Vegan Cashew Cheese Recipe!
Vegan Cashew Cheese
I’ve used this cheese recipe for over a decade at my restaurant, and published it in my first cookbook, The Real Food Daily Cookbook. It is an excellent non-dairy cheese that slices, shreds, and melts.
Makes 4 cups
1 1/4 cups raw cashews
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons sea salt1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
3 1/2 cups plain unsweetened soy milk
1 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) agar agar flakes
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup yellow or white miso
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Using the pulse button, finely grind the cashews in a food processor (do not allow the cashews to turn into a paste). Add the nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, garlic powder, and white pepper. Pulse 3 more times to blend in the spices.
Combine the soy milk, agar, and oil in a heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the agar is dissolved. With the food processor running, gradually pour the milk mixture through the feed tube and into the cashew mixture. Blend for 2 minutes, or until the mixture is very smooth and creamy. Blend in the miso and lemon juice.
For grated or sliced cheese: Transfer the cheese to a container; cover and refrigerate until it is very firm, about 4 hours. Once it is firm, grate or slice the cheese as desired.
For melted cheese: Use the cheese immediately as melted cheese. To make the cheese in advance, cover and refrigerate it. When ready to use, melt it in a saucepan over medium heat until it is smooth and creamy, stirring frequently and adding more soy milk to the melted cheese to thin, if necessary.
The cheese will keep for 4 days, covered and refrigerated.
Click HERE to print this recipe!
From Vegan Family Meals, Real Food For Everyone By Ann Gentry Andrews McMeel Publishing Copyright 2011
Hello – I can’t wait to make this! Do you think you could use unsweetened almond milk instead of the soy?
[…] Darlene has experimented of late with making vegan block cheeses that are shreddable. She tried this cashew cheese recipe from Real Food Daily and it was tasty but alas, it didn’t shred very well so we just crumbled […]
[…] but I can encourage you to try it out!! The cheese came Ann Gentry’s Real Food Daily recipe for Vegan Cashew Cheese. I cut the recipe in half (I didn’t get enough Agar Agar for the full batch) and made only two […]
I would like to try this recipe, but since Monsanto has destroyed soy with GMOs in America, would almond milk work?
Can’t guarantee how it will turn out….but by all means try it!!!
Is it possible to use agar powder in this? I did not realize flakes were so expensive.
Great recipe! I used Almond milk (yes it does work fine), and made this into a fantastic homemade lasagna that my whole (non-vegan) family loved! Thanks so much for sharing!
[…] Ingredients (cashew cheese recipe is a slightly adapted version of Real Food Daily’s Vegan Cashew Cheese Recipe) […]
Just made this in my nutriblender, chucked it all in except the soy/oil/agar which I cooked in the saucepan first. It came out absolutely perfect – having not eaten cheese for a long time, it tasted like a nice mature cheddar so I am very pleased, it is the one thing I have really missed. Looking forward to a “cheese” and pickle gluten free sandwich now. Shop bought dairy free cheeses are vile! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe x
Glad you loved RFD cashew cheese!
I have made this with great success with agar flakes (used ounces instead of cup) but the flakes are super expensive around here ($10/oz) … I can get agar powder for considerably less. Supposedly you can use 1/3 powder vs flakes. Has anyone tried this?