So. Dairy-free cheese.
Dairy-free, vegan, soy-free, casein-free cheese… I can tell you how to make some. It actually melts. And it tastes amazing.
It’s totally a thing, I promise. And I’m about to give you the recipe.
I’m not kidding, by the way, about the “tastes amazing” part… My brother, who practically lives off of meat and dairy and is highly skeptical of any foods purporting to be vegan, is addicted to this cheese. No joke. I can’t seem to make it fast enough for him.
I feel the same way. This cheese is great on pizza, lasagna, and even to thicken creamy sauces. My brother eats it cold most of the time. But where it really shines is in grilled cheese sandwiches. Oh, it makes the most delicious grilled cheeses… One of the best things about is that you can throw it face down on a non-stick skillet with a little oil or butter and it doesn’t turn into a sticky mess like normal dairy cheese. Fried a little bit face-down, it gets gooey and melty but with that delicious, crispy skin that tastes like heaven. My open-face vegan grilled cheeses are one of my favorite things ever.
And what’s really fun is that you can play with making many different flavors of cheese – as many as you can dream up. I’ve included some suggested variations but feel free to experiment on your own. Let me know if you come up with a great one!
This cheese is inspired by and loosely adapted from the meltable vegan cheeses in Miyoko Schinner’s fantastic book, Artisan Vegan Cheese. It’s based on my almond-cashew yogurt, which is vegan, paleo, and super easy to make! (Make the yogurt a day ahead of time to allow it to culture and thicken up.)
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
**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.
Magda lives, cooks, and blogs from beautiful Portland, Oregon. She's on a mission to actively live her manifesto with Project Delici8, an eight-year quest to fully immerse herself in the things that matter most in life.
Could I use a shop bought soy cheese for this or would it not work like that? Thankyou.
Yes, you can use any type of cheese you like in place of this in any of my recipes!
Hey Magda, how long does the cheese stay fresh in the fridge?
Hi Myra, the cheese should stay fresh for at least one week and up to two weeks. Some flavors keep better than others depending on the ingredients you use (the more fresh ingredients you add, such as tomato or jalapenos, the shorter the shelf life).
I tend to have the opposite problem, however… this cheese disappears way too fast in my house! 🙂
Magda, we are nearby in Lake O. My son can’t have tapioca either. Is there a version without tapioca you could help me with? Just got back all his allergies and feel quite lost on feeding him.
Hi Courtney, I haven’t tried making this cheese with anything other than the tapioca flour, but you could try substituting corn starch, potato starch, arrowroot, or sweet rice flour instead. Make sure you only use about half the amount of any of these (so 1/8 cup for this recipe) as they’re all stronger thickeners than tapioca. And let me know how it works out!
I know this is a fairly old post but I only found this recipe a few days ago and decided to try making it. I put together the garlic lover’s cheese and then the onion and chives cheese. I then started putting together the miso cheddar cheese but then I noticed the recipe says to double the nooch to 3 tablespoons, but the original recipe has 1 1/2 teaspoons … is the original recipe supposed to then have 1 1/2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast?
I hope it doesn’t affect how the other two I already put together turn out. )=
Please clarify this for me. Thank you so much for this recipe! I had a small taste of the miso mix even though it’s not cultured yet and I can already tell it’s going to be a favorite. <3
Oops, thanks for catching my goof! I’ve edited the recipe but the nutritional yeast should be doubled to three teaspoons (or one tablespoon) for the miso cheddar version. The original recipe was correct in that it should have only 1 1/2 teaspoons, but if you’re a fan of nutritional yeast, feel free to add more!
I hope you liked the cheese! 🙂
Ahhh. I did end up adding 3 Tbsp but I love nutritional yeast so it tasted great! Thanks for clarifying for me though.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I really loved it!! (especially frying up the cheese and how it didn’t turn into a liquid mess like the coconut milk based cheese I like to make!) My boyfriend loved it too!
Is it possible to omit the carrageenan in this recipe or substitute with something else? Looks like a great recipe but I try to stay away from that ingredient. Thanks!!
Hi Michelle!
Unfortunately, this particular recipe won’t work without the carrageenan, since it’s what thickens and sets the cheese as well as allows it to melt.
Since the jury seems to still be out on carrageenan, I understand why people might want to err on the safe side and avoid it. From the research I’ve done, however, it seems that the only studies that have shown negative health effects associated with it are those that have used degraded, not food-grade, carrageenan. Check out this article for more information: http://followyourheart.com/is-carrageenan-safe/
That being said, I totally understand where you’re coming from, and I’m actually actively working on a recipe for a delicious vegan cheese that doesn’t contain carrageenan. It’s not an easy feat and I can be pretty tough to please when it comes to dairy substitutes, but I’ll definitely share the recipe here when I finally get it right!
I have a cashew allergy, what could I use instead of the alomond-cashew yogurt?
If you still want to make the yogurt yourself, you can substitute an equal amount of macadamia nuts for the cashews, or use 2 cups of coconut or other plant milk in place of the cashews (if doing this, decrease the water in the recipe to 2 cups).
Otherwise, you can use any other yogurt you like, whether it’s homemade or store-bought, and still get similar results… Hope that helps!
Van I use agar-agar instead of guar ?
P.S I love your almomd-cashew yogurt😘
Thanks Wendy, I’m so glad you like my yogurt! 🙂
You can definitely use agar agar instead of guar or xanthan gum to thicken the cheese up, but it probably won’t melt as nicely… You can also just try substituting an extra 1-2 tablespoons of tapioca flour or arrowroot powder for the guar gum. Let me know how it works!
Is canola oil required for this or can I use a different oil (avocado, coconut, olive, etc.)?
Yeah, you can use any vegetable oil you like! Canola oil works really well because it’s so mild in flavor – you will likely be able to taste something stronger in flavor like olive or coconut oil, but I’m sure it would still make for a tasty cheese. Personally, I think avocado oil would be your best bet!
I was recently in New York trying out a few Vegan and Paleo Restaurants and came across a cheese that was based on Tapioca and Arrowroot flour and this sounds similar to that. I am trying to keep my recipes as free from any processed foods as possible and was wondering if this recipe could be modified to be as simple as possible. Maybe three or four ingredients not including flavoring. Also the Almond Milk Yogurt is not something readily available in SW Florida. The entire SW Quarter of the State of Florida seems to be a healthy food desert !
I’m actually working on a simpler version of this recipe, but it’s not easy! I’ll keep you posted!
Do I need the nutritional yeast? Is there an alternative possibly? On a yeast-free/candida diet.
The nutritional yeast in this recipe is used for it’s somewhat “cheesy” flavor. You can certainly skip it, although it will definitely change the flavor of the finished product. But you can also try replacing it with more spices, herbs or other flavorings – I’d recommend experimenting with garlic, onion, or tomato powder or even a touch of tamari or liquid/coconut aminos to give the cheese that savory, umami flavor without using any yeast. Let me know if it works out for you! 🙂
I’ve read nutritional yeast doesn’t affect candida? I think because it’s inactive.