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.
Susan says
Really too salty. I’m trying it again with HALF the salt and SLIGHTLY less mustard and nooch. Love the texture. Non-vegan friends said I should call it cashew mousse or paté rather than cheese.
Jeli says
Hi Alison, I’m so glad this was super-easy & contains vegan staples that we already have. I was wondering how long it takes to set. Thank you for your time!
Alison Andrews says
Hi, it takes a couple of hours but the longer it is in the fridge the firmer it gets too.
vickie deangelis says
I really love this recipe….tastes really great…my one concern was how thick the mixture was before adding the water and agar agar. I have a Vitamix and used the smaller container. In order to mix it I had to use the tamper to move and mix. Is the mixture supposed to be really, really thick before adding the water?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Vickie, it is supposed to be pretty thick before you add the agar mixture, you can see the thickness it usually is on the video, it shouldn’t be hard to blend though as the liquid added, water, lemon juice, is usually enough to move things along fairly easily. 🙂
Josh says
How long does it last?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Josh, as mentioned in the post keep it covered in the fridge where it lasts up to a week. 🙂
Susan says
Enjoyed making the cashew cheese. I added some liquid from kimchee for a more fermented flavor. I also used less salt and added some low sodium soy sauce and pieces of seaweed. The texture was good and the flavor was pretty good, but like others, I found that it had an overwhelming mustard flavor. Not bad, but next time I would leave it out. Thank you for posting this recipe.
Aga says
I tried it yesterday and strictly followed the proportions and instructions as per your notes. I’m satisfied with the firmness and texture of this cheese however some things didn’t turn out as expected. My cheese has the grey-ish colour (kind of like tahini), not the nice yellow. It tastes very very lemony with juice from two lemons and mustard it feels very acidic and not quite like any cheese. To me it feels it should be more salty (its 2and 1/2 teaspoons of salt, correct?) Also we tried it on the pizza (sliced) and it did not melt :(. Can you advice?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Aga, sorry to hear that it wasn’t a big success. I realized when receiving your comment that I should’ve been more clear in the recipe, since lemons can be such different sizes, the ones we tend to get here are quite small, so I have updated the recipe to say how many tablespoons. I wonder if your lemons were quite large, that would explain the lemon flavor being quite strong. You could try leaving the mustard out if you don’t like the taste of that, but I have found that flavor to really add to the cheesiness. I don’t know what might have caused the odd color, I have never had that happen. As far as melting, it gets ‘melty’ but it doesn’t melt like a regular cheese, it doesn’t spread or anything like that, it just gets soft and melty (but there’s no spread). If you want a different kind of melty vegan cheese that is good for pizza, you might like our vegan mozzarella recipe more.
Steph says
WOW! I’ve tried many vegan alternative cheeses, and this one is by far the best! Taste and texture are both incredible. Thanks for sharing this recipe. It’s a game changer.
Alison Andrews says
Whoop! ?That is the best praise for this recipe, thanks so much Steph! Thrilled that you love it. 🙂
Jane says
This is the first time I have made a vegan cheese and I love it! so far I have stirred it through a pasta sauce, baked a slice of it plain and added a lump to a veggie pastie. It behaved beautifully! I used a Thermomix and it was prefect. You do have to move fast with the agar but I managed to get it into a dish. I am going to give it a go freezing as there is too much for me to use in a week. I will only be using it for cooked dishes so I think it will be fine. Many thanks for the great recipe.
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! So glad you love it. I have never used a Thermomix so great to hear it works well there too. Thanks for your awesome comment and review. 🙂
Lori says
I did use the sauerkraut juice – just for the 1/3 cup water at the beginning of the recipe. The cheese has a wonderful flavor. Mine was not quite as firm or “authentic looking” as yours, but delicious nonetheless. I think your recipe is great as is but it can also lend itself to be a nice “base” recipe for a variety of additions and/or modifications. Again, thank you for sharing the recipe. It is so helpful to come across vegan dishes that are versatile, healthful, and tasty!
Alison Andrews says
So glad it came out well! Thanks for updating us! I have found that the longer you leave it in the fridge the firmer the cheese gets as well, so it could be that yours will firm up a bit more. Thanks for sharing and your awesome review! 🙂
Lisa C says
Holy crap, lady. I wish I had found this sooner. I normally make the “American cheese” from the gentle chef but lost track of the days and wasn’t able to. His recipe requires 24+ hours of firming in the fridge. July 4th is tomorrow and we needed a cheese for our Gardein beefless burgers and fast. I’m so happy to have found you! I just finished getting it in the ramiken. Everything went smoother than I anticipated. I boiled the cashews for ten minutes since my Blendtec isn’t the best at pureeing nuts (Funny it still cost more than a vitamix). Since the cashews were hot the base mixture was also quite warm. This seemed to have prevented the agar from seizing too fast. I was able to get everything out with a rubber spatula with minutes to spare. It tastes amazing! I can’t wait to snack on it with crackers tomorrow. I’ve not eaten actual cheese in a while but this is the best tasting vegan cheese I’ve ever had. Love how simple it is too. THANK YOU!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Lisa! Thanks so much for your great comment! And thanks for sharing your adjustments there with the cashews I’m sure that’ll help other Blendtec users when they come to making this. So happy you love the recipe! Thanks for the awesome review! 🙂
Lori says
I will be trying this cheese tomorrow – thank you for posting the recipe. Do you think substituting some sauerkraut juice for part of the water would lend a “fermented” quality to the cheese – or maybe be too strong? I know some vegan cheese recipes use it….
Alison Andrews says
Hi Lori, I think that could be super delicious! Let us know if you try it how it turns out! 🙂
Majb says
Excited about trying this but have an abhorrence to the taste of nutritional yeast…is it identifiable in the finished product? If so may it be left out?
Alison Andrews says
Hmmm, I’m not sure if it’s identifiable as ‘nutritional yeast’ it just gives it a nice cheesy flavor, but then I like nutritional yeast so I suppose I wouldn’t be inclined to notice it in the same way. I’m not sure how it would be if you left it out, it isn’t a huge amount so it might be fine, I guess you would lose some of the cheesy taste, but it might be that exact taste that you prefer to lose! So I think you could try leaving it out. Let us know how it goes if you do try it like that! 🙂
Jessica Young says
Great recipe! I was wondering if the cheese could be frozen?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Jessica, I haven’t tried freezing this, but I think it should be fine to freeze but might not be as good once defrosted.
Lucia says
Could I substitute the coconut oil for avocado oil?
Alison Andrews says
I think it would likely be fine since it’s only 2 Tbsp so I don’t think it’s crucial that it be coconut oil, so avocado oil is probably fine. You could also try leaving out the oil if you have an issue with coconut oil.
Tara says
First time ever trying to make vegan cheese! I kind of wish I had soaked the cashews, since I have a food processor that works well but it still has a slightly grainy texture to it? Otherwise glad I heeded the warning to move quickly as yes the agar agar wants to set right away! This is nice, cheesy, but not much like storebought vegan cheese. I hope to try other recipes now, since this has opened the window to me, proving how simple cheese can be to make! This recipe makes a large wheel!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Tara, I haven’t made this in a food processor, only a blender, but in my experience with my food processor – I can’t ever get things super smooth. So a blender is preferable for this recipe. I think if you don’t have a blender then soaking might definitely help to get the smoothness. So glad you found the recipe nice and simple! Thanks for sharing your review! 🙂