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.
This looks great! Do you think arrowroot starch could be used instead if tapioca starch?
Hi Amanda, I think it would work as a substitute, but I haven’t tested it myself. Let us know if you do try it! 🙂
The arrowroot starch worked a treat! Thanks for the great recipe. ^^
Wonderful! Thanks Amanda!
Is it possible to make it without the agar agar powder or with tapioca starch instead? Agar agar is hard to come by where i live.
Hi Jay, you could try using extra tapioca or just leaving out the agar, it will still thicken and taste great, but it will not firm up the way ours did without the agar.
Awesome! ????
I can’t use coconut oil, would avocado or olive oil work?
Hi Lydia, I don’t think it will work as well as coconut oil. You could try it and see, but the coconut oil (along with agar) also helps it to set.
I just wanted to find out if it worked out with olive oil
Hello! I’d like to try this recipe but I don’t have coconut oil in the pantry. Would avocado oil work just as well? Thanks so much.
Hi Gloria, I don’t think it will work nearly so well. The coconut oil also helps it to set.
Thank you for getting back to me on my question. Much appreciated.
How long does this stay fresh in the fridge? Can it be frozen for a month or so. I am just one person… Thanks.
A week in the fridge and it is freezer friendly.
I didn’t have agar agar powder so I used not quite three times as many agar agar flakes and it turned out perfectly! Looked just like the pictures and tasted great on the pizza I just made. Thank you for a fantastic recipe!
Wonderful! Thanks so much Bill!
Excellent!! Easy to make and can be used for so many delicious meals. Thanks for all the great recipes, you’ve made the transition to vegan EASY!
So happy to hear that Gwen, thank you! 🙂
I’d love to try the recipe but I’m out of tahini. Do you know what I could use instead?
You can leave it out. 🙂
Yummy,,????????????
Wow, this looks great. I can’t wait to try it. I am unable to use cashews so I am wondering if anyone has had any luck using other nuts or seeds. Some asked about sunflower seeds but didn’t up date with results. I am thinking macadamia nuts might be a good substitute since they are quite creamy as well. Any thoughts?
I haven’t tried it but I think slivered almonds would work based on other recipes. They create a slightly coarser texture than cashews (more like ricotta texture) but I think they might work well. Macadamias may work too.
I can finally eat cashews after waiting 30 years to get retested for nut allergies and can’t wait to try this.
Can I use a solid coconut oil, instead of a liquid form?
Thank you!
Hi Julie, that’s so awesome! The coconut oil definitely must be the solid kind. ‘Refined’ just means that it doesn’t have the coconut flavor, it is definitely a solid oil. And you can use either refined or regular virgin coconut oil in this recipe. We discuss the differences in the post. All the best! 🙂
Thank you for the quick reply! I picked up the agar powder last night. BTW I soak the nuts because the warm water will neutralize many of the enzyme inhibitors and increase the bioavailability of many nutrients, especially b-vitamins. Cheers and I love your website and the fact that you have links to other recipes outside of your site; you are very generous. 🙂
Thanks Julie, that’s so kind of you to say! 🙂
Hey! I’m curious to try this but was wondering if you could elaborate on how much this recipe makes and if there is anything that needs to be considered if you’re making a smaller amount?
Hi Tamlyn, it fills two medium sized ramekins and makes 26 even sized scoops. I wouldn’t adjust the recipe the first time you make it, it will be a lot easier to make it as written and get familiar with it before you make any adjustments. All the best! 🙂
Hi Alison,
I just want to thank you for this amazing recipe! This was my first time making any cheese and it came out perfectly. I served it like a buffalo mozzarella and also made my favorite childhood lunch of pizza English muffins. I also added it to pasta and pesto salad.I can’t wait to try the feta !
Awesome Karla, I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks so much for the wonderful review. 🙂
Hi can I use sunflower seeds instead of cashews I have a nut allergy among many others and I would really like to try this but without the nuts.
Hi Rebecca, it might work, but I’m not sure since I haven’t tried it. Let us know how it goes if you do try it like that. All the best! 🙂
QUESTION CAN I USE GELATIN AS SUBSTITUTION FOR AGAR AGAR POWDER???
Hi Kiana, I have no experience with using gelatin so can’t advise at all, sorry!