If you don’t know, I’m pretty excited about this. Every vegan I’ve ever met in real life has said the hardest thing to give up was cheese and every non vegan has told me that they would never be able to give up cheese. Fortunately, due to amazing chefs like Miyoko Schinner, Jay Astafa, Somer McGowan, and Skye Michael Conroy, we are able to enjoy cheese-like products, without the cruelty. I’ve made several forays into the world of vegan cheese and learned a lot of different techniques from many different recipes. The particular recipe that I drew inspiration from for this is the cashew mozzarella developed by Jay Astafa. You can watch the YouTube video here. I noticed he uses soy lecithin as an emulsifier, which aquafaba has been shown to do in recipes like Nina’s butter and Peanut Butter and Vegan’s mayo. This inspired me to make this cashew mozzarella using aquafaba as the emulsifier. It also makes this recipe soy free, conveniently, for those who are intolerant.
Vegan cheese doesn’t create casein protein strands like dairy cheeses do, which is why we use tapioca starch to create that stretchy texture. Some places may have it labeled at tapioca flour, but they should be interchangeable. I find mine at an international market for a cheaper price. You can also add a bit of xantham gum to increase the stretchiness. If you don’t have any, feel free to omit it, the cheese will still be delicious! I use vegan lactic acid powder to create that dairy-like tang in this recipe. It’s definitely worth the purchase, but if you cannot buy it, substitute a tablespoon of lemon juice instead. Nutritional yeast also adds to this cheesy flavor. Refined coconut oil helps with firmness upon refrigeration and improves the mouthfeel and melt. Please use coconut oil that is solid at room temperature. Cashews can possibly be subbed for raw sunflower seeds for those with allergies.
Most vegan cheeses use either agar or kappa carrageenan as a binder to be sliceable and shreddable. I choose to use kappa carrageenan, as I prefer the melt and mouthfeel it imparts. I am well aware that many people choose not to consume it and I completely respect that; this recipe may be possible with agar powder, but I have not tested it. If you do test it, please contact me with your results!
Edited to add: Several people have tried with equal amounts of agar and have had a hard time getting it to set. I would suggest doubling the amount of agar powder (use 1 tablespoon and 1 tsp). Xanthan gum will not replace the carrageenan, it’s not a firm binder like carrageenan is, just a thickener.
If you like this recipe, be sure to check out these other vegan cheese recipes:
The Vegan Meringue group on Facebook is a great place for more aquafaba recipes as well.
Ingredients:
• 1/4 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight or boiled for 15 minutes
• 1 cup aquafaba, preferably chickpea or Vor Aquafaba Powder
• 2 tbsp tapioca starch
• 2 tsp kappa carrageenan
• 1 tsp lactic acid**
• 1 tsp nutritional yeast
• 3/4 tsp salt*
• 6 tbsp refined coconut oil, melted
*You may need to adjust the salt level a bit lower if using salted aquafaba.
**You can substitute with 1 tbsp lemon juice, but the lactic acid tastes better
Directions:
For video directions by Mary’s Test Kitchen, watch here
1. Blend softened cashews and aquafaba in a high speed blender until as smooth as possibly. Strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove any large particles and return to blender.
It should be very smooth after blending.
You may find there are still a few cashew particles if you’re using a lower quality blender or food processor, which is why I recommend straining.
2. Add tapioca starch, carrageenan, lactic acid, nutritional yeast, and salt and pulse in a blender to combine. *Please ignore the xanthan gum in this picture. It is not part of the recipe, but I used it in an early test, which is where this picture is from.
3. Add coconut oil and blend again very briefly. Mixture will be smooth and a little thick.
4. Heat in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat while stirring regularly. It will look like quite lumpy as the tapioca starch activates.
It will eventually turn glossy and smooth, like melted cheese. When it reaches 170°F, it is done. You will see it begin to bubble around the edges and maintain its thickness.
5. Pour into a mold, or scoop balls into ice water for buffalo style mozzarella. Refrigerate for a few hours to fully firm up the cheese before slicing or grating.
6. Alternatively, if you have a Vitamix or other high speed blender, the ingredients can all be blended together until heated thoroughly (over 170°F) and poured into a mold to set. This is currently my preferred method.
Obviously, the best uses of any cheese are either on pizza or fried into mozzarella sticks.
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Avocados and Ales 
You are a genius! I love it!
Hope you get a chance to try it!!
Looks so good…excited to try it 🙂
Can these cheeses be purchased pre made as opposed to making it yourself as don’t always have time with busy workload
In terms of making the mozzarella sticks? You can always buy premade vegan mozzarella-depending on your region it could be Daiya, Follow Your Heart, or Violife.
OH MY GOODNESS! YUM! You are amazing for making these VEGAN mozzarella sticks!
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This would be a nice once in a while treat as it is very high in fat, given the coconut oil.
Just like dairy cheese has a very high fat content! It’s definitely a healthier fat, at least.
Super delicious and amazing!! I made it without the carrageenen and with extra cashew and tapioca. Spread it on toast right away and it was incredible. The rest is in the fridge so we’ll see how solid it turns out, in the end. But just so everyone knows, you can still have the cheesey goodness without the carrageenen if you can’t eat it or can’t get your hands on it easily. Thank you Lacey!!
Can you post your substitutions/amounts, Steph? Mu body apparently objects to the carrageenan in this awesome cheese so I’d love to try making it without!
I use Pomona’s Pectin to help get my ‘cheese’ solid. So far, I’ve substituted 1 tablespoon for 1 of the tablespoons of carrageenan (usually use 2 Tablespoons of carrageenan) but I I’ve also just used the pectin, although slightly different texture (a bit softer) it works wonderful for firming up the ‘cheese’. Also, make sure to follow the directions because this particular pectin requires ‘calcium water’ which is included in the package when you purchase it.
Could you pls tell me how it came out to add the extra cashew & tapioca; I would never’ve thought to do that? What were you thinking it might change? Very excited by this mozzarella. Would you also post total amounts of cashew & tapioca you used?
Reblogged this on River of Compassion.
What a great recipe! I’m not vegan but this cheese is delicious! I served it molded into bell peppers. It was a hit, thank you!
hi, how to make the mozza sticks?
Use your favorite coating-I used equal parts aquafaba and soy milk mixed with flour, then rolled in bread crumbs and fried.
Not vegan, just vegetarian but I’ve been looking for a cheese sub to reduce cholesterol and LOVE this. I made it to the recipe except I didn’t have refined coconut oil, just extra virgin and I got a little separation of the oil in the finished cheese but just drained it off and plopped the cheese in the fridge overnight. Really pleased with the taste and consistency – this is the first vegan cheese I actually LIKE. Thanks so much for the recipe, going to make pizza with it this weekend!
Is there a nut-free substitution that will work, in place of the cashews?
I’m sorry to say I’m not positive on that, but possibly pine nuts if those are a safe substitution. If you find something that works, please let me know, as I’ve been asked this by multiple people!
The taste will be different however you might sub tahini or sunbutter for nuts.
I made this yesterday. Chilled it, grated it and made an AMAZING CHEESE pizza for dinner. It melted and even browned under the broiler – Oh. Sweet. Jebus. Thank you forever Lacey Siomos!!!!
So glad you liked it!! Thanks for such a positive review!
Btw, I used carrageenan – I bought some a while ago because I was looking at recipes for cheese. Yours won by a mile! I did put agar on my shopping list because I can only make so much mock tuna but my need for pizza is endless. Will let you know. 🙂
Do you need to oil the mold? I’m going to the store today to buy the tapioca starch, carrageenan and lactic acid. I can’t wait to try this! It looks beautiful! Thanks!
You do not need to oil the mold! Good luck finding the carrageenan and lactic acid. I have yet to find either in a store, but I’m in a pretty small town.
Lacey,
I am not sure if you have a home brewing store near you but that is where I found my lactic acid and it was super cheap. Homebrewers USA. I hate having to order stuff online and having to wait. 🙂 I am an instant gratification sort of girl. I JUST got my carrageenan so I will be trying this recipe soon.
Great tip! I’ve heard you can purchase it there, but I’ve never seen it in my area.
You might need to adjust your amount of lactic acid, depending on what form it is (liquid vs. powder.) Let me know how it works out!
Well… unfortunately I didn’t read your response about the lactic acid amounts until AFTER I made the cheese.. hehe.. but other than being quite tangy, it is delicious. Next time I will use 1/2 tsp and see if that works better. I am now in the WAITING stage (I really want to make the cheese sticks) but I am not sure how long I can stand it.
wow tastes great and so easy to make, very pleased with the result. the pictures in the instructions were very helpful i knew i had it right by comparing
I made this last night with 2 tsp agar/1/2 tsp xantham gum subbed out for the carrageenan. Also, I put the coconut oil in the pan, melted it, added the already mixed other ingredients and had NO separation. The cheese was a little too soft (great as a spreadable cheese tho!) but it did bubble and brown when toasted. I think I need more agar/xantham is all. The taste was still great and no upset belly like I had with the carrageenan 😉
Was your agar flakes or powder?
I’m betting you’re right about a little more agar, maybe just a full tablespoon will do it. Also, make sure it gets to a full boil to activate the agar!
I will be trying it with agar soon!
I will try it with a full Tbs of the agar powder. I was already thinking I hadn’t cooked it long enough so will make of that too. I will say it’s FAB as a spreadable cheese as well, really yummy on bagels.
Just made this and literally scraping remnants left over in the pan and gleefully eating. I’ve made mozzarella with a similar recipe using home made almond milk and ACV instead of the aquafaba and lactic acid. Both turned out fantastic: meltable and delicious. I do have to note the aquafaba version has more complex flavor than the almond milk version, however I’m not clear of taste differences between ACV and lactic acid. Either way, this is my new favorite vegan cheese recipe.
Important to note, kappa carageenan activates at 170F. Perhaps tangible measurements in recipes are more helpful instead of “when it looks like melted cheese”. IIRC, there was a post that someone’s cheese didn’t turn out (didn’t firm up), perhaps this might have been the issue.
That’s a great point Shawna! I will add that to the notes that if someone prefers to use a thermometer.
I have to agree, the aquafaba (especially homemade) seems to add a bit of “earthiness” and definitely increases the smooth texture with cashews. I’ve attempted with tofu aquafaba as well and the taste wasn’t quite as good.
Thanks for your input!
Hi. Just trying to make this and the coconut oil has split from the mixture. Any advice? Heeeeeelp! 😳
Toss it back in the blender or use an immersion blender in it! Try using a bit lower heat next time as well.
Will it still work if I cut back drastically on the salt? I am on a low salt diet.
Yes, it will work, but I will make no guarantees about the taste!
Make sure to use unsalted aquafaba as well!
Thanks.
I made these tonight and they tasted amazing..I ate the lot!!!
The sticks or the cheese itself? Both would be easy to eat in one sitting!
A definite hit with a vegan mozzarella with Lacey’s aquafaba recipe from Avocados and Ales blog with 2 modifications: using sunflower seeds instead of cashews and agar instead of carrageenan which turned out great. I’ve been dairy free for 18 yrs, mozzarella was one of the few cheeses I missed, and this is the first one that really came close to buffalo mozzarella for me. Thanks Lacey!
I treated the sunflower seeds like cashews and boiled them for 15 min. I used the xantham gum as well. I used powdered agar and subbed it equally to the carrageenan. But weights would be better with an ingredient like that that comes in so many forms. You would need a super accurate milligram scale for that little amount of agar though. I usually double or triple these recipes and freeze the cheese I’m not eating right away since I go through a fair amount in a week. That way I have to do all the prep work & cleaning less often.
Looks fabulous!!!
Any ideas/alternatives for making this nut-free? Darn allergies! 😊
Thanks!
Never mind, just read Nat’s comment about sunflower seeds…will definitely be trying that!!
I just made it and it was fabulous !! Thank you for this wonderful recipe !! Do you happen to know if it freezes well ?
As long as it’s wrapped up it should freeze pretty decently-up to 1 month I would guess. So glad you enjoyed it, I just made another batch yesterday!
Made it last night, it firmed up very quickly once the carageenan activated. Had it on vegan pizza tonight, can’t believe how well it melted and browned, was delicious. Mozzarella dippers will definitely be next! The only thing is I think it needs more salt, but that’s my personal taste. Also, this may have been down to me not stirring enough but it went very lumpy in the pan and never became smooth, the coconut oil separated out, but I just put it back in the blender briefly and it was fine. That aside, I was amazed with how easy it was, under half an hour including boiling the cashews. I think next time I will try to make it with cultured cashew milk like Jay does in the video, but it’s good to know its still good this way without having to do the extra preparation. It was better than any shop bought vegan cheese I’ve had – it has the edge over Violife because of the way it melts. Thank you so much for sharing!! 🙂 xxx
Can’t wait to hear your results with culturing-I’ve considered adding a bit of rejuvelac after blending and letting it culture for 24 hours. So glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for the wonderful review!
Hello again, so would you add the rejuvelac and then let it “culture” for 24 hours on the counter with a towel so it is dark? And then would you pour it in the mold or shape it and then fridge it? Thank you.
Any ideas how to replace coconut oil (I can not eat coconut products)?
Any solid fat should work, sustainably sourced palm oil would probably be best.
I was not precise enough – palm oil also is excluded. Is coconut oil added for the texture only or also as a fat source? I will omit or add olive oil, depending on the answer 🙂
Fat source, texture, and as something for the starches to bond to. Olive oil might be too strong of a flavor, but it’s worth a try.
I can’t find lactic acid 😦 Is there a substitute? What does lactic acid do in the recipe? Is it just for flavour?
If you read the beginning portion of the recipe, I said lemon juice can be substituted and explained why I use lactic acid. Hope that helps!
Hi, do you have the nutritional information?
No, I don’t calculate those things. There’s calculators available online that you should be able to plug most of it into, but there’s no nutritional information on aquafaba yet.
I have made this a couple of times now and it’s great! I add a little more lactic acid and nutritional yeast to this recipe to convert it to a “white cheddar” as we didn’t ever buy coloured cheddar in pre-vegan days and my kids are suspicious of coloured cheese. They chow down in this quite happily though. Makes great pizza which is a lifesaver for me when I need to make something quick which I know the whole family will eat with no grumbles.
I generally use a rounded tsp of lecithin rather than aquafaba because I bake a lot and there isn’t enough aquafaba for all that I make. I’ve also found that potato starch works as well as tapioca starch which is great cause I have a couple of big bags of that. I have also found that a blend with an immersion blender after the cooking stage really works the cooked starch grains to give a smooth, melty, stringy texture. It sets up VERY quickly so you need to rapidly scrape the mixture into its mould as soon as you’ve blended it. Hope this helps, fellow cheese makers! Thanks so much for this recipe, Lacey. I hope you don’t mind me tweaking it to suit our family’s tastes. Xx
Thanks so much for the wonderful comment Kate!! I absolutely don’t mind and tweaking and am glad to know it works in many different ways. I tend to use the immersion blender too for a smoother texture, and it’s a great tip for other readers. Thanks again for the sweet comments!
Hi Lacey, I tried this recipe this weekend and I liked it a lot. I have a few tips and tricks. I first tried to make the Cheddar version, and I had a problem with the cheese breaking when I was stirring it in the pot to heat to 170. I ended up having to recombine with an immersion blender, but after it cooled, it was a bit more grainy than I liked. So I tried a different method when attempting the mozzarella. I have a Vitamix 5200 blender and remembered that you can use it to “cook” soups and heat water by just blending the heck out of it for a long time. I first started by combining everything as per your instructions, then I drizzled slightly heated refined coconut oil as it was blending. From there I just cranked the blender up, adjusting the speed to make sure that the vortex didn’t disappear and create an air pocket. To check temp, I used an infrared gun thermometer and blended until the temp rose to around 170. Took about 4-5 minutes I’d say. This resulted in a super creamy, silky smooth cheese that was retained after cooling, and it saved a pot to wash!
Wow, I would love to see a picture of it!!!
I was wondering if Xanthian gum may be used as a replacement for carrageenan? You list carrageenan in the ingredient but show Zanthian gum in a picture.
Thanks for info and it does look great.
I don’t know why I waited so long to try this recipe. Maybe it’s because it’s so easy and I assumed something that easy couldn’t be life changing. But, this cheese is life changing! This was the first cheese both my kiddos (both of whom were massive dairy cheese lovers) actually loved. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this delicious recipe!
Wow, that’s probably one of the best compliments I could have gotten: pleasing kids is always tough!! So glad it worked well for you guys!
I just made this cheese and the coconut oil separated out at the end and I have a lump of cheese like stuff floating in oil. Any ideas what went wrong?
Hi Lynda, see the tips in the recipe about the emulsion breaking. If the mixture is heated too quickly the coconut oil will separate from the mixture. This can also be caused by overblending after adding the coconut oil, it should only be pulsed once or twice into the mixture.
Wow…what a great recipe..I was wondering what can I use instead of coconut oil because I’m allergic to it…thank you and happy holidays
I’d try organic rapeseed oil. Or sunflower oil.
Hi! I made this last night and I think I got REALLY close, but not quite. I should have read the comments first. D’oh! It seems that the problem was that I couldn’t get it to 170F. The mixture had gone through the lumpy stage and then smoothed out and it became more solid- cheesy and didn’t stick to the spoon and sorta moved around the pan as a cheesy blob. It only got up to about 150f and I was afraid it would burn if I turned it up or kept cooking it. It did sort of set up, but it’s not really grate-able. I’m thinking maybe I should try reducing the tapioca starch a little. I also maybe stirred it too vigorously. Hmm. I’m tempted to throw it back in the vitamix and try cooking it again… but it was so easy and cheap to make, I’ll probably just try another batch. And it is really good! I’m impressed even though I effed it up. If you have any ideas on troubleshooting, love to hear them. I used the ingredients (even the same brands) you listed and didn’t make any subs.
Hi Jen! Glad to hear you tried it! You can definitely reheat it and try to get it to a higher temperature, it’s definitely normal for it to turn into a bit of a ‘blob.’ With only 2 tsp of carrageenan it should be grateable, but it will be a bit softer than dairy cheese would be.
Oh cool! I think it’s actually just fine, it’s really, really good. Thank you!
Hi – could I substitute citric acid for the lactic acid/lemon juice?
I am so excited to try this!!
It will taste different, but it should work. You may need to adjust the amount depending on how acidic you like it.
Thanks – I’ll let you know how it comes out 🙂
I’m sure you’re familiar with the potato carrot cheez recipe.. would the lactic acid or the thickening agents work on turning that into a ‘cheddar’? My family loves this mozzarella!
Yep, or you could check out my Potato Cheese slices recipe!
I will be sure to do that!! Thank you! 🙂
I can’t wait to try this! I have tapioca starch and xanthan gum on hand. I don’t think I have agar. I also have arrowroot. Would the xanthan gum and/or arrowroot substitute for the carrageenan and what measurements would I use? Thanks!
No, xanthan gum and arrowroot do not work as binders like carrageenan does. Agar is the only thing that is a possible substitute, but the carrageenan is worth getting.
If you don’t mind it not being slice able and shreddable, you can omit the carrageenan and add an extra tablespoon tapioca starch and use it as a cheeze sauce.
Does it need yeast in recipie, as im allergic to yeast..can it be replaced ??
It’s not necessary! But it does add a cheesier flavor. Miso paste could be substituted.