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.
Just made this. Used Maizena in stead of Tapioca starch as I did not have. This recipe is fantastic. Just put it in the fridge and cannot wait to add this to my vegan pizza.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Ellen!
Hi! What do you think if I change tapioca starch for another starch, like psyllium husk or arrowroot? Thanks! I love this mozzarella I did it a lot of times. Thanks!!!
Hi Victoria, I haven’t tried those options but arrowroot might work. 🙂
Hi, Alison. This recipe looks intriguing. My oldest daughter and her husband are vegan and my husband and youngest daughter are lactose intolerant, my husband much more than my daughter. My problem is this. My son-in-law is allergic to anything coconut. My youngest daughter is a bit autistic, so texture can be an issue. Lol. No rock and a hard place here. I did see your answer to someone else. But, I may be able to get away with some texture difference if the taste is there. Could you recommend a few substitutions I could work with, experiment with?
Hi Carol, sorry I just don’t think this recipe will work without the coconut oil, but we do have lots of other cheese recipes where it can be omitted or we didn’t use it. Our sliceable cashew cheese can work great on pizza too and you can omit the coconut. Also our vegan nacho cheese doesn’t have any coconut and works great as a dip or sauce or can be drizzled over pizza. Or just see our whole vegan cheese category.
Can I make it with another neutral oil?
Hi Hannah, unfortunately no, it has to be coconut oil to get the right texture.
Ok, thank you!
It tastes amazing and it has a great texture!
Can I leave out the tapioca starch? I’m ok if it’s not as stretchy.
Hi Christina, I’ve never tried it without the tapioca, so I don’t know how well (or if) it would work.
Is the texture meant to be completely smooth? Mine came out a little gritty and i can’t figure out why. I have a vita mix so it was smooth before it was cooked on the stove.
Hi Annie, hmmm that is a bit strange, I don’t know why that would be either. Ours did come out smooth.
This recipe is amazing
Yummy and so easy and flavorful
Thankyou so much Alison
Thanks Barbara!
Thank you so much for this recipe! It’s so delicious. It’s my main go to for vegan mozzarella – I make it all the time. I also figured out that if you continue to boil the mozzarella for another 4-6 minutes (6-8 minutes total) it sets up a little more and becomes sliceable but not too rubbery, perfect for caprese salads and sandwiches. Same great taste in a more sliceable form. I usually make a double batch, pour 1/2 into ramekins after 2 minutes so that I have a supply of the soft, melty version and then I let the rest boil the few minutes longer. I pour the second half into an oiled tall glass, let it set up and then run a knife around the inside edges so that the cheese will release from the glass. Then I slice it up! So good. Thanks again so much. We have come to love this more than regular mozzarella. 😉
Oh wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing Heather!
HI
Can I sub the coconut oil for olive oil? I can’t have coconut unfortunately.
Hi there, in this recipe it won’t work well to sub the oil, it needs to be coconut oil. We do have other vegan cheese recipes that might suit you better, or this recipe from It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken might be a better fit. All the best! 🙂
Can i replace water with rice or oat or coconut milk? What’s your opinion? Thank you
Possibly, but we haven’t tested it that way.
Delicious! I put it on two pizzas and still had a 1/4 of the cheese left. I was surprised about how much it tasted and looked like mozzarella. Will definitely make again.
Awesome! Thanks so much Dominique!
Can I sub the maple syrup with coconut syrup?
Sure!
It is amazing! Thank you