Meltable Dairy-Free Cheese
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
This nut-based dairy-free cheese melts beautifully and tastes amazing. It's also soy-free, paleo, and vegan.
Author:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1 cup almond-cashew yogurt
  • ¼ cup water
  • ¼ cup canola oil
  • 1½ teaspoons nutritional yeast flakes
  • 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon granulated garlic (optional)
  • ¼ cup tapioca flour
  • 2 teaspoons carrageenan powder*
  • ½ teaspoon guar or xanthan gum
Instructions
  1. Combine yogurt, water, oil, nutritional yeast, salt, and garlic powder in a blender on high speed. Add the tapioca flour and carrageenan and blend until smooth.
  2. Pour mixture into a medium saucepan. Whisk in the guar or xanthan gum. Continue to whisk the mixture over medium-high heat for about 3-5 minutes, until it gets very thick, develops a glossy sheen, and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan when stirring.
  3. Remove from heat and immediately pour the mixture in a small glass container that will serve as your mold. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for about 2 hours or until cooled and set.
Notes
*You can find kappa carrageenan powder on Amazon. (A whole canister may seem expensive, but I've made dozens of batches of cheese with it and am still only about halfway through my first container.)
**If you find that you prefer a tangier cheese, you can culture it. Here's how: Blend all ingredients except for tapioca, carrageenan, and gum until smooth, then pour into a glass container, cover and let culture at room temperature for 12-24 hours or until it gets as tangy as you like it. Add the remaining ingredients and proceed with the recipe as directed.

VARIATIONS:

**Garlic Lover's Cheese:
Increase the granulated garlic to ½ teaspoon and add 1 clove of raw garlic.

**Onion & Chive Cheese:
Add two teaspoons of onion powder and 1 tablespoon of dried chives (or 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped chives). Reserve about half of the chives to whisk in after blending if you'd like to see chive pieces in the cheese.

**Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Cheese:
Add 1 clove of garlic, 1½ tablespoons of sun-dried tomatoes, and 1½ teaspoons of dried basil (or 1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil).

**Pepper Jack Cheese:
Add 3-4 tablespoons of drained, minced, canned jalapenos, decrease the water to 3 tablespoons, increase the tapioca to ⅓ cup, and increase the carrageenan to 1 tablespoon.

**Tangy Cultured Miso Cheese (Cheddar-Style):
Double the nutritional yeast flakes to 3 teaspoons and add 1½ tablespoons of red miso (you can use chickpea miso if you want to keep it soy-free) and ⅛ teaspoon of turmeric (optional, for color). Blend all ingredients except for tapioca, carrageenan, and gum until smooth, then pour into a glass container, cover and let culture at room temperature for 12-24 hours or until it has thickened and tastes tangy. Add the remaining ingredients and proceed with the recipe as directed.
Recipe by I Deliciate. at https://ideliciate.com/meltable-dairy-free-cheese/