REAL Vegan Mozzarella Cheese IS creamy, does slice, shred, & MELT! And you REALly can achieve all this with just a few simple ingredients and a blender!
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!!
What does this Vegan Mozzarella taste like?
This is a very mild and neutral flavored vegan cheese meant to taste like Mozzarella. I think it tastes a lot like string cheese actually. If you like spice, check out my Vegan Pepper Jack recipe and if you’re more of a smoky person, you’ll definitely love Vegan Smoked Gouda.
What you need to make Real Vegan Mozzarella:
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!
- 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 or Modernist Pantry).
The Steps to make Real 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)
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!!!
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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!!