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.
EUNICE LOVELL says
Hello
I found mine came out considerably smaller than the one depicted in the recipe…but next time I will use a different bowl. For my taste, the cheese came out too salty but as you said – sliceable and good-tasting. Has definitely satisfied my cravings for cheese! I find nutritional flakes are not my favourite flavour-may I omit them when makimg this recipe again please?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Eunice, glad you enjoyed it overall! I think you can leave out the nutritional yeast without too much of an impact. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Trish says
Very tasty. A little more like cream cream cheese texture but that’s OK too. Maybe if I leave open in the fridge it will solidify more…. I used smoked paprika and was a nice smoky flavour. Might reduce the salt slightly. I need to try to make a cheese cake now…. but with stevia instead of sugar and no wheat lol – wish me luck.
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for sharing Trish! Haha, best of luck! We do have a couple of vegan cheesecakes too if you want to check them out. 🙂
Caroline says
Hi, Could I just clarify that it is 1 tablespoon of agar agar? If so, am I right in thinking I will need 3 tablespoons if using flakes?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Caroline, yes it is 1 Tbsp agar agar powder. And it is ‘up to’ 3 times as much. Though if you read the other comments, you’ll see someone used 3 Tbsp agar flakes and loved how it turned out (very firm).
Eric says
Allison,
Would it be ok to leave the coconut oil out. I’m trying to keep it oil free.
Alison Andrews says
It should be okay! 🙂
CW says
The flavour is good, but mine didn’t set at all. It’s been in the fridge for over two hours and it’s still runny! I followed the recipe to the letter, so I’m confused as to why this has happened.
Alison Andrews says
Hmmm that’s really weird! Sorry to hear that! Did you use agar agar powder or flakes? It’s very important to use the powder as the flakes are much weaker in strength so if you’re using the flakes you need up to 3 times as much. I have never had it not set, so other than perhaps accidentally using flakes rather than powder I have no idea what might have gone wrong.
Leah says
Should I grate the carrot?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Leah, if you did it would be totally fine, I think it depends on your blender. I just put it in as is, but I’m using a Vitamix so that will also have an impact. It would definitely be easier to blend either sliced into pieces or grated if you know your blender might have a harder time with it.
Maggie says
If I wanted to make something similar to pepper jack cheese, would that work just to add jalapeños to it? Raw or roasted jalapeños?
Alison Andrews says
I definitely think you can experiment with different flavors here! We added red pepper to our vegan cheddar cheese. I think jalapeños would be a great addition. Just add in different flavorings and experiment.
Cherie says
Hi, just wondering if you soak your cashews at all before hand? And do you cook/soften the carrot before adding to the blender?
Thanks
Alison Andrews says
I don’t soak the cashews Cherie and also don’t soften the carrot, if your blender is very weak then you may need to, but if you have a powerful blender there is no need at all. So go with what you know about the capabilities of your blender. 🙂
Pedro says
This tasted really nice, infact delicious, but mines turned out more like a cream cheese, unless it take more than a day to set. I did substitute a red pepper for a carrot. Also when I filled one cup with a whole cashews they only weighed 45grms, so I just weighed out 150grms, but this confused me a little, I love to know how to get it to set 😉
Alison Andrews says
Hi Pedro, the cup measure refers to a measuring cup so if you weighed it in a different cup that could account for the difference, but great that you just used the weight of the cashews instead, 150g is definitely correct. Did you use agar agar powder? If you use the flakes instead they don’t work nearly as well and you have to use up to 3 times more of the flakes vs the powder. If you did that, and boiled it for the required time then I’m not sure what might have happened for it not to set.
Pedro says
Agar powder was used, but I have now realised I forgot coconut oil….. My bad! Will deffo try again, tastes great…… Thanks for your good work.
Bonnie Brightways says
I’ve played with this recipe. I just nailed a Breville professional blender at Goodwill for 3 bucks so watch out! First batch I followed the recipe to a “T” except I used Agar flakes. Tripled the amount. It was ridiculous. Could slice it, schmeared it (yes an appropriate word), added it to a cream sauce for pasta. Endless opportunities then I ran out. I order Agar powder online. Second batch I cut back on the savories. Made it more bland and threw in a handful of chopped chives from the freezer. More solid, still spreadable but I think the Agar powder is better. I wanted a cream cheese substitute and I got it. The possibilities are endless and feed my creativity and my belly! Thanks for your dedication to the Vegan lifestyle. Gotta go make mozzarella and buy a cashew farm!
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for the great feedback Bonnie! Awesome to hear it worked well with the flakes when you tripled the amount. 🙂
Karen Bunch says
I was curious if I could use the kosher gelatin that I have. I bought it for something last summer and would like to use it up.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Karen, I don’t know how that would translate as I’ve never used that. It might work fine but I’m not sure what the quantities would need to be and how it would change the recipe.
Karen Bunch says
I looked up on Youtube and there is a video of how to use gelatin so I’m going to give it a try. I just happen to have this gelatin and want to use it up. I will switch to Agar Agar once it’s gone. I’ll try to remember to report back how it turned out.
Adi says
Thank you for this great post. The Tahini taste is very strong, what kind of tahini do you use, is it ready made tahini or the paste you made the tahini from adding water garlic and more?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Adi, the tahini taste is not supposed to be there really at all, it just combines with other flavors and textures for this recipe. We use a tahini that is ready made – not homemade and it is like a nut butter in texture.
joe says
Followed this to the letter but it didn’t harden. It is soft ricotta style. What do you think went wrong? Tks
Alison Andrews says
Hi Joe, I’m not sure what might’ve gone wrong. Letting the agar agar powder and water mix boil for long enough is a crucial step, and it’s also crucial to this recipe that you use agar agar powder and not flakes (if you were using the flakes you would need to use a lot more). If you did those two things then I’m not sure what else could have caused that to happen.
Trav says
Hi Alison,
Super impressed with this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing. Although I love the results I got from the recipe, I’m really excited about attempting variations to it to see what else I can create from this base.
If I were looking to create an even firmer cheese I was thinking of adding a starch like tapioca or arrowroot in addition to the agar. Have you tried anything like this or have any advice on what you know works or doesn’t? 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Hi Trav, so glad you like the recipe! I used tapioca when making our vegan mozzarella, it creates a nice stretchiness to it. When it comes to firmness I find agar agar to be the best. You could use a little more agar powder when making this, or alternatively slightly decrease the liquid used and you would get a firmer cheese. All the best! 🙂
Bonnie Brightways says
There’s something vital you neglected to mention in this recipe. HOW DO YOU STOP EATING IT!? I’ve been a vegan for 35 years and this is the finest cheese recipe I’ve made. I love the robust flavor just fine. Can’t wait to couple it on a cracker with my peach chutney! I also can’t wait to play with the flavors on future batches. Thanks so much!
Alison Andrews says
Hahaha, love it! That is very high praise, thanks so much for posting! 🙂
Michelle Frank says
AMazing! My favorite gf vegan cheese! I subbed coconut cream for the water and yes turmeric instead of paprika.
I once froze a slice and it was fine. I made this for Thanksgiving next week. Do you think it would be okay to freeze the whole piece? Please answer soon!❤️
Alison Andrews says
Hi Michelle, so glad you like it. If you already froze a slice and it was fine, then there won’t be any difference to freezing the whole block. My only worry with freezing was that it might not be ‘quite’ as good once thawed as when it was fresh, but since you have already tried it and not noticed any issue, then go for it! 🙂
Dean says
Turned out great except I find the coconut oil takes away from/overpowers the taste.