Vegan cashew cheese that is sliceable and perfect for a vegan cheese board! Full flavored, authentic looking and quick and easy to make too!
Hard, sliceable cashew cheese. It’s here! And I couldn’t be more excited!
We have guests coming next week and I have a full on cheese board planned, with this as the main event!
I have to admit it took me a fair few goes to get this one right. If you follow us on instagram then you might have seen in our instastories where I was proudly showing off each new attempt!
From the start though I was delighted with this.
To think it can be so easy to make a super impressive block of vegan cheese!
How To Make Cashew Cheese
I started off with just a basic recipe and then quickly saw that I needed to add more cashews to make it really rich and lots more spices to make that cheese flavor really stand out.
Some recipes recommend you cook it all up with the agar agar powder (which is what makes it set) on the stove and then pour it out into your dish to set, but this doesn’t work at all when you use more cashews to make a thicker/more robust cheese, because then it’s too thick to stir up properly with the agar agar.
And since the agar agar needs to boil for at least a minute for that agar powder to set up properly I found it a much better plan to do it separately.
So basically, you make up a batch of cashew cheese sauce in the blender, but you spice it up more strongly than you would usually, to the point that if you taste it, you’ll be thinking: this is too strong!
But then you boil up a cup of water with agar agar powder on the stove, let that boil for a minute and then pour that mix into your cashew cheese sauce (conveniently still in the blender) blend it up again and then pour it all out into your dish to set.
The water and agar powder dilute the spiciness of the cheese and while setting it also dilutes it a bit so you have to start off strong to end up with perfectly spiced cashew cheese.
And it is simply fabulous! You can slice it into perfect slices and put them on crackers or bread or wherever you would eat a slice of cheese.
But you can mash it up too! It’s sliceable and hard enough to cut perfect slices, but you can also still smash it on a cracker if you want to.
A vegan cheese board!
It’s perfect for a vegan cheese board with some red grapes, jams, maybe some mixed salted nuts and a selection of crackers (and maybe some wine too).
And let me just say, a slice of this on a cracker with some mixed fruit jam on top – but any jam would be awesome – was like the best thing ever. Jaye and I were in heaven. And we can’t wait to show it off to our guests next week.
The Cashews
This recipe is quick and easy and one of the things that makes it so quick is that you don’t need to soak the cashews first. You can just go right in and blend them up.
The reason it’s possible to do this is because you’re making a sauce to start off with, it’s not a super thick cheese right off the bat so it’s more easily blendable (I do have a vitamix though so that helps!).
Provided your blender is strong enough I don’t really see any reason to soak them first in this recipe but I am not an expert on your blender. If you know your blender will have trouble with this, then you can soak them briefly in boiling water. Just place the nuts into a bowl, pour boiling water over the top and then leave them to soak for 15 minutes, then drain and use as normal.
The Agar Agar
The crucial ingredient in this recipe is the agar agar powder. It is what makes the cheese set.
You get two types of agar agar, you get the powder version and the flakes. Use agar agar powder. The agar agar powder is much stronger than the flakes and is what we used in this recipe.
If you have no other option but to use flakes, then you will have to use 3 times as much of it.
Recipe Q&A
Can I grate it? This cheese can also be grated, the firmer it is the easier it will grate, and the longer it’s in the fridge the firmer it gets, so if it’s not ideally firm for grating on the first day it will likely be grate-able by the second day.
Does it melt? I put a slice on a cracker and put it in the microwave for 15-seconds to see if it melted and it did! So it does melt.
We also tried it on pizza. And it was very tasty! But let me be clear, when I say ‘melt’ I do NOT mean that it spreads like dairy cheese. No it definitely doesn’t. It softens though and gets melty.
We tried it both grated on pizza and sliced, and either way was fantastic. Just to be clear we put it on the pizza before going in the oven, so it melted along with everything else, and it was really good.
How long does it keep? Keep it covered in the fridge where it lasts up to a week!
Can I freeze it? Yes you can!
More delicious vegan cheese recipes!
- Since this recipe was published, we’ve made another firm sliceable cheese, a delicious vegan cheddar cheese, so you definitely want to check that out.
- We also have a totally divine vegan cream cheese that is everything you want spread on your breads and bagels! Also check out our vegan cottage cheese and vegan feta!
- Our cashew cheese sauce is perfect drizzled over pizza or baked potatoes and our vegan parmesan cheese is wonderful sprinkled over anything and everything!
- Our vegan mozzarella is divine on some pizza and our vegan nacho cheese is divine on… you guessed it, some vegan nachos!
- And then there’s our vegan ricotta which is incredible just as is, but can also be baked into a vegan lasagna recipe or some vegan stuffed shells!
Hard Sliceable Cashew Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 cup Raw Cashews (150g)
- ⅓ cup Water (80ml)
- 5 Tbsp Lemon Juice Freshly Squeezed
- 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
- ¼ cup Tahini (60g)
- ½ Medium Carrot (~30g) peeled and sliced
- 2 and ½ tsp Salt*
- ¼ tsp Paprika
- ⅛ tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
- ¼ cup Nutritional Yeast
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder or flakes
- 1 cup Water (240ml)
- 1 Tbsp Agar Agar Powder must be powder and not flakes*
Instructions
- Add the cashews, ⅓ cup water, lemon juice, coconut oil, tahini, carrot, salt, paprika, cayenne, dijon mustard, nutritional yeast and garlic powder to the blender and blend until very smooth. Leave the mix in the blender and set aside.
- Add 1 cup of water and the agar agar powder to a saucepan and heat, stirring regularly until boiling. Boil it for 1 minute (time it), stirring regularly and after 1 minute remove it from the heat and pour it into the blender on top of the cheese mix.
- Blend until smooth.
- Moving quickly, as it will start setting up very fast, pour the mix out into a round dish sprayed with non-stick spray.
- Refrigerate until set. To remove from the bowl, turn upside down onto a plate.
Video
Notes
- It is crucial for the success of this recipe that you use agar agar powder and not flakes. Flakes are much less powerful and if you DO use flakes you will need to use 3 times as much.
- This might seem like a lot of salt, but it works perfectly in this recipe.
- I used a regular round bowl, it was 5 inches round and 2 inches deep. I chose it because it was quite straight up the sides so created a nicer shape for the cheese. But you can really use any bowl or ramekin, and if your bowls are smaller, then just use 2 bowls for 2 smaller blocks of cheese.
- This cheese can be grated.
- I also put a slice on a cracker and put it in the microwave for 15 seconds and it melted! So yes it does melt! This isn't really what I would call the main use for this though, as I think it tastes better as is, but yes it melts.
- We have also tried it on pizza. And it was fantastic. We tried it both grated onto a pizza and sliced. Either way was great. We put it on with all our other toppings before going into the oven and it got nice and soft and melty along with the other toppings. It doesn't spread or anything, but it's very very good.
- This recipe makes a 21 ounce (600g) round of vegan cheese.
- Serving size is 4 slices which is approximately 1 ounce.
I would recommend making it with 1tsp of salt your first time, and seeing if you’d like more. I made it with the recommended salt once and it was much to salty! 1tsp and it’s the best vegan cheese ever!
So glad you were able to tweak it to your taste perfectly. Thanks for sharing and the wonderful review!
Hi Alison,
Incredible recipe. This is perhaps the best vegan cheese I have ever had. I do have a couple of questions though.
After the agar has been boiled sufficiently and put into the blender, how long do I need to blend/mix it with my cheese mixture?
I worry about the cheese setting up before I can pour it into my mould. When I made it a couple of days ago I only blended in the hot agar slurry for about 30 seconds and then poured it. Everything worked out fine. It seemed to be fully mixed and still liquid enough. Are 30 seconds of blending the hot agar/water with the cheese enough?
Also, can I substitute Kappa Carrageenan for the Agar?
Thank you again, Alison
Hi Bruce, yes a very quick blend just to mix that agar mix with the other ingredients, it could be 10 seconds, just enough to get it mixed through. This step should be fast so that it doesn’t start to set while still in the blender. I haven’t ever used kappa carrageenan, it should work, but the method would be a little different, and I don’t know exactly what the method would be with that ingredient.
This was a great success even for my first attempt thank you so much for the recipe
Awesome, thanks Chris!
I really want to try this recipe however I cannot tolerate nutritional yeast. Can you suggest a substitute or can it be omitted without compromising the recipe? Thank you!
You can try leaving it out.
Hi Becky—try, just once, making it with the nutritional yeast. The “cheese” is incredible, and I assure you that you won’t taste the nooch!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I really like the consistency, but unfortunately the Dijon almost ruined it for me. Next time I will omit it or try using a very small amount. I love Dijon in salad dressings, but I found it way too overpowering here. Looking forward to trying all your recipes!
if you have agar agar flakes but want powder try putting it in a spice grinder. Makes it powdery. if you have powder and want flakes try the grocery store.
This was honestly the best vegan cheese I’ve ever made. Combining the agar agar separately seems to be the big difference from other recipes, I’ve made others with similar ingredients and it never firmed up as well as this. Can’t wait to try your other cheeses!
That’s awesome to hear Ley! Thanks a million!
Just made this and mmmmm!
Thank you, really tasty as promised but the consistency was not firm.. I used one 8g sachet of Agar Agar powder – is this too little? should I double up?
*also – does pouring boiled water into your Vitamix hurt it? I don’t want to crack the jug in mine :/
.all these questions! thanks again 🙂
I’m not sure what the weight of 1 tablespoon agar agar is, you would need to still measure it with a tablespoon measure. Also make sure it’s pure agar agar. We also have a vitamix and find this not to be a problem!
I loved it. But I thought the coconut oil was too much. I don’t like the taste of it. Can we change it to another type of oil or vegan butter? Thank you????
Hi Mariana, you could use a refined coconut oil (flavorless). I wouldn’t use a different oil as it will affect the firmness.
This was my first time making a type of sliceable vegan cheese and this recipe was easy to follow and turned out great! Very happy with this, thank you! 🙂
Ive made this a few times now and I love the recipe but I wouldnt say it can be grated, at least not when i make it. Its more of a spreadable cheese. Ive tried adding a but more agar and it still wasn’t the consistancy for shredding? Any tips?
Hi Diana, so glad you love the recipe! If you’re currently soaking the cashews then try it without soaking them, it makes for a firmer cheese. 🙂
Mine also turned out pretty soft, kind of like the texture of Velveeta so I wouldn’t be able to shred mine either. I did not use soaked cashews and I’m pretty sure I followed the recipe correctly 😉 I wonder what happened…
Everyone really loved the flavor 🙂
Also, without the agar, it would be an incredible dip or a sauce to put on roasted vegetables or steamed broccoli…
Excellent recipe. Tonight we turned it into a fondue and it was superb.
Thank you so much for creating these recipes! Converting from vegetarian to vegan took me some time as it was hard to give up cheese. What helped me convert was finding Violife vegan cheese. You might have heard the brand. Your recipes sound delicious and easy I will definitely try them!
Hi Jenniffer, yes we love Violife too! 🙂
I love love ❤️ this cheese. I make it, slice it and freeze the slices in parchment paper. When it’s almost gone, I make more. I use it in toasted cheese sandwiches and black bean burgers. This recipe is the best by far.
Awesome! Thanks Amal!
I made this yesterday and tastes amazing. I used 1 and 1/2 tsp salt but I didn’t change anything else and I loved it! Thank you so much.
Awesome, thanks Camila!