Smooth-meltingMoocho vegan cheese available atH-E-B

It’s not cheese — the ingredient list includes coconut oil, potato starch, tapioca, bamboo fiber and other decidedly nondairy substances — but a new line of vegan cheeselike shreds has all the tang and most of the smooth-melting properties you’d expect from the real stuff.

Moocho, a sister brand of the vegan meat juggernaut Tofurky, is now available in H-E-B stores. If you’re dabbling in the world of vegan alternatives to the meat, milk, cheese and other craveable but verboten animal-based products, this one is worth a try.

I recently received a sample of Moocho’s three flavors — cheddar, mozzarella and Fiesta Blend — and immediately put the stuff to the hardest test I could think of — a grilled cheese sandwich.

While most vegan cheeses do

melt, it’s typically into an unfortunate pasty and fairly bland mush. Once heated on a griddle between two slices of bread, Moocho’s cheddar shreds transformed into proper gooey goodness. It didn’t have quite the

stretchiness you’d get with real cheese, but it performed significantly better than other vegan cheeses I’ve tried.

Moocho’s big, tangy flavor is one of the closest to real cheddar I’ve tried, and I’d wager

most palates would struggle to tell the difference, be it the cheddar or Fiesta Blend flavors, sprinkled on tacos or over a plate of saucy enchiladas. The mozzarella would make a convincing lasagna, although it probably wouldn’t pull well enough to convince many as a

pizza topping.

Look for Moocho’s line of cheeses in H-E-B locations priced at $5.13 for an 8-ounce bag. More at moochofoods.com.

Photos by Paul Stephen / Staff A grilled cheese sandwich made with Moocho's cheddar-style shredded vegan cheese has the proper gooey goodness.

Moocho is a new line of vegan cheese now available at H-E-B.