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.
Hello can you use almonds instead of cashews? Would it taste just as good? Please let me know thanks! Also can you skip tahini?
You can try slivered or blanched almonds. The texture is not as smooth as with cashews though. You can skip the tahini if you prefer.
I just made this cheese, I can’t believe how delicious it is. This is my first attempt at vegan cheese, again, I can’t believe how delicious it is, I gave my friend a taste and she was amazed. Dairy doesn’t agree with me anymore and I thought I would have to just give up cheese but I don’t, thank you so much for sharing this recipe
So happy to hear it was delicious Peggy! Thanks so much for the great comment and review.
I can’t wait to try this!! I’d like to use something other than non-stick spray, and I did a quick google search and found a variety of oils, parchment paper, flour, etc. But I think the focus was on cakes, muffins, etc. No one probably considered cheese! Wondering what would be the best alternative? Thanks for sharing your recipe with us, Alison!
You could definitely use some coconut oil to grease the bowl and/or line with parchment paper.
This was a wonderful recipe but way too salty for our tastes….but that’s easily remedied–will probably decrease to 1 tsp. salt next time. Thanks for sharing!!! 😋😋😋
Dear Alison, we chose you as our home chef and main vegan cooking inspiration! We “met” online a week ago, and I already made three kinds of cheese and the tuna salad. Your enthusiasm and passion for the food create a leading blog with your simple and precise explanation, the best photos, and a variety of vegan foodies. All the dishes I made were the same as in the blog. I highly recommend it!
That’s so wonderful to hear! Thanks so much for the wonderful comment and review!
Hello again, Alison! Riddle for you: do you know when this cheese can’t be sliced? It’s when someone forgets to add the cashews!!! So, “cheese” + the cashews (found in the microwave) + another tablespoon of oil into the food processor, process until smooth. Just in case you wanted to know….. : ) Tomorrow morning I will have cheese spread on my toast! Hoo, boy!
Oh hahaha! Well cheese spread is great too! 🙂
Hi Alison – I have made this “cheese” often since first finding your recipe, which is beyond 5*, as is the resulting food! I always end up with such a mess. I’m wondering if mixing everything in the blender, pouring into molds, and then baking it, rather than cooking the agar agar on the stove (my blender doesn’t mix it very well or fast enough!). bake at 350 degrees, maybe, until it reaches a little over 212 degrees. Think that might work? Thanks.
Hi Tanya, so glad you like the recipe! I have not tried baking it and as far as I know agar agar won’t set up properly that way, it has to be boiled to ‘activate’ it. However, we do have some other vegan cheese recipes that are baked and don’t use agar agar like our vegan brie and vegan camembert, and they are also totally delicious.
Thanks, Alison!
Oh my, this is a fabulous sheese! I made it for the first time at the weekend. My brother tasted it – he’s been vegan for about 20 years and he cannot find many sheeses he likes but he would have eaten the lot if he’d been left alone with it! I’ve been nibbling away at it today while making something for my family’s supper – it is so moreish!!! Thank you for your recipe.
Thanks so much for the great review Amanda, so happy you enjoyed it!
Can I substitute corn starch for agar agar?
Unfortunately no, it doesn’t work the same way.
Love this recipe. Turned out great.
Thanks Sandra!
Hello Alison ❤️. Thanks a lot for your great recipes. May I use sunflower seeds instead of cashews and another plant oil instead of coconut oil?
You can try it!
I’ve always wanted to try cashew cheese. Well I finally did when I bravely followed this recipe. It was absolutely delicious! I expected it to be firmer but realized that it should’ve remained in the refrigerator longer. I couldn’t stop sampling this wonder. I’m about to prepare it again, mindful to exercise self control.
So glad you enjoyed it Dawn! Thanks for the awesome review!
I made this yesterday following the recipe precisely and although it tasted great, it had a soft consistency more akin to that of cream cheese. So, I thought I’d put it in a Food Dehydrator to harden it up a bit and see what the results were like. After about eight hours it dries up and has a kind of ‘aged’ cheese texture/taste and will probably keep a little longer. Interesting! Thanks
Turned out perfect. I omitted mustard, tahini, paprika, but as for the rest I stuck to the recipe. If I would change something next time, to improve, I’d reduce the garlic powder. Perhaps I’ll improvise with truffle oil for some more umami taste. Thank you so much!
Can I omit the tahini paste, carrot and mustard? My children have allergies to all of these. I’m struggling to find them a cheese alternative as they can’t tolerate coconut either. And advice appreciated.
Yes you can. 🙂