Today I am going to show you how to make this incredibly easy vegan cheese recipe! I do believe that grocery store vegan cheese has gotten better, but why not make your own? In my opinion, some of the best vegan cheeses I’ve tried, used the least amount of ingredients. If you like this recipe, check out this one too! and this one!
It Starts With Cashews
First, all we need is some cashews (about a cup) and water. I rinse the cashews under cold water, then place them in a large bowl. Fill the bowl with water and let the cashews soak for at least four hours, covered in salt. Once they are soaked you can see that they are hydrated and soft. I dump the water and rinse my cashews again under cold water. Next I toss them into a blender, along with a quarter cup of sauerkraut juice, and a half a cup of cold water. Blend until smooth!
Now we have to ferment our cashew mix. To do this I start by getting a bowl, cleaning it well and adding some boiling hot water in it. Then I transfer that water into another jar, seal the lid, and set it aside. Next I move the cashew cream into the bowl we cleaned, seal it with some plastic wrap and add a lid. This needs to sit now, at about 75ºf, so I added mine into an insulated bag. Along with the jar of hot water, which should heat the bag up. Let this sit for about twenty four hours.
Let’s Get Cheesy
I take out my cheese, and there’s definitely a bit of a funky smell to it! I give it a little taste and it’s rich, still has a pinch of cashew taste to it. As well as a little sour taste. Let’s put this cheese on a quick, easy pizza! First take some of the cheese and add a bit of salt and olive oil. I then just use a piece of pita as a base and cover it in some sauce. Next of course add a few dollops of the cashew cheese. I put this in the oven at 400ºf for about fifteen minutes.
Bam! The cashew cheese has cooked solid, it’s browned a little, and it tastes great! For something so simple, it’s an awesome cheese replacement. I had another idea though,to make a thicker stretchier cheese, using just a few more ingredients, and one more day. Luckily I made another version of this at the same time. This version is thicker, I used less water (I used a quarter cup). It’s the same amount of cashews soaked for the same amount of time, and using the same amount of sauerkraut juice.
But Wait, There’s More
I have had this thicker version fermenting for one day already, but I’m going to let it go one more day. I will be adding a couple more ingredients to it, making it more like a mozzarella or a cream cheese. For the cream cheese, I’m going to add one cup of the two days fermented cashew mix, one tablespoon of coconut oil, a half teaspoon of lactic acid, a quarter teaspoon of xanthan gum and a sprinkle of dried chives all to a bowl. Next I use a hand mixer to mix it really well. I then add it to a smaller container, toss it in the freezer to really thicken up.
While that’s thickening it’s time for our mozzarella. I add one cup of the cashews, one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, a half teaspoon of lactic acid, a tablespoon of coconut oil, a quarter teaspoon of xanthan gum, and two tablespoons of tapioca starch in a bowl. Mix everything together, then add it to a small saucepan. Over a low heat, whisk the mixture until it starts to stretch. As soon as it stretches I spoon it over into a bowl of ice cold, salted water. You can use this cheese now, or refrigerate it and use it later! I want to make another quick little pizza with it!
Give It A Try!
I break up some of the cheese, toss it onto the pizza, and into the oven. While that is in the oven, our cream cheese should be ready! I toast my bagel, then add a bunch of the cream cheese. This cheese is so smooth! It doesn’t have a funky aftertaste, and the flavor has some of the sourness, and a little of that cheesiness to it. It’s wildly good! Let’s give the pizza a try. This vegan cheese recipe awesome! The cheese has a nice bite to it with a little bit of a stretch too. The flavor is spot on. Watch the full video here!
When Finding Tasty Vegan Cheese Seems Impossible!
Ingredients
- 2 cups cashews
- water
- salt
- .5 cup sauerkraut juice
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp lactic acid
- .5 tsp xanthan gum
- pinch dried chives
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp tapioca starch
Instructions
- Rinse cashews under cold water then place them in bowl. Fill bowl with water and salt then let them soak for four hours.
- Rinse again under cold water, toss in blender with sauerkraut juice and water. Blend until smooth.
- Clean bowl and add boiling water. Dump boiling water into jar and seal it up. Move cashew cream into cleaned bowl, seal with plastic wrap and add a lid. Let this sit at around 75ºf for twenty four hours. I added mine to an insulated bag with the jar of boiling water.
Mozzarella/Cream cheese
- Same amount of cashews and sauerkraut as before but add less water. Ferment for two days instead of one.
- Add fermented cashews, coconut oil, lactic acid, xanthan gum, and dried chives to a bowl. Use hand mixer, then once mixed, add to smaller bowl.
- Add smaller bowl to freezer for a bit to thicken. Once thick, spread on your bagel!
- Add cashews, apple cider vinegar, lactic acid, coconut oil, xanthan gum, and tapioca starch to a bowl. Mix together, then add to small saucepan on low heat.
- whisk mixture until it starts to stretch. When it stretches, spoon it over into bowl of ice cold, salted water. Add to pizza, or save for later!