This Vegan Mozzarella Cheese is creamy, plus it slices, shreds, and melts!
It takes only a few minutes and a blender to make this dairy-free mozzarella – no actual cooking involved! Everyone loves this amazing vegan cheese. You simply must try it!
Melty-stretchy gooey mozzarella cheese is something that I think all of us vegans dream of. Except now you don’t have to just dream about it!
You can make it in your kitchen in about 5 minutes with just a handful of ingredients!
This Vegan Mozzarella Cheese…
- Is deliciously creamy
- Slices
- Shreds
- Melts – this is an amazing vegan cheese for pizza
- Is quick to make
- Healthy, thanks to a couple of nutrient-loaded ingredients, such as cashews and nutritional yeast flakes
I am excited for your try this stuff!
What does Vegan Mozzarella taste like?
This Vegan Mozzarella is very mild and neutral flavored. It is rich and creamy, and has bit of that satisfying cheesy ‘chew’.
I think it tastes a lot like string cheese actually.
It makes the perfect vegan pizza cheese, and I truly believe it is the best vegan mozzarella recipe.
What is Vegan Mozzarella made of?
- Refined Coconut Oil – Please don’t miss the word refined. It doesn’t taste like coconut but it still turns solid at cooler temps and just has that wonderful richness.
- Tapioca Flour This helps solidify the cheese, and also adds a ‘stretchiness’ to the texture.
- 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. (find it on Amazon.
- Raw cashews – These make the cheese creamy in texture and add lots magnesium, potassium, iron, and healthy fats to this vegan cheese
- Nutritional yeast flakes – Nutritional yeast is loaded with nutrients like niacin, Vitamins B1, B2, B6, B9, and B12, and it gives vegan cheese a wonderful realistic cheesy flavor
The one challenge of making this cheese is that it takes a few unusual ingredients that not everyone has on hand. But please believe me, it’s SO worth it! (See all the rest of the ingredients in the photo below!)
How to make Vegan Mozzarella:
Assemble all your ingredients (Photo 1). Rinse Cashews under hot running water for several minutes. (Photo 2) Put all ingredients in the blender except for the water. (Photo 3)
Carefully! Add HOT (just boiled!) water to blender and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides of blender with spatula once if needed. The water must be JUST BOILED. I mean, HOT! (Photo 4)
Pour immediately into heat safe dish (this will be your mold – no need to oil the mold) and place in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight. (Photo 5)
Slice, grate and enjoy!
Expert cooking tip for making cashew cheese:
Don’t skip rinsing the cashews! (If you don’t want run water over them for several minutes, soak them in super hot water for about 5 minutes and then rinse again.) This step really helps to decrease the ‘cashew’ flavor in the recipe, while still using the wonderful creaminess of the cashew!
What kind of mold to use to make vegan mozzarella?
Any small heat-safe container will do, but I like making mozzarella into a round shape so it resembles a mozzarella bowl. The 2-cup container from this set of Pyrex containers is perfect!
Can you freeze Vegan Mozzarella?
Sure! It does get a little softer in texture after thawing, but if you think you can’t eat it all, by all means freeze it! (Most people have trouble making it last that long though! Check out the comments below! )
Does Vegan Mozzarella Melt?
Yes! This vegan mozzarella does melt at higher temps, so if you’re baking a pizza you’re in for a melty treat! It also works great melted in quesadillas, shredded over lasagna, and breaded and fried as vegan mozzarella sticks!!
Can you use Agar powder in place of the Kappa Carrageenan?
The short answer is yes. Double the amount recommended in the recipe for Kappa Carrageenan and replace with Agar Powder. Make sure to use Agar Powder, not Agar Flakes.
The long answer is also yes, but it won’t have quite as firm a texture and may not be quite as melty. Which is still perfectly fine for many uses!
What I would NOT recommend substituting:
Don’t replace the lemon juice with Lactic Acid. For some reason, the quick blending process used here does not work well with this substitution and your cheese may not set properly.
For a slightly drier cheese:
After your cheese block has hardened, you can wrap first in a dry paper towel, and then tightly in plastic wrap. This will remove any excess moisture.
For a softer cheese:
Decrease Kappa Carrageenan amount to 1 tbsp. This texture is ideal for making Mozzarella Balls.
Whew, reading about the ingredients is SO much harder than actually making this, I promise. I cannot wait for you to try this so you too, can successfully make and enjoy yummy, healthy, Real Vegan Mozzarella Cheese!!!
If you like this post you might also be interested in:
- Vegan nacho cheese
- Vegan feta cheese
- Best vegan egg salad
- Easy vegan buttermilk biscuits
- Vegan smoked Gouda cheese
- Vegan pepper Jack cheese
- Vegan cream cheese
- Vegan herbed cheese – this one is amazing for a holiday vegan charcuterie board!
If you’ve tried this Vegan Mozzarella Cheese recipe or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I LOVE hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food!!!
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Real Vegan Mozzarella Cheese
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Cashews, Rinsed under hot water for several minutes
- 1/4 cup Refined Coconut Oil
- 1/4 cup Tapioca Flour
- 1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast Flakes
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Kappa Carrageenan
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 1/4-1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 1/2 cup Boiling Water
Special equipment
Instructions
- 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!) 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.
- 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 2-3 hours 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!
Recipe video
Notes
Nutrition
I’ve tried several different recipes for vegan mozzarella, and this by far is the best recipe yet. I just love it. It’s going to be my go-to recipe for mozzarella in the future. I can’t wait to try the vegan cheddar recipe!Ca
So glad you loved it!!
All your cheese recipes are wonderful and enjoyed by my non-vegan friends. The smoked Gouda is my favorite!! I add twice as much nutritional yeast to your recipes to give the cheese a bit more flavor. Do you have a recipe for cheddar? THX so much!!
Thank you so much for the kind words!! And YES, cheddar cheese, coming right up!
https://www.veganblueberry.com/vegan-cheddar-cheese/
How long do you blend the cheese and on what speed? Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Not long at all! Just as long as you need to get it to be completely smooth. The cheese will start to solidify as it cools so the faster you can blend it and the hotter you keep it, the easier it will be to pour out of the blender. But do take the extra few seconds to make sure it’s all blended until smooth. Let me know how you like it!!
Is there a replacement for the oil? We cannot have any oil at all. Suggestions?
Hi Michele, I really haven’t tried it without oil. I imagine using another liquid (such as a not-too-salty broth) might work but the texture would not be as rich and cheesy, and it might not set as much at cold temperature. If you try it please let me know how it worked out!
Hello, this is the second try. I made sure I got the refined coconut oil. The texture is the same as your ( pic),but the taste is pretty bland and I can taste the coconut oil( a bit).
maybe next time.increasing, salt and lemon would work.
I used a nutritional yeast but mine is a bit old. do.you think that made a difference? still taste like nutritional yeats though.
Hi Maria,
Yes try adding more salt and a tiny bit more lemon juice next time for more flavor and a little tang. And yes the nutritional yeast can definitely make a difference.. Do you like the flavor of your nutritional yeast? If yes, then it shouldn’t matter if it’s old (how old is it?? lol) but if you feel like it doesn’t have much flavor or tastes “off” then definitely get a new bottle of nutritional yeast to try!
I’m obsessed with this recipe! It was my first time making cheese at home and man oh man was I shocked! It’s now my go to cheese recipe. All my non vegan friends and family love it too! Thank you!!
Is there any substitutes for coconut oil ? Everyone here is allergic to it :/
I really haven’t tried it without coconut oil. Coconut oil solidifies at cold temperature so it helps set the cheese and make it solid yet meltable. You can probably try it with any other NEUTRAL flavored vegetable oil (don’t use avocado or olive oil), but your cheese would likely come out softer. Let me know if you try another oil and how it works out – I am sure it could be helpful info for others too!
Yeah when kappa carrgeenan is mixed with stomach acids it can become a carcinogen linked to cancer and ulcers. Is there a better alternative I don’t really want to risk it with this ingredient
Hi Britnee,
Yes, read the recipe notes for tips for how to use agar powder instead of carrageenan. The cheese will definitely come out softer with agar and will not be as shreddable or sliceable, but readers have said it was still absolutely delicious.
I’ve done a lot of reading about carrageenan and while yes, it can cause inflammation in some people who are prone to inflammation, it seems like it is unlikely to react with stomach acids to cause harmful effects and many people use it in moderation. But of course, everyone should consult with their doctor about what is best for them!