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!
Alexandra Curmatureanu
Hi. I tried the recipe but my cheese didn’t harden. It’s been 4 hours and the consistency is kind of like hummus. Not sure where I messed up. Is the water supposed to be boiling when I use it?
Rebecca
Hmm... was your water 'just boiled' as in just boiling and then removed immediately from the heat and poured into the blender? The Kappa Carrageenan won't set unless it is activated by very hot water.
Riannan Olliges
Can you use something other than cashews? Perhaps something that is not a nut? My husband is allergic to most nuts 🙁
Rebecca
Thanks for the question? Soaked blanched almonds are a good substitute if your husband can eat them. If nuts are a complete no go, you can try soaked sunflower seeds. I haven't tried this personally but other readers have and say it works well.
Courtney Farmer
Just the recipe I needed. I love this. Had slices on sandwiches last night and cant wait to use it in pizza tomorrow. Thank you for sharing! I wont be buying any more dairy free cheese at the store!
Rebecca
So glad you love the cheese! Thx a mil for letting us know!!!
Dani Gottlieb
My cheese hasn't firmed up all the way through and when trying to grate it smears, any advice ?
Rebecca
Hmm...I'm guessing you've given it plenty of time to firm up in the refrigerator? Perhaps the carrageenan wasn't blended enough throughout? You can add just a bit more carrageenan when you are making it to help the cheese be even firmer, but the more you add, the less melty the cheese is, so it really depends what your final purpose for the cheese is... Hope that helps!
Sarah
I used 1.5 tsp of Himalayan pink salt and my cheese tasted extremely salty. Is this cheese supposed to be extremely salty or did I get that measurement wrong?
I also subbed the tapioca flour for corn starch. Possibly that substitution made a difference in flavour?
Rebecca
Hi! Some salts tend to have a bit more saltiness than others. No one has really complained of it being too salty before, so I'm guessing that is the issue. The cornstarch switch should only affect the texture, not the flavor. Maybe try cutting back to a teaspoon next time and see if that takes care of it?
Kelly
Rebecca, you are an angel from vegan heaven. THANK YOU for your incredible cheese recipes!! Holy! I’ve made your smoked Gouda which I was a little off on some of the measurements and I thought it was good, and now I’ve made the mozzarella and it’s blowing my mind. I increased the coconut oil slightly and decreased the kappa by 1/2 tsp and it has the most amazing dairy-like tastes and texture. I will be using your recipes for life ?
Rebecca
Thanks so much for comment! You made me smile! So glad you love the cheese!
Sarah Beech
Can you use cornstarch instead of tapioca flour?
Rebecca
You could definitely try it! I don't think it would be terrible but if you are able to find Tapioca flour/starch that is the best option. It gives the cheese a bit of stretchiness...
Vicki
Hi Rebecca. I just made this and it is in the fridge. I scraped the solidified cheese from the blender onto a piece of toast and it was yummy. And so easy. I’m wondering if there is anyway to replace part of the refined coconut oil with another oil. I have slightly high cholesterol and would like to reduce the saturated fat. Thanks for a great recipe.
Rebecca
Fabulous! Glad you like the recipe! Substitutions for coconut oil are difficult because nothing solidifies quite the same. However, if you're willing for a slightly softer cheese, you could sub up to half the coconut oil with avocado oil or some other oil that works better for you. I would heap your kappa carrageenan measurement also to help compensate a bit for the oil change. Hope that helps!
Kelly
How long do you think this would keep in the fridge?
Rebecca
It keeps about a week in the refrigerator!
Jennifer
Is there any need to let it set if I’m making it to melt on top of a pasta bake or could I just pour the amount I need on and stick it in the oven? Hoping to save myself the 4 hour setting time before... melting it again. ?
Rebecca
I haven't tried it but I don't see any reason to wait! I'd do just as you said!