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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!
Why are Cashews used in Homemade Vegan Cheeses?
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.
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.
How to Eat Cashew Cheese?
- As a vegan snack or appetizer spread on crackers.
- Melted on vegan pizza or vegan lasagna like in my 28 Day Vegan Meal Plan.
- Add to my Alkaline Pasta recipe for extra creaminess to the dish!
- I also love it in my Lentil Shepherd's Pie recipe incorporated in the mashed potatoes.
- Crumble it up on salads like my Cucumber Chickpea Tomato Salad.
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, or Brazil Nuts.
- 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.
- 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.
How Does This Recipe Help With Vegan Weight Gain?
This cashew cheese has 6 grams of healthy fats per serving. Cashews are calorie-dense foods and calorie-dense foods are needed for healthy weight gain.
How Does This Recipe Help With Vegan Weight Loss?
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.
MORE VEGAN CHEESE BASED RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE
OTHER VEGAN APPETIZERS
Cashew Cheese Recipe (Melts and Spreads!)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup boiling vegetable broth
- ½ cup raw cashews (NOT roasted) note 1
- ¼ cup tapioca starch note 3
- 3 tablespoons agar powder (NOT flakes) note 2
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast note 4
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
- ⅓ cup refined coconut oil (NOT unrefined) note 5
Equipment
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
- CASHEWS: Be sure to use RAW cashews NOT roasted. If you don’t like cashews substitute with pine nuts, macadamia nuts, or Brazil Nuts.
- 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.
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