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!
Lindsey
I made the recipe and substituted agar agar powder for kappa carrageenan as there was no time to get a new ingredient. It's been in the fridge for four hours and is too soft to take out of the mold in one piece. It definitely tastes a lot closer to mozzarella than other recipes I have tried! I am trying to put it on pizza and I was wondering if I pop it in the freezer do you think I could then be able to shred it frozen? I feel like I read about someone doing that somewhere. Any idea if that'll work?
Rebecca
So glad you tried the recipe. Kappa carrageenan is really the golden ingredient for getting super firm cheese. The Agar powder is more difficult to activate in the blender. You could try freezing it, and that would definitely make it more grazeable, but the freezing also changes the texture and general smoothness. Hope that helps!
caracolita6
Hi! this recipe looks really good! I will give it a try and let you know how did it go!.I have a question, do you think this cheese would be good for grilled cheese sandwich?
Kind regards,
Maria
Rebecca
Great! Hope you like it! Yes, this cheese works great for a grilled sandwich!
Veronica
This was very easy to follow and make. It all came together so quick! Think it took longer to clean my blender than it did to make the cheese. Recipe was easy but the flavor was only “meh”. I think I will add more salt and more nutritional yeast next time. The cheese shredded and melted beautifully tho. I think I may have added a little too much water (like a tablespoon or so) as the cheese seemed softer than it looks in the photos posted. My friend likened it to a boiled egg white haha. Despite the flaws in my outcome I will definitely try this again!! Thanks for the recipe
Rebecca
Thanks so much for your comments! Glad you gave the recipe a try. You're right extra water will make the cheese softer and dilute the flavor. Add extra kappa carrageenan if you'd like an even firmer cheese, although it won't be quite as melty. Depends what you are making it for. Also, this is a very mild cheese flavor in general. You might really enjoy this spicier vegan pepper jack cheese - it's my fave! https://www.veganblueberry.com/best-vegan-pepper-jack-cheese-shreddable/
Susan
Can you soak the cashews overnight, then rinse instead of rinsing under hot water?
Rebecca
Definitely! In fact, if you soak them in hot water for just 15 minutes or so, that works also. Hope that helps!
Hana
This was awesome! It came out amazingly and it was so easy to make once I had the ingredients. The only thing I would have changed was adding more salt. But I am a salt lover, and should have tasted it while it was blending. Tastes way better than any store brand.
To anyone about to try it, the only thing I’d like to really stress is the cheese starts to harden like, immediately. By the time I was done scraping it into my container it was like fresh mozzarella consistency. Pour fast!!
Rebecca
Thanks for the comment! So glad you liked the recipe! You definitely do have to work fast!
Rufus Wentzel
Great recipe. Can I replace the tapioca flour with corn flour or not?
Rebecca
I haven't tried using cornstarch in replacement. Cornstarch doesn't have the same 'stretchy' property, so the texture would be different and I'm also concerned that the cornstarch may not be activated properly simply by the boiling water, but if that is all you've got I'd say it's worth a try. If the mixture doesn't thicken in the blender, you can always heat it on the stove in a saucepan over low heat until completely thickened. Hope that helps!
Jose Rosa
Can you substitute cider vinegar for the lemon juice?
Rebecca
Yes that is a good substitute and will change the flavor only slightly.
Debbie
I love this recipe! I added just a bit more lemon juice along w a pinch more salt for added tang. Thank you so much! Your recipes are awesome!
Rebecca
Thanks so much for the comment! Glad you like the recipe and Love how you're making this cheese your own!
Lidia Laferriere
Thanks ,so you say to cook carregenina and tapioca separately and then mix the others ingredients?
Rebecca
Sorry my last answer wasn't clear. Blend everything together with cool water instead of just-boiled water. Then heat blended mixture on the stove until thickened, then chill to harden! Hope that helps!
Lidia Laferriere
Hi ,just a doubth ,dont we need to cook carregenina and tapioca ? Thanks Lidia
Rebecca
Great question. The just-boiled water is hot enough to activate the thickening agents in this recipe. However, if you prefer, you can blend all the ingredients with cool water, and then heat the cheese mixture in a saucepan on the stove over low heat until thickened, then chill.