This vegan cheese recipe is easy to make, and you don’t need any special probiotics etc to make it.
Best of all, it has no dairy and is 100% plant-based vegan! Great for slicing, it melts and is great on vegan pizza…YUM!
Make Your Own Vegan Cheese - It Melts and Slices!
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups Soy Milk or other non-dairy option
- 1/2 cup Raw cashew nuts
- 3 tbsp Almond Meal
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 3 tbsp Grape Seed Oil or similar
- 2 tbsp Agar agar powder mixed with 1/2 cup + 2 tbs boiling water
- 2 tbsp Miso paste
- 1 tsp Vegetable stock powder
- 1/2 tsp White Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Sea Salt (Celtic or Himalayan)
Servings: people
Units:
Instructions
- Firstly, you're going to need a medium sized saucepan, a blender and some cheese moulds (see video for ideas)
- In a separate bowl mix the agar agar with boiling water until you have a smooth paste. Then let it sit for approximately 5 minutes before use.
- Add all the remaining ingredients and agar agar paste into the blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour the mixture into a medium size saucepan and gradually bring to the boil before reducing heat to a simmer.
- After 5-10 minutes the mixture will become thick and creamy (see video). Quickly pour the mixture into your cheese moulds
- Place the cheese moulds into the fridge for 30 minutes or until set.
Share this Recipe
Hello! Any sugestion to use as a substitute for almond meal? And could I leave miso paste out of the recipe? ThankS!
You could use any other nut meal or oats would be great too. The miso gives it a cheesy flavor and I think it could make it a bit bland without it. Why do you want to leave out the miso?
I Would love to use it, but it’s very hard to find in my country (Colombia, South America). I buy many natural and vegan food and health products online in the US, but shipping costs are high, so I have to get only what’s most necessary. Thanks for the reply 🙂
Ok, you could possibly use some more nutritional yeast mixed with some soy sauce. Would not taste the same but it is similar flavors.
Hi I just made your vegan nut cheese cross my fingers I hope I did it right and can’t wait to taste it
So glad you are trying it out Heather. Let me know how it went 🙂
What’s the function of the almond meal? Can I use cornstarch?
It adds a bit of fat to the cheese… you could just add a few more cashews.
Could I leave out the oil? Thanks!
Yes, you could try using water or vegetable stock instead. Or some tahini paste. 🙂
what could be replaced for the nutritional yeast?
There is no substitute for nutritional yeast, but it is an optional extra ingredient so you can just leave it out.
Can I use baked or fried cashew nuts instead? or maybe raw peanuts? Thank you!
You could try it… it should work.
Hi Anja, I made this vegan cheese. It was very yummy. Tasted a bit like the Cheezy Bite Vegimite. I really enjoyed it on a vegan cheeseburger. Complimented the vege burger very well. I cant wait to try the one you made with th sweet potato in it. Looks great. The huloumi sounds good too. I am lactose intolerant so these make a relly cheap alternative to the lactose free cheeses, even with the nutritional yeast being so expensive.
Keep those recipes coming. Love them.
Thanks for your feedback Helen 🙂 I’m glad you are enjoying the recipes xx
Hi I tried this for few times already and getting better and better but it does’t melt still , it just got softer after baking… Any suggestion for me please?
By the way, it taste good ^^ thanks for sharing
Maybe make it without the agar and just use it as a cheese “sauce”… that way it would be the consistency of melted cheese right from the start. Not sure why it would not be melting. Hope this tip helps 🙂
Hi Anja, I just wanted to email to say thanks for the brilliant cheese recipes and YouTube videos. I am in the transition period of going totally vegan and have been craving healthy vegan cheese. All the vegan cheeses available here in the UK are loaded with fat. I have found your recipes very inspirational and I am going to give a couple of the cheese recipes a go very soon when I have sourced the ingredients.
I hope to maybe see a Vegan blue cheese, mozzarella style and Brie eventually
Hi Nina, thanks for your feedback and I am very excited that you are turning to the vegan lifestyle!!! I hope you enjoy the cheese recipes and I will be doing some more soon. If you have any questions during your transition period, please let me know 🙂
Hi!
I would like to try this recipe because it look very good and delicious 🙂 I have a question abou the almond meal – can I use coconut meal?? how smooth does it has to be?
About agar agar – I do not know if I understood rigth – firstly I mix agar agar with 0,5 cup of water and when this is mixed I add 2 tbs of water in the mixure??
How big cup do you use? is it okay if I use 2 decilitre cup?
Thank you very much!
For almond meal you can grind up some almonds… I haven’t tried it with coconut meal. Or put some whole almonds in and blend them with the mixture. Did you watch the video for the agar agar instructions? This should explain the process. I use 250ml cup 🙂
Hi Anja!
I just made this and am waiting for it to set. I just wanted to know how long it will last in the fridge? Is it able to be frozen? I froze the oat cheese and that was a fail (the cheese was yum, just the freezing was a fail). Love your channel and use many of the recipies!
Thanks,
Kyla
Hi Kyla, you can keep this in the fridge for about a week. It does freeze well. The oat cheese soften a lot more and is more like a cream cheese when it thaws out, but this ones holds together much better 🙂 Glad you like the recipes xx
Hello Anja. Thank you for putting out this recipe. I tried it but it seemed to be kinda flat in taste. I tasted more of the Agar then any of the other parts of the mix and thats not good. It was smooth, and very mild, but I guess I’m looking for more sharpness. I was very interested in your recipe because it didn’t use a bacteria base. It was quick and easy without requiring the time to make a simulac mix. That being said, it came out a little too bland. But this is not a critisizm of the recipe, just a personal preference to a sharper cheese. Thank you so much for putting this out there and giving the vegan world a fast way to make cheese at home. Much appreciated, Martin.
Thanks for your feedback Martin. Just add more herbs and spices in that you like the taste of. Also, you can add more miso paste for sharpness. Maybe try the smoked paprika cheese recipe that I also have as this packs more flaor punch 🙂
Hey, thank you so much for your recipies!
This one didnt’t work, but I guess my cups were too big 😉
Just one comment to nutritional yeast, it’a pitty but it doesn’t contain B12, just B1, B2, B3 and B6.
Hi, I use Australian metric measurements so my cups are 250ml. Tbs = 20ml, tsp = 5ml. You have to look for the nutritional yeast which includes B12 (the one I get does have it) 🙂
Hi Anja, would like to leave comment that this recipe works and taste great. Thank you.
Thank you 🙂
Hello, I found your video on this cheese on youtube and I will make it soon.
I have ordered the things I need online, I`m really looking forward to make a quick and easy vegan cheese.
Thank you so much for all your inspiration.
I have begun to follow you on Facebook, so I will be updated 🙂
Have a good day.
Fabulous 🙂 So glad that I have inspired you to make it.
Thank you Anja for the great recipe and instructional video. When I first tried the recipe, I was lacking several ingredients; miso paste, almond flour, grapeseed oil, and agar powder. After reading the comments and your suggestions, I was still able to produce a great cheese sauce. I have experimented several times and thought I would share my results. For anyone looking to make a cheese flavor similar to cheddar or even a sharp cheddar, I suggest using half of the miso paste from the original recipe, then combine 2/3 cup soy sauce, 1/4 nutritional yeast, and 1 tbsp tahini. Add to the original mixture and sample the flavor. Add more nutritional yeast for the cheesy flavor and more tahini for the sharp flavor. Additionally, some vegan cheese recipes call for soaking the cashews first. This may not be necessary, but I find it can make a smoother mixture (especially if your blender or processor is unable to properly liquefy the mixture). Adding a full cup of soaked cashews creates a more dense and rich final product. The original is still fabulous! I found that soaking and doubling cashews, and adding 2-3 tbsp of nutritional yeast and half the white pepper, makes my favorite all around cheese. Thanks again!
Sounds great 🙂
I just made the recipe. It was very good. I couldn’t get the agar to firm up with that much water, so I made a new batch with less water. I also put in more lemon juice and I also added ground sun dried tomatoe. Also added some soy sauce. I think that it tastes yummy. Waiting for it to firm up in the fridge.
It should firm up. Just make sure you cook the agar long enough to activate it 🙂
I loved this cheese, thank you. I used nutritional yeast instead almond flour and it was great.
Awesome!!!
Anja thank you for the wonderful receipts! Fast, easy, tasty! I love the cheese sauce – I could just drink it! I was at a plant based restaurant and they had white vegan cheese that actually melted on pizza! Do you have any receipts of similar cheeses? I miss pizza.
P.S. This cheese didn’t melt.
Thanks for your feedback Victoria. Not sure why it didn’t melt for you. I will be adding an almond cheese later today that should melt perfectly on your pizza 🙂
Hi Anya, is it possible to freeze this cheese?
Might play with adding herbs next time too. Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Yes, you can freeze this. But it is best fresh 🙂
what can i use instead of nuts i have a kidney disease an have to watch how much i eat. phosphorus. thanks joanne
Have a look at the nut free paprika cheese recipe I have on the site.
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Hi Anja! I’m addicted to your website and videos!!! Can you tell me what might happen if I use almond milk instead of the soy milk? Thank you so much for all you are teaching us!!!!
Thank you for your lovely feedback. So glad you are enjoying the recipes and videos 🙂 You can use any plant based milk for this recipe.
Dear Anja. I saw this recipe on youtube, tried and LOVE it. It doesn’t melt for me neither, but I don’t mind that in the slightest. There’s so many cheese sauces one can use for that. I also tried the paprika/sweetpotato recipe, but I substituted the sw.potato for carrot. LOVED that too, especially on some homemade sunflower/sesameseed crackers. Very sadly I’ve since realized I’m allergic to algi products, agar as well. Do you think that Pomonas pectine could work? I’ve got arrowroot, xantan gum etc at home, but I’ve got no belief those would help to firm the cheese up. Any ideas? I really want a firm cheese, and this one is my FAVOURITE. I’d be sad to not eat it again!! Of course, I’ll experiment myself, and will share should I find a solution. Anyway, this cheese is every bit as lovely as advertised on youtube, and when I treated my family to it, they thought so too (and also the smoked paprika one). THANK YOU SO MUCH, for sharing your recipes. Love from Scandinavia 🙂
So glad that you like the recipe. I’m not sure what else would help it to set firm. I have never tried using pectine so not sure if it will work. If you have success let me know 🙂
Carrageen – as apposed to agar agar, carrageen ‘melts’ a bit. Mix some carrageen/agar agar up about a teaspoon powder with very hot, not boiling, water as a firm paste and add that to the cheese mix when you are processing it. Do not have the paste too firm or it will form lumps, and not too wet either.
I also add lupin flour when I am at the final stage of food processing until the mix is sort of porridge like, then I cook the final mix.
I make this vegan cheese recipe with variants on the ingredients every week, the final product is always very stiff and cheese like. You can also add about a table spoon or more of coconut fat, that really sets stiff.
I also have lupin seed roasted cracked pieces, I put that through a grinder flour mill and add that to the food processing, that also helps to create a solid and grainy texture similar to ‘cheddar’ cheese – I was born near Bath in the UK with lots of cheddar cheese on the table, now attempting to create that vegan.
When the cheese has cooled down put it in the deep freeze for 10 minutes – do not forget to take it out the freezer! This makes the cheese firm very quick, and helps firm up any coconut fat if you added that.
At the farm here we create about 6 different vegan cheeses a week, feta, mozzarella, and other types, really quite a vegan adventure in cheeses this winter.
Check out the vegan cheese book by – Skye Michael Conroy
I personally don’t use carrageenan (see info here as to why: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-carrageenan-safe/) Thank you for sharing your tips.
Happy New Year Anja, made this cheese yesterday and it was GOOD! used yeast flakes instead of almond meal – feel more confident in trying more recipes now-thank you and I enjoy the videos_ best wishes Marva
So great to hear Marva… keep up the cooking and experimenting 🙂 x
First time made own cheese; great recipe thank you !
Congratulations on making your own cheese 🙂 Glad you like the recipe Marva x
Can I use kappa carrageenan instead, I have a lot of it and not much agar
I don’t use carrageenan, but it should work.
Made the vegan cheese, came out great. I altered the ingredients as follows –
Oat milk, Lupin flour (roasted), Tumeric powder 1/2 tea spoon, coconut fat 1 table spoon, extra veg stock cube.
I left out the almond meal, grape seed oil, and miso – I wanted to try out the lupin flour for the first time, and I cannot eat miso, and I wanted to use the coconut fat as it sets hard.
I recommend to taste the mix before cooking it, alter taste ingredients as need be.
Thanks for sharing your adaptation 🙂
Thanks! I can’t eat soy (miso) and another ingredients are out of my reach. I will try with lupine beans.
How much nutritional yeast is meant to be used? It is not in the written ingredients and I just made it without it as a result.
It is an optional extra, maybe 1/4 – 1/2 cup.
Hi Anya,
I am writing from Belgium. Can I use tapioca flour instead of agar?
No, it won’t set firm.
This recipe sounds great, I have to try it! I never tasted vegan cheese, since it literally does not exist her. May I just ask what the almond meal is for? Is it more for flavor or more for firmness? (If so, can any type of flour be used? Because I have chickpea, wheat and corn flour, but no almonds)
You can just use more cashews.
Hi Anja! I made the cheese today, and I am waiting for it to set in the fridge. I have two questions though: The agar agar didn’t dissolve completely although I used boiled water, and actually added a little more, without succes. It became clumpy and didn’t dissolve well in the blender along with the rest of the ingredients. As a result, I got lumps of agar agar in my cheese! It’s the first time I have ever used agar agar, so I am not familiar with it’s use. Could you tell why this happened and what I should do next time? And then, after the mixture became quite thick in the saucepan and I was going to pour it into the mould, the oil began separating from the rest of the mixture (I used olive oil). What did I do wrong? Thank you for your time and youre lovely recipes! Greetins from Greece!
I’m not sure why it went lumpy. It should dissolve. Did you use agar powder or flakes? It should all mix and stay together as shown in the video.
Thank you for your reply. I used the powder. What about the oil separating? Any ideas?
I am so so confused. I have searched the internet and still am confused in regard to measurments. It seems to me when you show the miso paste in the video there is FAR more than 2 tbs. Looks to be more like 1/3 to a 1/2 cup. The US imperial conversion isnt helpful really. As it still show 2 tbs being 2 tbs. CAN YOU PLEASEEEEEEEE refer me to a conversion table that is understandable or perhaps make a post on a conversion? How much is 1 cup really lol…
THANK YOU KINDLY!!!!
Hi Anya 🙂 do you use activated nuts ??
I have slowly transitioned my family to plant based foods, we were meat and 3 veg every night, so unhealthy 🙁 and I find my husband doesn’t even notice theres no meat when I make your recipes. eg. I made your eggsless salad yesterday and the plates were licked clean 🙂 I find your recipies easy to follow and so super yummy and love how you use easy to find ingredients many of which I have in the pantry. But there is one thing hes been asking for.. its bacon.. do you have any suggestions ?? its a hard flavour to mimic and I would love to surprise him with a fake bacon breakfast.
So glad you are finding the recipes tasty and helpful 🙂 I do use activated nuts from time to time, but often forget to put them in water before I actually need to use them. As for bacon substitutes, try thin slices of tofu and use things such as liquid smoke and smoked paprika to add a smoky flavor.
wow liquid smoke has a strong flavour.. I coated the slices and left too marinade overnight i also added some massel stock too and it worked 🙂 He smiled and although I had to well and truly over cook the tofu to get it kind of dry and crispy in places he really lapped it up and smiled and said ‘same again next sunday ?’ 🙂 Thank-you so much
Hi Anja I enjoyed your video for its clarity but I am very far from being a vegan but interested in healthy eating and need to get rid of some fats. However most of your ingredients are Latin/Greek to me being a Nigerian so for wider coverage may I suggest, if possible to give alternatives. Thank you and well done and I look forward to more interesting videos and recipes.
I’m glad you like the video. I try to give alternative ingredients wherever I can.
I’ve made a rather large portion and I can’t seem to finish it! How long does it last storing in the fridge? Should I store them in a container? Thank you!
It should last about 5 days to a week in the fridge. I store mine in a container with a lid.
WOWWW!! YUMMMMM!!!!
Well I never thought I could do this but I added some herbs and some some cheesy flakes (nutritional yeast) and it was delish.
Even made a Cheese/Onion/Tomatoe Grilled Sandwich.
Tks for sharing all this amazing stuff.
Do you buy your Almond Meal or make your own ? I googled and saw you can blend almonds with the skins and that’s it .
Do you use unsweetened soy milk or sweetened?
Where can I buy Vegetable stock powder ? Do you buy it from IHERB/Vitacost? I would be happy for a link because I don’t know what it is
Thank you
I buy my almond meal from the store. I use unsweetened soy milk. As for stock powder, you could use this: https://www.iherb.com/pr/Better-Than-Bouillon-Organic-Vegetable-Base-8-oz-227-g/31929?rcode=CSL358
Perfect!! I added wild garlic and it’s delicious x
Hi Ana
Tried your vegan cheese recipe.Love it but I wanted to ask you what ingredient could I add to make it melt better.Want it to melt like a liquid..almost when you melt dairy cheese.I know it’s completely two different types of cheeses but all my vegan cheeses don’t melt properly on my pizzas.Thank you!
Maybe some extra plant based milk or some vegetable broth. Tahini and miso paste are also great additions.
Hi Anja, thank you so much for all your recipes. Even though I’ve not made any exactly yet, I’ve learnt a lot about new to me ingredients and what ingredients work well together and how to use them etc, and used them when concocting food. I’ve been especially grateful for the alternatives to nutritional yeast as I had a really bad allergic reaction to it. I was disheartened at first as this seems to be used in a lot of vegan recipes. same with vital wheat gluten.my order of agar agar powder has arrived so I can finally make this cheese. If I added tahini would I need to reduce the miso? Thanks again x dawn, uk
Hi Anja,
So many exciting cheese recipes… I am cooking for a breast cancer patient who has to avoid soy. Thus, which other non dairy milks would you recommend besides soy?
Also, I have a chick pea miso (soy free). Could I use that?
Thanks , Deborah
So glad you like the recipes. You could try rice milk or almond milk. Chickpea miso is fine 🙂
Hi…is nutritional yeast ok on a yeast-free diet?
It is not active.
Hi! I haven’t tried the cheese recipes YET however I wanted to know how long these homemade cheeses will last in the fridge before spoiling? I like to make things ahead of time but since non-dairy milk goes bad a lot quicker I wasn’t sure about the fridge life for it when it is cooked!
Thank you!
About 5 days 🙂
Hi Anja!
I can’t eat miso can I substitute de miso for another ingredient?
Use tahini and soy sauce mixed together.
Thank you so much for all your recipes, I have found that nearly all that I have tried so far are as good as you say, which if refreshing, because sometimes when I follow vegan recipes they are just awful and I’ve done nothing but waste expensive ingredients. It’s nice to know I can trust your tastes and recipes. Just today I made your hummus and this cheese recipe. The final test is if my husband will eat it too, and he liked it. I only had glass bowls and just as you said, it slipped right out and looked perfect.
Thanks again for all your hard work.
Diana
Fabulous 🙂 I love your feedback… thank you so much 🙂
Dear Anja,
You are a genius!!! I’ve just made my 1st batch of this lovely cheese and it is AMAZING!!! Great consistency and flavour and also, so easy to make!!! Even my husband loved it and he is not vegan. I shall be making a lot more of these in future and I will be trying more of your recipes.
Thanks so much, this helps a lot!
Love from Chile!
I’m so glad that you and your husband like this recipe as much as I do. I’m so pleased it’s been such a hit 🙂
great except someone who makes a career of writing/publishing should own spell and grammar check.
Directions: “your going to need…” ouch.
you’re.
lots of missing commas.
it’s distracting.
Thank you Anja, I love this cheese. I’m cooking different variations of it with almonds garlic or different herbs and spices.
Hi Anja,
I’m looking at making this recipe but when looking for the agar agar powder I found there are different strengths (ie: 900g/cm2 & 700g/cm2) and then there is also agar agar flakes. Could you explain what the difference is and what you use please?
Thanks 🙂
I haven’t heard of different strengths. Maybe someone else on here can help answer this question. As long as it is powder form then it should work. I have found flakes to not be very reliable and you need a lot more for it to work.
Hi Anja, thank you for your fantastic recipes. The cheese recipe is just the best and grates so well, can’t wait to try the lovely cream cheese recipe. Your video’s are excellent and you explain everything so well , especially the finer details of a recipe and method which makes it so much easier to get a good result when making the recipe. Many thanks.
I’m so glad you love this recipe as much as I do 🙂 Thanks.
Thanks for this Anja. I made this with a fortified soy beverage that you can buy here in Canada at the independent grocery stores so not sure if that was the “secret” ingredient or the fact that I used the agar strands instead of powder (ergo, not enough to get a firm cheese) but it was fortuitous because the resulting soft spreadable cheese is akin to Boursin.
There are a couple of comments where people are planning to use herbs and spices and definitely I will be doing that in future recipes. Also, I noted you have a butter recipe. I found the “Boursin like” cheese an excellent sub for butter on toast or if used more thickly, for sandwich filling.
keep up the great work
Thanks for your lovely comment. It’s great when mishaps end up being fortuitous! Glad you are enjoying the recipes.