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!
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.
And 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.
If you love making your own homemade vegan cheese then also check out our vegan brie, vegan camembert and vegan blue 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.
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.
Ingredient Notes
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.
Cashew Cheese Q&A
Can you 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.
Can you put it on pizza? We tried it on pizza. And it was very tasty and it melted! But let me be clear, when I say ‘melted’ I do NOT mean that it spreads like dairy cheese. No it definitely doesn’t. It softens though and gets melty.
We tried it grated on pizza and sliced, and either way was fantastic. We put it on the pizza before going in the oven, so it melted along with everything else, and it was really good.
Storing and Freezing
Keep it stored in the fridge (covered) where it will last up to a week.
It’s also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge.
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!
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
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 Raw Carrot (~30g) peeled and sliced
- 2 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 (3 tablespoons).
- 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 but it tends to get firmer the longer it’s in the fridge. So it’s better for grating on the second day than on the day it’s made.
- It does also melt. We put a slice on a cracker and put it in the microwave for 15 seconds and it melted. So yes it does melt!
- We have also tried it on pizza. We tried it 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 good.
- This recipe makes one 21 ounce (600g) round of vegan cheese.
- Serving size is 4 slices which is approximately 1 ounce.
Margarita says
Hi! Going to make this recipe tonight, but I’m wondering if it’s possible to leave the carrot out?
I ran out of carrots and won’t make it to the grocery store until tomorrow lol
Alison Andrews says
Hi there, have you perhaps got a red pepper on hand? If so, then check out our vegan cheddar cheese! Otherwise it will probably be fine to omit it.
Virginia says
Hi! Thanks for the recipe. I followed it religiously, but it came out jelly-like instead of firm, and very VERY lemony. Is lemon necessary? What have I done wrong??
Alison Andrews says
Hi Virginia, I’m not sure why it was so lemony, I haven’t experienced that. In terms of not setting though, it can be caused by a couple of things, firstly make sure your agar agar is powder form and not flakes and also that it is pure agar agar and not some type of blend. If it’s pure agar agar powder and it boils for a minute, then it should set up just fine.
Virginia says
Thanks for your reply! My agar-agar is definitely powder, but I have another brand so I’ll try with that one too. I may go lighter with the lemon next time.
Nikki says
How long does it take to set? I was hoping to make it today but without knowing how long (even approximately) it takes, I can’t decide. It looks amazing and I will be trying it at some point though!
Alison Andrews says
It’s a couple of hours.
Susan Andersen says
Not a fan of Tahini, would there be an acceptable substitute?
Alison Andrews says
You can leave it out. 🙂
Tessa Bowater says
Is the coconut oil a recent addition? I’m sure when I first came a cross this recipe it was oil free ????
Alison Andrews says
The coconut oil has always been there.
Tessa Bowater says
Thank you. My foggy brain didn’t register it ????. I’m guessing it really wouldn’t work oil free…?
Alison Andrews says
You can definitely try leaving it out! 🙂
Brian says
Try Canola oil instead of coconut oil.
Holly J Jackson says
So excited about this recipe. I have 3 kids that have a milk allergy. So we have been buying Vegan cheese for awhile. But lately we are trying to spend less money on are grocery bill. Decided making are own cheese should help with that. I have tried making my own in the past and it was a big Disaster. But I like how this recipe is very clear.
My husband want to know is that cheese has to be round. Or could you use a small bread pan instead
Alison Andrews says
Hi Holly! So glad you like the recipe! The cheese definitely does not need to be round, a small bread pan should work great! 🙂
Taylor says
Made this for the third or forth time. Any time I’m going to a friends house I bring this for a party favor, and any time I made lasagna I put this all over it. Thanks Alison, you’re the best. Love this recipe <3
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! So happy to hear that Taylor! Thanks for the wonderful review. 🙂
Davina Williams says
I made this today and it tasted very cheese like. Very pleased! I’m hoping it will get harder by tomorrow as I don’t think I can grate it just yet. Definitely tastier than shop bought I’ve tried.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Davina! So glad it’s tasty! It usually does firm up more the longer it’s in the fridge. 🙂
Jorden says
So my mom is allergic to coconut. Is there anything else I could use? Normally I just substitute with avocado oil but I’m thinking it wouldn’t set right with that. I’m really wanting her to try some vegan goodies this holiday!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Jorden, you could just leave it out, but I think it would also be fine with a different oil since it’s a relatively small amount. 🙂
Rosana says
Hi! I made this recipe today and it turned out too sour! Too much lemon?
Alison Andrews says
The lemon juice might have been very sour, I would taste test the lemon juice before using it again just in case. 🙂
Debbie W.A. says
I would like to substitute tahini, would you have another alternative please.
Looking forward to trying your recipes ???? thank you
Alison Andrews says
Hi there, you can try leaving it out. 🙂
IChris says
I have made this recipe a few times now, and love it, as do my friends who get samples. So decided to make some again tonight. No cashews in the house! Not to worry, I have made it with white beans in the past, and that works well too. Not one white bean canned or otherwise! SO: I USED CHICKPEAS instead (or Garbanzo beans, depending where you are reading this). Used it with the water in the cans, and it looked and tasted good. But I used different salt, ad it was just too salty. So I put in another tin of chickpeas, added the other half of the carrot and for good measure, a yellow pepper and another teaspoon of Dijon Mustard. That was a blender full! Added just 1 1/2 cups of water and 2 tbsp of Agar Agar Powder, and don’t you know it, it worked just great. Set beautifully, made enough to put on a buffet tomorrow for people to try, and I now look forward to scraping the leftover bits from the blender straight into my mouth. Yummy!
Alison Andrews says
Wow that’s creative! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Billie says
The flavour of this is great but the texture is a bit watery/slimy. Any ideas on how to make it even firmer???
Alison Andrews says
Hi Billie, it’s definitely not supposed to be watery or slimy, I would use a bit more agar agar next time. All the best! 🙂
chris says
Did you use the Agar or powder? I first made it with Agar flakes, and had that same problem. then Amazon to the rescue, who sell everything, and now my cheezes are firm and sliceable.
Rachel says
Hi! I only have a ninja blender. Do you think I should soak the cashews before blending them?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Rachel, I haven’t used a ninja so I’m not sure sorry!
Tess says
I don’t know if you still want to try this, but I blended the cashews dry first! I used a bullet just like a coffee grinder and then added it to the rest. Totally smooth!
Alison Andrews says
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing Tess. 🙂
Ece says
I don’t have access to nutritional yeast what can I use instead ?
Alison Andrews says
I think you could try leaving it out. 🙂