REAL Vegan Mozzarella Cheese IS creamy, does slice, shred, & MELT! And you REALly can achieve all this with just a few simple ingredients.
In the vegan diet there is one thing that I have missed more than any other single thing. It’s cheese. Real cheese. My expectations were that vegan mozzarella cheese would:
- Be creamy
- Slice
- Grate
- DEFINITELY Melt
- Be quick to make
Until about a year ago, I wasn’t sure how to achieve that. Then, I finally found a few recipes that I liked but they couldn’t really be characterized as ‘healthy’. (Previously, this post contained info about and tweaks of a famous recipe.) After a bunch of trial and error, I’m excited to share with you my very own recipe for Real Vegan Mozzarella that takes just minutes to make!!
The Taste:
This is a very mild flavored cheese meant to taste like Mozzarella. I think it tastes a lot like string cheese actually. There are lots of fun things you can add in for flavor like sautéed spicy peppers and onion, or chives, herbs, garlic, etc…. I’ve tried a number of variations but I encourage you to try it plain first. Then you can adjust things according to your preferred flavors. In another post I can also share how to make it into ovalinis or mozz balls that you can slice onto your pizza. So much fun!!
Ingredients:
The one challenge of making this cheese is that it takes a few unusual ingredients that not everyone has on hand. I usually try to stay away from posting recipes with ingredients that aren’t normally in your cupboard, but this one is just worth the effort. Here are some ingredients that you might not have on hand or are just super important:
- 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. Anything virgin tastes stronger. Think Extra Virgin Olive oil; it tastes stronger than just regular olive oil, right? Refined coconut oil (Affiliate Link) doesn’t taste like coconut but it still turns solid at cooler temps and just has that wonderful richness. This might sound hard to find, but I live in a remote area, and several local stores sell it. I’ve also bought it at TJMaxx, of all places, and I’ve linked a source on Amazon above.
- 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. I cannot vouch for all producers of this product (which aren’t many) but here is the Kappa Carrageenan I use (Affiliate Link).
The Steps:
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)
Add boiling water to blender and blend until smooth. (Photo 4) Pour immediately into heat safe dish (your mold) and place in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight. (Photo 5)
Slice, grate and enjoy!
Whew, getting your ingredients together 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!!!
And Here’s a video so you can see the process in action:
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Real Vegan Mozzarella Cheese
A Super Simple and Tasty Vegan Mozzarella Cheese that will slice, grate, melt, and blow your mind!!
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
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
Recipe Notes
Tip 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 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!
Ummm at the end I realized tha I won’t be able to make it, or should say my caregicer won’t. ???????????????? can I buy some from you pls pls ????????????????
I wish I was set up for that but I can’t mail it. 🙁 I have a couple favorite brands of vegan cheese you can buy from the store tho! Check out Ciao cheese by Field Roast and some of the cheeses sold by Miyoko. Follow your heart cheese is a nice one too!
Can I use apple cider vinegar instead of lemon juice?
Using vinegar would probably work, but it would change the flavor a great deal. If you don’t want to use lemon 3/4 tsp lactic acid powder also works. Personally lemon is my fave tho! Happy cheese making!!
I have lactic acid. When and how should I add the lactic acid?
Great! Add approx 3/4 tsp at the same time and in the same way that lemon juice is used in the recipe. It is your acid so you don’t add it until the very last and then quickly mix it in just prior to transferring the cheese to it’s mold! Enjoy!
My lactic acid is powder form. Do I need to mix it with water first?
No need to mix with water. I’ve used it just like that no problem. Just sprinkle it over the cheese, mix in quickly and well and then transfer to the mold!
Wow! Awesome! Thanks so much
You are so welcome! Let me know how it works for you!!
Yay! Just made it all the way over here in the Philippines! I know my husband loves it more than any other vegan cheese so I got the special ingredients and brought them in my suitcase! Will probably need to get more next visit to the states. 🙂 thanks Becca!
Do you know if Aaron would work to sub for kappa?
I think that’s a typo and you’re asking about Agar Powder? I haven’t tried it yet, but if you would like to give it a whirl, I would double the amount of the Kappa, so 3T. of Agar powder as opposed to 1 1/2 T. of Kappa. It likely won’t be quite as firm and sliceable/grateable, but I’m sure it would still be super yummy!!
So excited to try this! AMAZING!!!
Can’t wait for you to try it!!!
Hello! Can the carageenan be replaced with something? What would you suggest?
Hi! Agar Powder would be the next best option. I haven’t tried it, but I plan to try it with doubling the amount of Kappa Carrageenan noted in the recipe. Unfortunately, from past experience I’m not expecting the same results. I’m sure it would still be good, but just not as firm. Also, I don’t know for sure if the boiling water will be enough to activate the Agar well. It generally takes longer on the stove than the Kappa Carrageenan. Good luck and thanks for reaching out! Would love to hear what results you get!
Yes, agar. Darn auto correct!
Just made this. Yay! Yum! Success! Sooooo much cheaper than buying vegan cheese! Thanks for sharing!!
Yes, it does save a TON doesn’t it???!!! AND a trip to the store every time I want cheese!! LOL So glad you tried it!
Totally awesome taste and nearly effortless to make. This comes together so quickly, so definitely have everything in place, especially the dish your planning on molding the cheese in. I chose to do a Jalapeño Jack flavor by adding in 1 minced/sautéed jalapeño, and a teaspoon of red pepper flakes at the very last second before shutting my blender off. Yummy and spicey! Adjust the spicyness to your taste preferences. Kudos to Chef Rebecca for coming up with this amazing recipe!
So glad you love it! Those spicy additions sound great!!
My daughter has a nut allergy (especially cashews). She has been cleared to use almonds, walnuts and pecans. Do you think any of those would work? Perhaps almonds as they are meaty like cashews?
I haven’t tried almonds yet, but I think they would be a good substitute! Perhaps a slightly different texture. Let me know how it goes for you!
Can the tapioca flour be substituted with anything else?
At this point, I can’t recommend any other thickeners to produce the same texture. I’ve tried cornstarch but wasn’t nearly as pleased with the results.
When wrapped in paper towel, is the paper towel dry or wet? Thanks.
The paper towel is dry, to absorb and extra moisture from the cheese. Seems to help it keep fresh a bit longer, too. Happy cheese making!
Fantastic flavor, tastes exactly like mozzarella! And so easy! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe Rebecca!
Glad you love it! My pleasure!
Great recipe, thank you so much! So simple. It set really well. Tried it on crackers, delicious. And currently munching on a toasted cheese sandwich. Can’t wait to try it on a pizza next week.
Just one problem – it will vanish too quickly 🙂 But it is so simple to make!
Thanks for your note! Same problem at my house, lol!!