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!
AP
Hey I made this cheese without the coconut oil as I didn’t have the refined one. How long does this product stay assuming it’s in the fridge and not the freezer?
Rebecca
Hi! Glad you gave it a try! It will last about 5 days in the refrigerator. I'm thinking you'd like it even more with the refined coconut oil as it adds a nice richness - hope you are able to get some and try it!
stephanie
Hi!
I made this cheese yesterday, followed the instructions but it didn’t firm up at all, it’s like a thick paste. I don’t know what I did wrong? I do not have a vita mix so used a ninja ...maybe that’s the problem? Ever had this happen?
Rebecca
Hi! So are you making this with the kappa carrageenan or with the agar powder option? If you used the kappa carrageenan and it didn't firm up, your water probably wasn't hot enough. It literally has to be just boiled in order to activate the carrageenan. But whether you used the agar or carrageenan, don't throw it out! Just heat it in a pot over low/med heat until it begins to bubble/simmer for a couple of minutes. Stir to prevent burning and then return to your mold. That should fully activate either thickener!
Laura Apgar
I made this the first time with Agar powder but forgot to add the coconut oil! It turned out fantastic, with consistency the level of the sliceable mozzarella you'd use on basil, mozzarella, and tomatoes (medium consistency like a buffalo mozzarella, sliceable but not shave-able). The second time I made it,I added the forgotten coconut oil and we did not like it at all. Have you tried the recipe without coconut oil and, if so, did it work for you?
Rebecca
Glad you tried the recipe! The second time you made it, did you use 'refined' coconut oil? If it's unrefined, the flavor will be quite different. You can certainly make this recipe without the oil, and that would of course be healthier, but I would miss the more decadent taste and firm texture that the coconut oil adds. Either way, I'm glad you're enjoying experimenting and making vegan cheese!
Lauren
I'm going to count this as an absolute success. It's gotten to a soft mozzarella consistency at the moment, not sure it will get as hard as you describe but I'm super excited to use some on a pizza. I tasted a little slice on some bread before and it was delicious. Will be looking at your other cheese recipes ASAP 🙂
Lauren
I absolutely detest all the vegan cheeses at our supermarket so I am going to give this a go! However the Carrageenan Kappa powder looks very difficult to source in Australia. I will try it with the Queen Jel-it-in as it does contain the powder in the ingredients with a few other setting agents. This looks like a lovely natural alternative to what I would be buying at the shops.
Rebecca
So glad you are going to try this! Please let me know how it goes as I am not familiar with the jelling option you described!
Diandra
Should/can I soak cashews over night or just rinse them?
Rebecca
If you have a high-powered blender, rinsing or soaking in hot water for 5 minutes is fine. However, soaking overnight also works! I just always forget to do things ahead of time!
Kate
Would it be okay to use whole wheat flour as a substitution for tapioca flour?
Rebecca
I'm sorry, I would not recommend that substitute. Cornstarch is a closer sub.
Nuffy
Must we use Carrageenan? Thanks so much...
Rebecca
I have an option for the agar powder in the blog post itself. However I don't highly recommend it. It is much more difficult to work with and tends to need to be heated on the stove in order to properly activate. The carrageenan is so easy... Sorry to not be able to offer other great options!
Daniel Forman
sorry if this addressed in older comments - I only went through the first page.
I've been really happy with this recipe, with one canveat:
it just doesn't melt. at all. it crisps and eventually browns, but i can't even get it to soften. It's perfect for any filling, eaten as slices, in salads, or whatever; it tastes great; it FEELS like Mozz... unless you're trying to make pizza or something like that.
i'm following the directions pretty closely, do you know of what might cause this problem?
Rebecca
Hi thanks for your comment! Melting it can be a bit tricky. Moisture is the key. If it dries out, it won't melt well. I shred it and use it in quesadillas (especially the pepper jack version) and it melts easily for that. Also melts well in a grilled cheese sandwich, just takes a little time, and melts great in lasagna etc... For pizza, it can be a bit trickier. Adding foil over the pizza to keep the moisture in helps, as well as adding a drizzle of olive oil. Hope that helps!
Stefanie
Where are you at overseas? I am German and have found nutritional yeast all over Europe. You can order it online as well.