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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Recipe
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 tablespoon Nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 ½ tablespoon Kappa carrageenan
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
- 1 ¼-½ teaspoon 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!
Barb
This was so easy to make, and such a satisfying product. Thank you for this excellent recipe.
Rebecca
Thanks so much for your comment! So glad you are enjoying the mozz!
Mallory
How long is this cheese good for in the refrigerator? Just trying to determine how long it will last without the need for freezing.
Rebecca
It easily lasts 5-7 days in the refrigerator. Hope that helps!
Jessica
Does it matter if the nuts are raw vs roasted, salted or non salted?
Rebecca
Yes, I use raw cashews, unsalted, in this recipe! Happy cooking!
Sarah
Hi there, really syked to try this as my previous attempts at vegan cheese have failed (I’ve got allergies to anything dairy).
One question, is there an alternative I can use for the coconut oil? I have an issue with coconut and I’ve been told to avoid it whenever possible
Rebecca
I'm so sorry, but there really aren't any good alternatives to coconut oil in this recipe! That is one of the ingredients that helps the cheese to become solid, and also be able to melt! Not the same kind of cheese, but this nacho cheese is super yummy and doesn't require any coconut oil!
Deb
Love this cheese! I make it every week and have shared the recipe with many! I feel like I am relying too heavily on cashews for my family lately. Do you think you could sub sunflower seeds?
Rebecca
So glad you like the cheese! Some readers have subbed the cashews for soaked and rinsed sunflower seeds and tell me that it works well! I haven't personally tried it, but it seems like at least a partial substitution would be fine. Also, blanched and soaked almonds would be a good sub! Hope that helps!
Robin
Thank you for a great recipe! Just made this, it is great tasting! Everyone feels it tastes like true Mozzarella, win win! I cant wait for this to be gone so I can make it with the full 1/2 cup of cashews LOL, I saw 1/4 cup and that's what I used. They will really think its good then! Now I'm off to make the Cream Cheese recipe with my newly arrived Kappa Carrageenan.
Rebecca
Glad you loved the recipe, even with the adaption! Haha! Thanks so much for the comment!
Robin Dorland
Hello Rebecca, I have a question about your recipe.
It's very unclear to me what the measurements are states in the the list of ingredients.
Does '1 1/2 cup/tsp/tbsp' of water, kappa or whatever mean: "One half a cup/tsp/tbsp" OR "One AND a half cup/tsp/tbsp"? Please explain this, because I am very eager to try this, but I don't want to screw it up and let the ingredients go to waste.
Thank you.
Rebecca
Sorry that it is unclear... 1 1/2 means one AND a half. Hope that helps!
Chel
Hi! Whats the nutrition portion based?
Rebecca
The block of cheese is estimated to serve 10 people. That works out to about 1/4 cup or 4 tablespoons per person. Hope that answers your question!
Donna
Thank you. I’m still waiting to try this, it’s wrapped in paper towel and cling wrap. I’ll wait until tomorrow to see how it is. I will say that I’m on a kick to find a great recipe for vegan cheese. I’ve altered some recipes to make them to our liking. They are supposed to be sliceable however it’s barely there. This hardened right up. I did take a bit of remnants from the mixer and popped it on a triscuit and then in the microwave. I was super impressed with the meltability of this cheese.
Rebecca
Glad you like it so far! Let us know what you think once you have a chance to try it!
Randy Coombs
There seems to be a concern with carrageenan lately to the point where a lot of products are labeling themselves as carrageenan free. I can’t find enough research indicating it is bad for the gut. What is your take on this?
Rebecca
I'm in the same boat as you. I just am not convinced that it's a problem; and it's such a wonder ingredient! And, personally I haven't noticed any stomach upset. At any rate, I try to be careful using any refined products in large quantities, so even vegan cheese for me is a treat, not an everyday staple.