Stretchy melty and so cheesy you won’t believe you made it yourself vegan mozzarella! Super easy, divine on pizza and grilled cheese sandwiches!
This vegan mozzarella is divine! It’s stretchy, melty and perfect on your vegan pizza. And when you want a grilled cheese sandwich with some delicious tomato soup, this mozzarella will be your best friend.
It’s also so easy to make you will hardly believe it.
And all you need is some easy ingredients like cashews, lemon juice, garlic powder, maple syrup, nutritional yeast, agar agar powder, tapioca starch, tahini and coconut oil!
Okay, granted, agar agar powder isn’t your ‘average’ ingredient, but it’s a must when it comes to making your own vegan cheese (and making some vegan jello too!) so from now on, keep it as a pantry staple.
Tapioca starch provides all that stretchiness that you must have with mozzarella, and that’s an easy ingredient to get hold of.
How To Make Vegan Mozzarella
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- To make this vegan mozzarella you simply blend up all your ingredients in your blender, and then pour that out into a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly.
- Once it’s bubbling on the sides, keep stirring for a full 2 minutes. Then remove from the heat and pour out into ramekins.
- Refrigerate for an hour to set.
- Now you have vegan mozzarella that is ready to use!
Recipe Tips
You can pop your mozzarella out of the ramekins and break it up into balls or you can leave it in the ramekins and use an ice cream scoop to scoop out perfect balls of mozzarella. The longer you leave the mozzarella in the fridge, the firmer it gets.
This isn’t the type of cheese you will slice, even after it’s been in the fridge a few days and firmed up a lot. It’s always going to stay a soft cheese that you will break off into mozzarella balls or spread out onto a sandwich.
There is no need to soak the cashews. You don’t need to soak the cashews first for this. I tried a version where I soaked the cashews for 15 minutes in boiling water and a version where I didn’t soak them at all. I didn’t notice any difference at all.
Considering that you blend this with a lot of water, the kind of blender that you’re using, whether it’s a strong model or a weak model, won’t have an impact here. So I don’t think there is a case for soaking the cashews first and this step can be omitted.
What Kind Of Coconut Oil To Use
I have made this vegan mozzarella with both extra virgin coconut oil (has all the coconut flavor) and refined coconut oil (neutral flavored) and refined coconut oil is preferable. Refined coconut oil really lets this taste like mozzarella!
Extra virgin coconut oil results in a strong coconut flavor coming through. It’s definitely not unpleasant, especially if you do like the taste of coconut, but it does interfere a bit.
How To Use This Vegan Mozzarella Cheese
- On a vegan pizza! The vegan pizza you see in these photos is a perfect place for it. Place balls of your mozzarella evenly on top of the pizza and bake it. The mozzarella melts beautifully on top and the flavor is next level.
- A grilled cheese sandwich is another place we tested this mozzarella and it did NOT disappoint. Place the mozzarella between two slices of buttered bread and grill until toasted and melty and delicious.
- On top of Lasagna. Well our vegan lasagna recipe is so divine it doesn’t really need any extras, but if you dollop some mozzarella balls on top of it before it bakes, well, that will just take it to the next level of cheesy deliciousness!
Storing and Freezing
Store it in the fridge (covered) where it will last for about a week. It is also freezer friendly. So if you think you won’t be able to finish it all, then freeze some of it.
More Vegan Cheese Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Mozzarella
Ingredients
- ½ cup Raw Cashews (75g)
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice freshly squeezed
- ¼ tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Maple Syrup
- 2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1 Tbsp Agar Agar Powder
- 2 Tbsp Tapioca Starch
- 1 tsp Tahini
- 1 tsp Salt
- ⅓ cup Refined Coconut Oil (80ml)
- 1 ⅔ cups Water (400ml)
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth.
- Then pour out into a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. It will start to thicken and clump together, just stir very vigorously and it will smooth out.
- As soon as it starts to bubble along the sides, set your timer for 2 minutes and keep stirring, after the 2 minutes has timed out, remove from the heat, pour it out into two ramekins sprayed with non-stick spray.
- Place them into the fridge for at least 1 hour to set. At this stage you have mozzarella cheese that is ready to be used! Use an ice cream scoop to scoop mozzarella balls to use on pizza!
- The longer the vegan mozzarella stays in the fridge the firmer it will get, but it will still remain a soft cheese.
Video
Notes
- I tried a version with soaked cashews (soaked in boiling water for 15 minutes) and a version where they were not soaked and there was no difference that I could tell, so I do not see a reason to soak the cashews here.
- Refined coconut oil is a better choice here as it is neutral in taste so the end result doesn’t have a coconut flavor. However, I have tried a version using extra virgin coconut oil, and it’s still very tasty but it definitely does result in a coconut flavored cheese. If you prefer to use extra virgin coconut oil, you can go ahead, but just know that your end result is going to be coconut flavored.
- Store it in the fridge (covered) where it will last for about a week. It is also freezer friendly. So if you think you won’t be able to finish it all, then freeze some of it.
- Adapted from The Buddhist Chef
- This recipe was first published in April 2018.
Can cashew flour be used instead of whole cashews being ground? and if so, how much?
Hi Rosa, I am really not sure. I haven’t used cashew flour so I’m not sure how it might change things.
Love this recipe;-). How long does it keep in the fridge? Can I freeze it.
Hi Jennifer, it would last at least a week in the fridge and it can also be frozen. 🙂
Also, do you use raw cashews?
Hi Liz, yes, I use raw cashews for this! 🙂
I have not made this recipe yet and since I have never heard of, or used Tahini, I want to make sure that I use the right one. The one in your recipe leads to a broken link. My question is what kind do you suggest? Are they all liquid? HELP!!
Hi Liz, thanks for pointing out the broken link, it has been updated! Tahini is a seed butter made from sesame seeds. You can get it from most supermarkets, it’s usually easy to find. The texture is like any nut or seed butter, so basically if you think of peanut butter or almond butter it is similar to that.
Can I use this recipe for lasagna? I am hoping this will melt throughout the lasagna.
Hi Stephanie, yes I think it would work great. 🙂
can this be frozen and used at a later time?
Hi Kelsey, sure you can freeze it and then thaw in the fridge. 🙂
This cheese is spot on, just made it for a pizza and it was perfect. I also made a batch of the onion sauté from your potato salad recipe and had that on top of some sauce and Tempeh bacon.. I’m in heaven. Thanks again your recipes never cease to amaze me.
Fantastic Taylor, so happy to hear that and that sounds like a delicious combination! Thanks for the awesome review. 🙂
Could I substitute miyokos cultured butter for the oil instead of refined coconut oil?
I really don’t know, it would depend on the ingredients in the butter, I have no idea how that might affect how the recipe turns out.
I can’t have tapioca….is there a substitute for that?
I haven’t tried it with any of these substitutes so it would be an experiment, but here’s a few tapioca substitutes.
This was everything and more!! It was easy and fun to make.. my entire family was amazed at the results.. I’ve had many trial and fails along the way but this is a keeper!! Finally PIZZA again!!! Thanks for sharing!
Yay! That is awesome news! Thanks for sharing Natina! 🙂
Hi, I made this recipe today & it is delicious! I used half cashews & half sunflower seeds to keep costs down. I also used agave nectar instead of maple syrup & peanut butter instead of tahini. I also subbed sunflower oil instead of coconut oil & it all worked perfectly & tastes delicious – can’t wait for pizza tonight!
That is awesome, so glad it’s delicious and thanks so much for sharing your substitutions, that’s super helpful! Thanks for the fabulous review and enjoy the pizza! 🙂
I dont have agar agar. Can I use anything else? I do have arrow root Powder.
Hi Heather, I don’t think so, I don’t really know arrow root, but I believe it’s a thickener, more like cornstarch, agar is more like gelatin. So I don’t think they can be substituted for each other. However, this mozzarella doesn’t set completely, so maybe it would be okay? I honestly don’t know! Sorry I can’t be more help.
Just found your site, recipes look amazing. My problem is my husband has a heart condition and is not allowed coconut oil, can I use any oil, I have in my store extra virgin olive oil, rapeseed oil and avocado oil.
Thanks for your help!
Hi Carole, unfortunately I don’t think any other oil would work, coconut oil is unique in the way that it sets when cooled and melts when heated. This particular recipe really relies on the coconut oil a lot so unfortunately it wouldn’t work to substitute it. If you’re looking for a cheese to use on pizza, our cashew cheese sauce doesn’t use any coconut oil, it’s not a melty cheese, but if you drizzle it on your pizza afterwards it’s totally divine! All the best!
Amazing to find such awesome cheese recipes
Can I omit the oil?
Hi Ellie, the oil is a crucial ingredient in this recipe so can’t be omitted.
Hi – I can’t wait to try this. Can you substitute agar agar with Carageenan powder by chance?
Thanks! Hoping this one turns out as melty and stretchy as it looks – all others have fallen short!
Hi Kristen, I have actually never used carageenan powder, sorry no experience there at all! Was just having a quick look on google and I see it is sometimes used as a substitute for agar but I have literally never used it so really just can’t be sure how it might affect the result.