics, it’s possible to create a wide range of delicious cheeses from simple ingredients, without any specialist equipment.

Ellie also spoke about fermented and aged cheeses, which we didn’t make on the day due to the longer, more involved process, but it was fascinating to learn about the techniques behind them, especially knowing that Kinda Co cheeses are fermented and cashew-based. It was cool being able to taste the finished results alongside the cheeses we made, as it helped to bring the world of vegan cheese together.

I’d recommend the course to anyone who’s curious, vegan, vegetarian or neither. It’s less about labels, and more about understanding food, slowing down, and discovering how much joy there is in making something from scratch. And if nothing else, you leave with a bag full of cheese and a very good excuse to eat it all. There are definitely worse ways to spend a day.

If you’re curious to explore further, here are a few links worth visiting: