Mind blown! This vegan cashew mozzarella recipe is easy enough to stir up on a weeknight! It's:
Quick
Simple
So Stretchy
"Cheesy"
And Made From Pantry Friendly Ingredients!
15 Minute Cashew Mozzarella
This vegan cashew mozzarella recipe takes just 15 minutes to make! Soaking cashews using the quick soak method adds 15 minutes to the prep time and makes this recipe 30 minutes max from start to finish.
Pre-soaking the cashews overnight will mean you can jump straight to making your cheese.
If you are new to soaking cashews... get ready to have your world opened up to the creamiest sauces and dips! Some tips for soaking cashews:
- Raw cashews are best because their flavour is quite neutral.
- Roasted cashews will likely give your recipe a more prominent cashew flavour and the nuts may not blend down to be as creamy.
- For the long soak method, place your cashews in a bowl of cold water and refridgerate for 8 hours OR overnight.
- Careful not to leave them for much longer as they can over-soak and get a slimy texture.
- The quick soak method requires you to boil water in your kettle and pour the boiling water over the raw cashews in a heat proof dish or measuring cup. Allow the cashews to soak for 15 - 20 minutes.
Is it necessary to soak the cashews for this recipe?
Yes! Take it from me, I only tried skipping the the soaking part of a blended cashew recipe once... and I will never skip it again. The nuts do not blend down very well and maintain a very grainy texture. So don't skip the soak!
Ingredients For Cashew Mozzarella
I like to call this easy mozzarella a 5 ingredient recipe because two of the ingredients are water and salt!
You will need::
- ½ cup Raw Cashews
- 3 ½ tablespoon Taioca Flour/Starch
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
- ½ teaspoon each Salt and Garlic Powder
- And 2 tablespoon Nutriitonal Yeast
How To Make Cashew Mozzarella
There are two steps to making this vegan cashew mozzarella recipe:
- Blending all the ingredients.
- And heating the blended mixture on the stove top to thicken the "cheese".
- Drain your soaked cashews from the water they soaked in and add them to your blender with the remaining ingredients.
- Blend until creamy and smooth.
- If your blender is like mine and not the highest powered on the market, you may need to stop and scrape down the sides and blend for a little longer than may be needed with the top of the line blenders. Nevertheless, the large amount of water in this recipe should help the cashews to blend down quite smoothly.
- Add the blended mixture to a small saucepan and heat over medium low.
- Stir quite constantly, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides to ensure that the sauce isn't sticking.
- In 5-8 minutes the mixture will start thickening quite rapidly and you will see your "mozzarella" forming!
- When your desired stretchiness is achieved, remove from the heat and serve right away for the stretchiest results. OR store in an airtight container and scoop out the "mozzarella" as needed!
Recipe Cost
Nuts and nutritional yeast are some of the pricier ingredients in our pantry. But, even with that being the case, this homemade cashew mozzarella is thrifty!
This recipe costs us approximately: CAD $2.28 vs. at least $5 for a store-bought mozzarella ball!
Pretty awesome in our books!
Let us know in the comments below if you will be trying this cashew mozzarella and how you use it! We love using it for a straight up grilled cheese sandwich, scooping it and adding "mozzarella" balls to pizza, or dolloping it on pasta dishes!
Try adding this cashew mozzarella to Love & Lemons French Onion Soup Recipe!
And if you like this recipe take a look at our Easy At Home Mac 'N' Cheese Sauce made creamy with none other than... soaked cashews!
Print
Easy Stretchy Cashew Mozzarella From Scratch!
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup (4 generous grilled cheese) 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
So quick, easy, stretchy, & cheesy! A vegan cashew mozzarella recipe for when the grilled cheese craving hits! Top pizza, pasta, or soup too!
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw cashews, soaked
- 1 cup fresh cool water
- 3 ½ tbsp tapioca starch (or tapioca flour)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
*All the ingredients for this recipe are from our pantry and freezer tips!
Instructions
- If you have not soaked your cashews overnight use the quick soak method! Boil water in your kettle and pour the boiling water over ½ cup cashews in a heat proof measuring cup or bowl. Allow the cashews to soak for 15-20 minutes, then drain, and add to your blender.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the blender with the cashews (use fresh water, not the water the cashews soaked in).
- Blend until smooth.
- Add the mixture to a small pot and heat over medium low. Stir while the mixture thickens (making sure to scrape the bottom and sides to ensure the “mozzarella” isn’t sticking). In 5-8 minutes the mixture will become thick and stretchy! Once it starts forming more of a ball and pulling away from the edges of the pot it’s ready to be served up as a melty, stretchy grilled cheese OR scoop and add to pizza, pasta, or soup!
- Keeps well refrigerated for 4-5 days. It will lose its stretchiness but can be scooped!
Notes
Approximate Cost: CAD $2.28 vs. at least $5 for a dairy mozzarella ball.
You can make this recipe with a different starch. Tapioca starch is the strongest and produces the stretchiest “mozzarella”. Arrowroot starch or cornstarch will produce good results and just be a little less stretchy.
For a nut free option try using 350 g extra firm tofu and ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon soy milk. Keep the rest of the ingredients the same and follow the same method for blending and heating the “mozzarella”. The method does not get as stretchy but still produces a tasty, spreadable cheese!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Thrifty How-Tos
- Method: Blender, Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Dina
Truly appreciate how quickly this vegan cheese comes together with simple ingredients that I already have in my pantry! It has a nice pull while still warm. It would be a 5 star if the flavor was a bit more pronounced.
Kathryn Alexandre
I'm glad you love how quickly this came together! You could perhaps add more lemon juice if you're wanting a bit more tanginess. Miso paste is the other ingredient that comes to my mind that might add more salty, fermented taste for you. Let me know if you try it again and alter any of the ingredients to add a bit more flavour!
Hannah
Just made this for a late night snack and it was ahhhh-MAZING! Delish and the flavour was spot on! I've missed grilled cheese so much since going plant based and I can't stand the taste ofstore bought vegan cheese so this is perfect. Thanks Kathryn!
Kathryn Alexandre
Amazing late night snack! I'm so glad you loved it and you can fulfill that grilled cheese craving again! Thank you so much for trying it Hannah and taking the time to leave a 5 star review!