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!
Shred this mozzarella and use it in my vegan manicotti or vegan stuffed shells stuffing, add it to pizza, serve it as part of a vegan charcuterie board, or simply snack on it! It's also amazing shredded on top of vegan stuffed Portobello mushrooms before baking, so it gets nice and melty.
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!!!
Other recipes you will love:
- 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
- See my web story for 10 vegan cheese to try!
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
- 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!
Hi there! The flavor of this is amazing and I'm so happy that you're shared this with us! Here's a tip to make things safer- don't use boiled water. I'm a lab scientist and have lots of recipes like this for making petri dishes. The key is to blend it really well with cold water then heat it on low, stirring occasionally. I used this technique tonight, and the key is to heat and stir until the mixture pulls together and completely off the sides. This creates a perfectly consistent texture and can cool in the pan (fridge) or pour into another container. This should work 100% of the time. One really shouldn't ever blend boiling water. Thanks again!
Thanks so much for your comment! Totally understand your perspective on blending just boiled water. Gotta be SUPER careful! Stovetop cooking this cheese is a great alternative and it sounds like you have the method down with the low and slow... thanks for sharing!
I've made this twice now and really like it. Today, as I was scraping the bowl and licking the spoon, I wondered whether you have a recipe for a ricotta-like version - I thought it would be great to use in lasagna. What would I adjust to make this less firm - the kappa carrageenan? Any other ideas? Thanks - great recipe!
Yes, adding less Kappa carrageenan will create a softer cheese. I do have a ricotta recipe that I use in stuffed shells that we love. You can check it out here: https://www.veganblueberry.com/tofu-ricotta-stuffed-shells/ Thanks so much for you comment!
Wow, I'm excited to try out this recipe! And definitely glad I found your blog!
That's great! Excited for your to try it also!
Thanks a lot I thought about the lower kappa amount also. Will try the pepper jack next!
Awesome!
Hi Rebecca, first of all thank you for sharing this easy recipe, both my friend, her daughter and myself loved it! Made it last night and think we are at least half of it today. Well mostly my friend's daughter! The only thing, cheese didn't melt just got softer. Heat was up in oven and we also tried toasted sandwich... Lovely to eat just not melting well. I have followed your steps and measurements exactly to a dot - any idea what it could have been?
Thanks!!!
Ahh yes, the melting part can be a bit tricky. It gets melty for pizza in the oven but it takes time, and if it dries out first it won't melt as well. You can use a little less kappa carrageenan when making it and it will melt faster. As far as grilled cheese or quesadillas, it will get melty, just takes a little more time than normal cheese. I especially like this pepper jack flavor (https://www.veganblueberry.com/best-vegan-pepper-jack-cheese-shreddable/) for grilled cheese! Hope that helps! Thanks for the comment!
I see it serves 10, but do you know what the serving size is? Like how many grams or oz does this recipe make?
Not sure on the oz. Probably around 16 is my guess. I'll try to weight it next time I make it!
Thanks for the reply Rebecca:) I’m in Asia and refined coconut oil is a bit on the expensive side, looking for alternatives. Thanks again for the insight!
I understand. You can use regular coconut oil if that's cheaper, but it does tend to lend a coconut flavor to the cheese...
Hi! Thanks so much for the recipe:) Any substitutes for Coconut Oil??
The coconut oil is pretty essential in this recipe since it hardens at cooler temperatures, adding to the grate-able texture of the cheese. However, I have had many people successful in substituting up to half the oil with a different type. Hope that's helpful!
What would be a substitute for cashews if you have an allergy to only that nut?
Blanched almonds (skins removed) that are soaked are a suitable substitute, and I've had readers try macadamia nuts which I'm sure would be amazing, but rather pricey!
Hello! I can’t wait to try this recipe! Would you please tell me where I would get a mold like you have for setting this cheese? Thank you!
Excited for you to try it. The 'mold' I use is a class storage dish that I bought in a set at costco. Really any glass dish that holds around three cups would work well!