vegan cheeeeese

No cows were milked in the making of this recipe! If you are interested in learning why I take the time to make my own vegan cheese (or regularly purchase from the grocery store) then head over to this page to read ‘why’. I dispel quite a bit of calcium confusion. In the meantime, please check out my vegan cheese recipe below and send me a message if you make it!

Vegan Cheeeeese Ingredients:

• 2 cups cashews

  • you can also mix in pine nuts, almonds or brazil nuts. I ran out of cashews when making the above, so I included about 1/4 cup almonds. To be honest, I didn’t love the resulting color so probably would avoid mixing these 2 again.

• 1 probiotic capsule or 1/2 tsp probiotic powder

  • if you don’t have either of the above, you can use some of the juice from a jar of kimchi or bottle of kombucha. reduce the amount of water accordingly.

• 1/4 cup water

  • you may need to add more depending on the consistency

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 2 tsp nutritional yeast (I like Bragg’s or Thrive Market)

• 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Directions: (plan 2 days ahead!)

• Soak your cashews for approximately 8 hours or overnight. You will want to place the cashews in a large bowl to accommodate 2 cups of cashews + 4 cups of water. Place a cloth or paper towel over the bowl while it soaks

• Add your cashews, water and probiotic to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth.

• Wrap the mixture in 2-3 layers of cheese cloth, placing the cheesecloth in a strainer resting on a bowl to catch any drippings. Place a weight on top. You want the weight to be gentling hugging the cheese from the top, but not squeezing it.

• Now you wait for about 24 hours (no more then 48)

• Place the mixture in a bowl and add the remaining ingredients.

  • see optional ingredients below

• Once everything is mixed, transfer to a ring mold. Now you wait again, this time about 10-12 hours, until the cheese feels firm.

• Remove your ring mold, plate, and enjoy with some crackers or on a slice of bread.

Optional ingredients:

• herbs of your choice: chives, dill, rosemary, etc. (whichever you choose, save some to top your cheese)

• spices of your choice: Everything but the Bagel seasoning is pretty fun here. If you go this route, eliminate the 1/4 salt, and only add to taste

What you’ll need:

• high-speed blender

• cheesecloth or coffee filter bag

• ring mold

• strainer

• bowl

• weight (e.g. can of beans, small pot, etc)

Name that movie….
Beanie: “Cheeeeese. Yeah, didn't we lock you in a dumpster one time?”
Dean Pritchard: “Yea, I got out ...”