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 cashew pieces – 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!
How long does vegan mozzarella last in the fridge?
This cheese will last about 4-5 days in the refrigerator… if it makes it that long. 😉
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!!!
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?? PLEASE CLICK ON THE STARS TO GIVE IT A RATING BELOW!!
Real Vegan Mozzarella Cheese
Ingredients
- ½ cup Raw cashew pieces, Rinsed under hot water for several minutes
- ¼ cup Refined coconut oil
- ¼ cup Tapioca flour
- 1 Tbsp Nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 ½ Tbsp Kappa carrageenan
- 1 Tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 ¼-½ tsp Salt
- 1 ½ 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 realized after I put it in the mold that I forgot the lemon juice :(. Oh no! So it didn’t set, it’s just like really thick. Is that why? I’ll have to use it as a spread but it tastes good.
Can you substitute blanched almonds for the cashews? I follow a vegan lectin free diet…Thanks!
Kate, how long until the cheese expired? Thank you for this recipe, I loved.
About 4-5 days in the refrigerator. I will add this to the recipe!
This is so good!! This recipe totally satisfies my pizza cravings. I was wondering if it is totally necessary to let the cheese harden in a mold? It doesn’t get quite as melty when I shred it and add it on top of pizza. I was wondering if you think it would work if I just poured the mixture straight from the blender onto the pizza crust and sauce, and then let the entire pizza set in the fridge or freezer?
Hi Molly! I haven’t tried that but it actually sounds like a BRILLIANT IDEA!! My only concern is that you’ll have to work fast to sort of spread it over your pizza, so it doesn’t set in one big clump in one spot. I would LOVE to see how it comes out if you try that! Please tag me on Instagram (@theveganblueberry) or Facebook (@veganblueberry) with a photo if you try!
I have almost everything needed to make this with the exception of tapioca flour.. I was going to use cornstarch. Any idea on if it works in this recipe?
Hi Patty, I haven’t tried corn starch, but it should work! I use it interchangeably in most recipes. But as I said, I have not tried it with cheese, so please report back if you try it!
Sorry too say that but Better use agar
Carrageenan is very bad for your Heath
Yes that is definitely an option! The texture will be a little different, but I included instructions to make the cheese with agar powder
https://thegentlechef.com/is-carrageenan-safe-eat-vegan/
Seems that the concern over carageenan may be unfounded.
Yes I read that, and we do use it in moderation. I am no expert, so if someone is concerned they should definitely check with their doctor! I won’t tell people what to eat or not eat 🙂
A staple in our household for pizza and paninis! We do one and a half tsp salt to have maximum flavor and letting it set over night deepens the flavor (but 3 hours works in a pinch). We also boil the cashews for 20 min to ensure it’s very smooth. 🙂
So glad to hear that!!
tried it today! didn’t have lemon juice so I used yellow mustard instead. it was amazing! I’ve used carrageenan before but the recipe I used said to put it in boiling water first then add to Mixture so it came out clumpy and weird. lol thanks for this recipe. I’m a new vegan and I missed cheese. I also feel like a superwoman making it for my husband who has been vegan his whole life! 🙂
So glad you liked it!