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This Vegan Cashew Cheese Recipe will become your FAVORITE cheese alternative to use because it’s easy to make, smoothly spreads on crackers, and melts beautifully on vegan pizza!
One of the hardest things about going vegan is giving up cheese.
Now I’ve used the store-bought vegan cheeses like in my Dairy Free Mac and Cheese recipe. And I’ve even gone the potato and carrot method making Vegan Nacho Cheese. But this Cashew Cheese Recipe is personally my favorite cheese alternative.
Why are Cashews used in Homemade Vegan Cheeses?
Nut cheeses aren’t anything new in vegan cuisine. And it is possible to use a different nut for this recipe (more on that in the Substitution, Storage and Tips section below).
But Cashews are often the first choice used for vegan cheese recipes because
- They are super creamy! Their smooth texture makes it PERFECT for vegan cheese recipes
- They are high in fat! Cow dairy cheese is high in fat so it’s necessary to use a plant-based equivalent to get similar results of richness.
It’s essential that you use RAW Cashews NOT roasted cashews. Roasted cashews might throw the flavor off of your vegan cashew cheese as salt and other additives are added to roasted cashews.
You can find raw cashews at your local grocery store (Trader Joes has them at a decent price) or order them online on Amazon.
Use a High-Speed Blender!
I urge you to use a high-speed blender for this recipe. If you try this recipe (or any vegan cashew cheese recipe) in a regular blender or food processor (even if it’s a high-quality food processor), your risk your vegan cheese not coming out smoothly.
I LOVE my Vitamix. I bought it refurbished back in 2011 and it stills runs as if it was brand new! It’s an investment yes, but it will last FOREVER (or at least the closest thing to forever lol). If you do not have a high-speed blender, my suggestion would be to soak your cashews for 4 to 6 hours to soften them and use a little more liquid to get your blender going.
You could also use this recipe here that shows you how to successfully make cashew cheese in a food processor.
What can I do with Cashew Cheese?
The question is what CAN’T you do with this delicious stuff! Some of the ways I enjoy it are:
- As a healthy vegan snack or appetizer: All I need is this smooth delicious cashew cheese and some crackers and I’m a happy girl!
- Melted on vegan pizza: In my 28 Day Vegan Meal Plan I melted this cheese on my homemade pizza and lasagna recipe. It’s so good!!! You could even melt this cheese on fries or baked potatoes!
- Add to pasta and other main dishes: This cheese taste so good added to my Alkaline Pasta recipe as it adds an extra level of creaminess to the dish! I also love it in my Lentil Shepherd’s Pie recipe. I add it to the mash potatoes and “lawd have mercy” it’s good that way!
- Crumble it up on salads: It doesn’t have the taste of feta but it would go extremely well on my Cucumber Chickpea Tomato Salad! I mean paired with those olives OMG talk about blissful!
How to Make this Cashew Cheese Recipe?
*Please read detailed and printable recipe card below for full ingredients and instructions
PREPARE VEGGIES
- Simply add all your ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and mixture is slightly heated up. It should come out thick and creamy. (Photos 1 & 2)
- Add your cashew cheese sauce to a small bowl to mold and set in the refrigerator for covered for at least 4 hours or overnight. (Photos 3 & 4)
Substitution, Cook, & Storage Tips:
- You can try this recipe with pine nuts, macadamia nuts, walnuts, or even almonds. I know for sure pine nuts because they are smooth like cashews.
- Agar is used in this recipe. This is what helps your vegan cheese sets. Agar or agar-agar is a jelly-like substance extracted from red algae. Used the powder NOT the flakes. You can substitute with sea moss gel instead.
- To make this recipe richer, use unsweetened plant-based milk instead of broth.
- You can get fancy with it and add a variety of herbs that traditionally pair well with cheese like dried basil, parsley, or oregano.
- Nutritional yeast is used in this recipe and helps gives this vegan cheese its cheesy flavor. DO NOT omit this ingredient.
- The tapioca starch in this recipe helps the cheese melts as starch makes vegan cheeses “stretchy.” Tapioca Starch is easily and cheaply found in Asian markets. If you don’t have tapioca starch you use cornstarch instead.
- Leftovers keep covered in the refrigerator 4-5 days. DO NOT store at room temperature. You can freeze covered for up to 1 month.
Vegan With Curves Ingredient:
Cashews are the Vegan With Curves star of this dish! Cashews are calorie-dense food. One ounce of cashews has 12 grams of healthy plant-based fats.
To make this more weight loss (waste/weight release friendly) you could:
- Omit the oil. Doing this however will cause you to lose the browning effect if you do decide to melt the cheese.
- Serve it with raw veggies instead of crackers.
I hope you’ll be making this cashew cheese recipe soon so you will see first hand why I’m so in love with this recipe! When you do, please rate the recipe and let me know in the comment section how it turned out for you!
Enjoy!
More Appetizers You’ll Love:
- My Vegan Nachos Recipe with black beans will definitely get the party started
- Fried Oyster Mushrooms is QUICKLY becoming very popular. Trust me this finger food will impress your meat-eating friends and family!
- Cauliflower has had it’s glow up and you will hop on the bandwagon too with these Buffalo Cauliflower Bites.
- These Lentil Meatballs are not only a hit with some BBQ sauce but plant-based and healthy too!
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Cashew Cheese Recipe (Melts and Spreads!)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup boiling vegetable broth
- ½ cup raw cashews (NOT roasted) see notes
- ¼ cup tapioca starch see notes
- 3 tablespoons agar powder (NOT flakes) see notes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast see notes
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
- ⅓ cup refined coconut oil (NOT unrefined)
Instructions
- In a medium-sized pot, add vegetable broth over high heat and bring to a boil for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Grab your high-speed blender and add all of your ingredients including the hot vegetable broth. Blend until your cashew cheese mixture is completely smooth and the mixture is thick and creamy.
- Pour the mix out into a round dish and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours until set.
- Serve as an appetizer or snack with fresh veggies or crackers. This cashew cheese goes well in my Alkaline Pasta, the mash potato topping on my Lentil Shepherd's Pie, or added to Cucumber Chickpea Tomato Salad!
- Leftovers keep covered in the refrigerator 4-5 days. DO NOT store at room temperature. You can freeze covered for up to 1 month.
Video
Notes
- NUTS: Be sure to use RAW cashews NOT roasted. If you don’t like cashews substitute with pine nuts, macadamia nuts, walnuts, or even almonds. I know for sure pine nuts because they are smooth like cashews.
- AGAR: Be sure to use the agar-agar powder NOT the flakes. You can substitute with ¼ cup of sea moss gel instead.
- TAPIOCA STARCH: Tapioca Starch is easily and cheaply found in Asian markets. If you don’t have tapioca starch you use cornstarch instead.
- NUTRITIONAL YEAST: Nutritional yeast is used in this recipe and helps gives this vegan cheese its cheesy flavor. DO NOT omit this ingredient.
- COCONUT OIL: Use refined, NOT unrefined. Unrefined has a strong coconut flavor and smell and might through off your vegan cheese recipe.
- ADDITIONS & SUBSTITUTIONS: To make this recipe richer, use unsweetened plant-based milk instead of broth (be sure to boil it first just as you would the broth). You can also add a variety of herbs that traditionally pair well with cheese like dried basil, parsley, or oregano.
Nutrition
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