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.
Krista says
I’d love to try this, but I do not use oil. I’m whole food plant-based…the tahini is permitted, but not the coconut oil. Can I omit it? Add tahini?
Any thoughts?
Thanks !
Alison Andrews says
Hi Krista, yes you can omit the oil with no other changes.
B says
Hey! I was wondering if you think a food processor would work instead of blender?
Alison Andrews says
It won’t usually get things as smooth as a blender. But it may work in a pinch.
Alana Helm says
How long does the cashew cheese need to set in fridge?
Alison Andrews says
A couple of hours. You shouldn’t be in any doubt that it has set. 🙂
Angelina says
Hi
I have never used agar agar before,but I google it.???? I wonder what brand to use.????
????♥️
Alison Andrews says
Hi Angelina, we do have a link to an agar agar on Amazon in the ingredients list. You don’t have to use that one though, the main thing to look out for is that it should be the powder form and it should be ‘pure’ so it should not be mixed with other ingredients, so just check the ingredients list. 🙂
Michelle says
Great stuff I have found several recipes I am going to try thanks so much, l especially love how easy everything looks like it so easy and simple to make. thanks again
Alison Andrews says
Thanks Michelle! Hope you enjoy it!
Primroselil says
Delicious! It is in the fridge waiting to set further, in the meantime I have put the blender scrapings on a cracker – absolutely delicious. I have already made your vegan cheddar cheese, which I like, but not as much as this. And your cream cheese, which is definitely the best cream cheese. But this is really good, I am interested to see what it tastes like out of the fridge tomorrow. I hope you are well and still able to get ingredients during this time. At least it gives me time to experiment with your delicious recipes (did I mention it is delicious?!)
Alison Andrews says
So glad you like the recipe(s)! Yes, this is a good time to get creative in the kitchen (even with ingredient shortages!). xoxo
Meredith J says
How long to set in the fridge? I am dying to try it but don’t want it to be goo in the middle!
Alison Andrews says
It should be quite fast, like around an hour, but you shouldn’t be in any doubt that it is set. It should be firm all round.
Mae says
Hey. Can I use cornstarch instead of agar agar? I read online that it is a good substitute, but I want to make sure. Thanks
Alison Andrews says
Hi Mae, it won’t work as a substitute for agar agar. We do have other cheese recipes that don’t set firmly and don’t require agar agar like our vegan cream cheese if agar agar is something you can’t get hold of. 🙂
Mae says
Ok thank you so much
Naradi says
Is this cheese a melty cheese for topping casseroles and such?
Alison Andrews says
It does melt a little, but it doesn’t have the spread that you would get with non-vegan cheeses. But it does get soft and ‘melty’.
Donna says
This tasted delicious! However, since I pre-soaked my cashews (because I don’t have a Vitamix blender), I should have cutback on the water. My cheese was still solid enough to slice, but it was too soft to shred. We ended up spreading it on crackers, and it was so good. Next time I will try using less mustard, and maybe use smoked paprika. Thanks for the recipe!
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for sharing Donna!
Kathy says
Can you freeze it?
Alison Andrews says
Yes. 🙂
Nita says
What is the shelf life of this cheese?
Alison Andrews says
About a week in the fridge.
Henriette says
I added some miso, fresh garlic (no powder) and cumin powder
I would use only half the mustard next time and more miso.
Taste and texture is good. Definitely making this again!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks Henriette!
Steve says
Great tasting and easy to make
Alison Andrews says
Thanks Steve!
Meredith says
Hi, is there a substitute for nutritional yeast, or can you just leave it out?
Thanks.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Meredith, you can leave it out! 🙂
Rhea Louise says
This looks amazing! Just a couple of questions. Is the yeast essential? And can the garlic powder be swapped for fresh garlic (raw/cooked/however)? Thank you so much!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Rhea, the nutritional yeast adds cheesy flavor, so you could leave it out but you would be losing some of the flavor. You can absolutely play around with ingredients though and see how you like it. I think fresh garlic could work well! 🙂
Asil says
So I just finished making it. First off I couldn’t find agar powder so I used the flake. I didn’t realize that you said no flakes. So I added 3TB. It looks like its firming up, but I’ll see in few hours. Now I tried a little and it tasted alot more like tahini and dijon even though I used the exact amount. Do you think it’s okay to reduce these two ingredients next time?
Alison Andrews says
Yes, you can definitely tweak the flavorings to suit your tastes. 🙂
Enas says
Is agar agar the same vegetable gelatin?
Alison Andrews says
Hi there, it is a vegetarian substitute for gelatin, but I’m not sure if it’s exactly the same as a vegetable gelatin.