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!
Sammy Radovic
Can I use cornstarch or flour if I don't have or can't find tapioca?
Kate
I haven't tried, but I think cornstarch might work! Tapioca flour is pretty widely available in the US and in many countries.. are you sure you can't find it? It is sometimes called tapioca starch or tapioca flour. It's in large grocery stores as well as all Asian grocery stores, and on Amazon.
Judy
Can you use avocado oil instead of refuined coconut oil?
joe
Hi
Can I store this in salted water?
Thanks
Kate
Hi Joe, I haven't tried that. Let me know how it works out if you try it!
joe
I tries this recipe today and it looks impressive. Can it be stored in salt water?
Thank you
Irene
Hi. I have a question about rinsing the cashews. Rather than running hot water for several minutes, can you soak the cashews overnight and rinse them in hot water for about a minute the next day? Thanks.
Kate
I haven't tried that but it should work!
Eliza
I don’t have a blender that’s safe to use with hot water (I have NutriBullet which says to not use hot water in). Is there a way to make this with cold water? Would I have to boil the cashews first? Or warm up the whole mixture at the end?
Kate
I am afraid it wouldn't work with cold water because the kappa needs boiling hot water to be activated so that it helps the cheese set.
Belinda
Is there anything to keep in mind when blending with hot water. I did it once and it splattered all over my kitchen floor and now I have a phobia blending hot liquids it blender
Kate
Definitely don't do it if your blender sputters/splatters/splashes out! Make sure the top is sealed on tight, cover it with a towel so it hangs over the blender and catches and hot splatters.
Teresa
I would try blending the ingredients w/cold water in the blender you have, with all the ingredients *except* the kappa C, and then transfer and heat the ingredients in a small pot on the stove, stirring, and then add the kappa when it's boiling. Then transfer it to a mold.... see if that works?
Lorelai
I made this today, tweaking the ingredients as I tend to do — because recipes are IMHO “suggestions” lol — and I completely forgot the oil, which I planned on cutting in half. Even after all of the tweaking and omitting the finished product was really, really good, so good that I simply HAD to have a tasting party. Besides, the aged (aging) cashew blue cheese was calling to be sampled, even though it could stand to age a bit longer. Nevertheless, the tasting party was a huge success. All I have to do now is see if it will melt given that it’s oil-free. 😉
Kate
I'd love to know how it melts oil-free, let me know if you gave that a try!
Jill
Did it melt? I'd like to make it without oil too.
Ed
I’ve tried many a mozzarella recipe. Some multi day! This one turned out the best so far for pizza! Melted like the real dairy stuff! That’s for posting this. And so easy to make- seriously, you should sell this!!
Kate
So glad to hear this!!
Harvinder
Nuts can’t have almond and cashew too I don’t know what I can add instead cashew pls
Kate
This vegan mozzarella is cashew based, so I suggest looking for nut-free vegan cheese recipes to fit your family's dietary needs.
Anony
You can actually use sunflower seeds in place of cashews.
Kate
Thanks for this tip! I haven't tried with sunflower seeds but it sounds like it should work. Have you tried this exact recipe with sunflower seeds?
Rhonda D
I have a reaction to cashews. Is there another nut I could use?
Kate
I haven't tried with other nuts, but I am really not sure since cashews blend so smoothly. Perhaps blanched almonds? Macadamia nuts? Though that could get expensive.