Block-style Vegan Pepper Jack Cheese that will simply blow you away and have you coming back for more! It slices, shreds, and melts! SO good, it truly tastes better than dairy cheese! And it only takes a few minutes to make!!!
Historically, there is very little more satisfying to me than a little chunk of cheese. I think I must be part mouse. At any rate, I am presently COMPLETELY head-over-heels with this Vegan Pepper Jack cheese. It is so creamy, so rich, so flavorful, that it really begins to rival dairy cheese. You must try it! It only takes just a few ingredients, and a few minutes of your time! Fabulous!
Important Ingredient List:
You may already be acquainted with these ingredients, but if not, please take just a moment to read through these:
- REFINED coconut oil. Please don’t miss the word refined. I missed that when I first tried to make something like this, and I used Virgin coconut Oil. BIG mistake. Refined coconut oil (Amazon Affiliate Link) doesn’t taste like coconut but it still turns solid at cooler temps and just has that wonderful richness.
- Next important ingredient is Tapioca Flour. (Affiliate Link) There may be equitable subs but again this is unbelievably perfect so you just gotta try it. Local health food sections of your grocery store may carry this. I usually buy it online.
- Now for the most unusual vital ingredient. Kappa Carrageenan. This ingredient is what makes the cheese able to go from liquid to solid and back to melted state. It’s a wonder ingredient and not widely sold: here is the Kappa Carrageenan I use (Affiliate Link).
The Steps to Make Vegan Pepper Jack Cheese:
Seed and dice your jalapeños, add just a teaspoon of REFINED coconut oil to the pan, and sauté until soft. (Photos 1&2)
Assemble the rest of your ingredients (Photo 3).
Rinse cashews under HOT running water for several minutes (Photo 4).
Save aside sautéed Jalapeño, crushed red pepper. Add all other ingredients to blender, adding boiling water last (Photo 5&6).
Blend immediately until smooth, stopping once to scrape the sides of blender. (Photo 7).
Add Sautéed Jalapeño and crushed red pepper and blend or pulse quickly. Pour immediately into mold. (Photo 8,9.)
Note: As soon as the cheese begins to cool, it will start to harden. This is the reason for working quickly.
Tip: Rinsing cashews under HOT running water helps soften them for blending and also largely removes the cashew flavor.
Well, folks, I think that about explains Vegan Pepper Jack Cheese for now. I’m super thrilled for you to try this cheese and share it with your friends – vegan and non-vegan alike. I think you’ll find/create a LOT of new vegan cheese lovers!!
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Vegan Pepper Jack Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 Jalapeños diced/sautéed
- 1/2 cup Raw Cashews Rinsed under Hot running water for several minutes
- 1/4 cup REFINED Coconut Oil
- 1/4 cup Tapioca Flour
- 1.5 tbsp Nutritional Yeast Flakes
- 1.5 tbsp Kappa Carrageenan
- 1 tsp Seasoned Salt
- 1 tsp Himalayan Salt If using table salt instead, use slightly less
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1.5 cup Boiling Water
- 1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
Instructions
- Wash, seed, and dice Jalapeño peppers. Sauté in a small frying pan with just a bit of Refined Coconut Oil until soft. Avoid browning. Set aside to add to the cheese later.
- Select a heat-safe preferably glass dish that can hold approx 3C and set aside. (This is your cheese mold.)
- Rinse Cashews under HOT water for several minutes.
- Put your water in a small pot on the stove to boil.
- Add all ingredients (except the water! & Jalapeños and Crushed Red Pepper) to the blender. Add the cashews first and then everything else on top of the cashews.
- Carefully add (so you don't burn yourself!!!) the boiling hot water into your blender. Put the blender lid on! And blend immediately until completely smooth.
- Stop blending once if need be to quickly scrape sides of blender and resume blending right after.
- Stop blending one more time and quickly add Sautéed Jalapeño and Crushed Red Pepper Flakes. Now blend/pulse JUST enough to incorporate these ingredients.
- Immediately transfer your cheese to your chosen dish/mold as it will start to solidify quickly as it cools.Place in refrigerator to chill. No need to cover yet.After 1 hour or when fully chilled, remove cheese block from dish/mold and wrap in paper towels and then tightly plastic wrap. The flavor gets better over a day or two but it’s great as soon as it’s hardened, too. Yeay! You are officially a cheese-maker!
Video
Notes
TIPS for Cleaning your Blender:
Right after scraping all the cheese you can into your mold, fill your blender with a couple cups of hot tap water and a drop or two of dish soap. Place the lid on and blend on high for several minutes. This will get rid of the the cheesy stuff in the bottom of your blender and keep you from having to clean around the blades with your hands!Nutrition
Ok so this is really amazing. I thought it would be too spicy but it was just right (mind you, it is spicy though). I’ve tried similar soy milk block cheeses but this method is SO much easier. And I love that I don’t have to have specialty soy milk on hand. It also slices and cubes so much better than the soy milk cheese.
Thx Janice! Glad you loved it!! I agree it really isn’t quite as spicy as it sounds – even 2 of my 3 kiddos will eat it!
Both of mine liked it!
Wohoo! Total win!!!
Amazing!!! Love it and so does hubby!!!! Thanks Rebecca
Glad you liked it!! My pleasure!
Any other options besides coconut oil? Butter or another oil? Thanks!!
Thanks for your question! Are you allergic to refined coconut oil? Refined coconut oil has no flavor, but it hardens up when cooled helping creating the firm texture of the cheese. However, I do have some readers who cannot obtain it, so they use neutral cooking oil (such as vegetable) with good results. I haven’t tried it myself, but it might be worth a shot!
Do you think I could sub fresh with pickled jalapeños? I have a huge jar of pickled jalapeño slices, I was thinking of chopping them and squeezing the water out in a teatowel.
Great question! Yes! Definitely! Don’t worry about squeezing out the juice. Sub the vinegar with the pickled jalapeño juice. It’s a fabulous twist and I love doing it that way! Yum!
Thanks for the response and sorry for the double post! Coconut oil is something we avoid, so I will try with another oil. Looking forward to making some wonderful cheese! Thank you!
Great! Let me know how it goes for you!