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!
Sarah Katherine Mela
Hey can the cashews be replaced by the milk?
Rebecca
You could replace the cashews with cashew milk, but you'd need to adjust a lot of things! The cashew nut itself helps create a creamier, firmer cheese. I probably wouldn't do the switch for this recipe!
Edward John Crist
I've been making plant based chesses for years and this recipe is so far the very best for a 'melty' mozzarella. Kudos and well done!
Rebecca
Thx so much for the comment! Glad you like it! Making cheese is SO much fun!
JW
I would like to try this recipe, but am avoiding saturated fats (i.e. coconut oil). Could I use a little avocado oil or no added oil at all?
Rebecca
You could definitely try it! Without the oil the melty ability will definitely be affected, and of course the general texture/taste. I know a few people have tried using other oils, resulting in a much softer cheese but still tasty, they say! Have fun experimenting!
E
Followed your recipe to the t apart from 3 tbsn of agar but it fun not set. Where am I going wrong? Is it the US cup system?
Rebecca
Hi! It is the US measurement system. The agar does not active or set as quickly as the kappa Carrageenan so that could be the issue. When using the agar, you can also cook the blended mixture on the stove for a few minutes until it thickens. This will ensure that the agar is completely activated.
Stephanie
What happens if I use unrefined coconut oil?
Rebecca
If you use unrefined coconut oil, it will taste like coconut! That's the great thing about the refined coconut oil - it gets nice and hard, adding firmness to the cheese but NO coconut flavor!
Jessie
Hi! I have tried this recipe twice so far, once with the agar agar and once with the Kappa. I followed the recipe to the letter. Although harder than the agar version, the one with the Kappa was not shreddable at all (I tried the paper towels trick too!). A little disappointed about this, but the taste is still good 🙂
Rebecca
Hi! Thx for commenting, and glad you liked the taste! This recipe is def softer with the agar, but it should be easily sliceable/shreddable with the Kappa Carrageenan. You probably already watched the video? The easiest way to make the cheese firmer is to add a bit more Kappa, so you could def try that! Also, depending on the speed and power of your blender, you can blend everything together and add the kappa through the plug area in your blender lid after everything else is well blended! Hope that helps!
Sylvie Lebeuf
Made pizza last night and used the vegan mozzarella I prepared in the morning. I wasn't able to shred the cheese as it was way to soft and didn't look at all like in your video. However, I spread pieces all over the pizza with my fingers (bonus... I had to lick my fingers afterwards). It didn't melt but was soft and the taste was delicious. I will test the recipe by disolving the agar agar in the boiling water to see if it makes a difference in the consistency next time (I still have 1/2 a batch.
The reason I decided not to use kappa carrageenan is because of info I found on The Elated Vegan website while searching about the difference between kappa carrageenan and agar agar and here is what they say: "However, carrageenan has a particularly bad reputation in the health industry. In animal studies it has been found to accelerate cancer formation when ingested with a carcinogen, as well as causing stomache ulcerations and inflammation (poor animals ?). It is approved by the US FDA and this is probably because it is less harmful when consumed with protein and apparently harmless when ingested in small amounts when it is used as a food additive."
Although they say that it is "apparently" harmless when ingested in small amounts when used as a food additive, I just didn't want to take any chance.
I will keep you posted afer my next batch. ?
Rebecca
Thx for sharing! Yes, the agar version will be softer, and agar doesn't melt as well as the Kappa Carageenan. Glad you still enjoyed the flavor!
Sylvie Lebeuf
Hi Rebecca, just did a batch of your vegan mozzarella. I followed the recipe to the letter except for the kappa carrageenan which I replaced with agar agar (the firm one not the average firmeness) and doubled the quantity (3 tbsp instead of 1.5 tbsp of the kappa). I used my Wolfgang Puck blender and I wasn't able to get the shinny consistency I saw in your video and it became thick (not set though) very fast , like I would have needed more liquid. It's in the fridge to set now. Hopefully it will come out nice to use/grate. As for the taste, I Iicked the spatula and scrapped little bit left in the blender and it tasted great. Will keep you posted on how it will come out in the end :).
Rebecca
Thanks for the comment! It sounds like you did everything right! Agar powder is def not quite as easy to work with as Kappa Carrageenan. The final consistency is also slightly different and sets slower than the carrageenan. At any rate, glad you've tried it, and I hope all turns out well!
Lucy
Made this cheese and it was wonderful. I made served it with tomatoes and basil, used some in lasagna roll ups. Yum!
Rebecca
Thanks so much for letting us know how it went!! You're making me hungry - those lasagna roll ups sound fab!
Keegan Schulz
What kind of cashews do I use? Whole, canned? Also can I use arrowroot starch and not tapioca starch??
Rebecca
Dry cashew pieces or whole cashews work great! I haven't tried arrowroot starch with this recipe, but I think it would probably do fine! Let us know how it turns out! Have fun!