This vegan goat cheese is soft, tangy, creamy and salty. You can slice it, crumble it or bake it. It’s easy to make and looks gorgeous!
This vegan goat cheese is so good I think it’s even better tasting than ‘real’ goat cheese. Although even ‘real’ goat cheese can have a lot of variance in flavor.
We went for creamy and salty with a subtle tanginess and a light and soft texture.
It tastes simply amazing sliced up on toasted bread or crackers and it’s also wonderful smashed/crumbled.
It can also be sliced up on pizza and baked. It gets melty and super delicious when heated.
If you love this cheese then I’m sure you’ll also love our sliceable cashew cheese, vegan cheddar cheese, vegan feta and vegan halloumi.
Ingredients You’ll Need For This Vegan Goat Cheese Recipe:
Ingredient Notes
- White vinegar – there is some magically cheesy flavor that is created with the use of distilled white vinegar. It doesn’t work nearly so well with any other vinegar, so I don’t recommend substituting this with anything else.
- Raw cashews – are soaked in hot water for 1 hour. This makes for an easier blend but also creates a softer, lighter texture that works really well in this vegan goat cheese.
- Agar agar powder – this should be the powder and not the flakes. It should also be a pure product, 100% agar agar and not mixed with other ingredients. You should be able to get it at a health food store, but if not, then it’s definitely available online.
- Almond milk – is great for this as it has a neutral flavor in this recipe and a very white color, which keeps this cheese very white. You could substitute this with a different non-dairy milk but you may have differences in the color and it may also impact the flavor.
- Lemon juice – should ideally be freshly squeezed for the best flavor. However, bottled will also work in a pinch.
- Coconut oil – should be refined/odorless. We have made this with regular/virgin coconut oil but the coconut taste came through and interfered with the other flavors so refined coconut oil is best for this recipe. If you use a different oil, it may affect the color of this cheese and it also may not set quite as well.
How To Make Vegan Goat Cheese
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.
- Add raw cashews to a bowl. Pour boiling hot water from the kettle over the top so that the cashews are completely submerged.
- Leave them to soak for 1 hour. Drain and rinse.
- Add the soaked cashews to your blender jug along with distilled white vinegar, lemon juice, almond milk, refined coconut oil, salt, onion powder and garlic powder and blend until smooth.
- Leave this in your blender while you work on your agar agar mix.
- Add cold water and agar agar powder to a saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring continuously.
- When it reaches a boil, set a timer and boil it for 1 minute, stirring all the while.
- You will notice it getting thick and gelatinous.
- Then quickly remove it from the heat and pour it into the blender jug on top of the previously blended cheese mix.
- Blend briefly to mix everything together well.
- Pour this out into two 4.5 inch round springform pans (or bowls, or ramekins) and smooth down.
- Sprinkle with dried herbs.
- Place into the refrigerator until set. It should start setting right away but be fully set and firm to the touch within an hour or two.
- Once set, gently remove it from your springform pans or bowls and serve.
Serving Suggestions
This vegan goat cheese makes a wonderful appetizer. Serve it with crackers, breads, red grapes, walnuts and lemon slices. Apricot jam is also a wonderful flavor pairing with this. A cracker topped with apricot jam and a slice of vegan goat cheese is heavenly.
Recipe Tips
The agar agar mix needs to have a chance to activate properly. The agar agar powder should be added to cold water and heated in a saucepan with the water, stirring all the while until it boils. Then it needs to boil for a full minute, stirring all the while. You will notice it thicken and become very gelatinous.
You need to work quite quickly. Once the agar agar and water mix is poured into the blender, you need to blend it up fast and then transfer the cheese mix to your prepared spring form pans, bowls or ramekins. The reason for speed is that the cheese starts to set up fast.
Springform pans. We have two 4.5 inch round springform pans and we love these for making small cheese rounds. This recipe makes two 4.5 inch cheese rounds. You can make one larger cheese round or two smaller rounds or three mini rounds. Just use whatever bowls or ramekins you have on hand.
Storing and Freezing
This vegan goat cheese lasts for 7 days in the fridge (covered) and can also be frozen for up to 3 months. The texture after thawing will tend to be a little more firm than before.
More Vegan Cheese Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Goat Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 cup Raw Cashews (150g) Soaked for 1 hour in hot water
- 2 Tablespoons Distilled White Vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice Freshly Squeezed
- ½ cup Almond Milk (120ml)
- 2 Tablespoons Refined Coconut Oil
- 2 ½ teaspoons Salt
- 2 teaspoons Onion Powder
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 cup Water (240ml)
- 1 Tablespoon Agar Agar Powder Must be powder, not flakes
- Sprinkle Mixed Dried Herbs Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary, Parsley, Tarragon*
Instructions
- Add raw cashews to a bowl. Pour boiling hot water from the kettle over the top so that the cashews are completely submerged. Leave them to soak for 1 hour. Drain and rinse.
- Add the soaked cashews to your blender jug along with distilled white vinegar, lemon juice, almond milk, refined coconut oil, salt, onion powder and garlic powder and blend until smooth.
- Leave this in your blender while you work on your agar agar mix. Add cold water and agar agar powder to a saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring continuously.
- When it reaches a boil, set a timer and boil it for 1 minute, stirring all the while. You will notice it getting thick and gelatinous.
- Quickly remove it from the heat and pour it into the blender jug on top of the previously blended cheese mix.
- Blend briefly to mix everything together well.
- Pour this out into two 4.5 inch round springform pans (or bowls, or ramekins) and smooth down.
- Sprinkle with dried herbs. Place into the refrigerator until set. It should start setting right away but be fully set and firm to the touch within an hour or two.
- Once set, gently remove it from your springform pans or bowls and serve.
- Serve with crackers, bread or toast, red grapes, walnuts, lemon slices and apricot jam.
Notes
- Soaking the cashews – this makes for an easier blend but also creates a softer, lighter texture that works really well in this vegan goat cheese.
- White vinegar – there is some magically cheesy flavor that is created with the use of distilled white vinegar. It doesn’t work nearly so well with any other vinegar, so I don’t recommend substituting this with anything else.
- Lemon juice – should ideally be freshly squeezed for the best flavor. However, bottled will also work in a pinch.
- Almond milk – is great for this as it has a neutral flavor in this recipe and a very white color, which keeps this cheese very white. You could substitute this with a different non-dairy milk but you may have differences in the color and it may also impact the flavor.
- Coconut oil – should be refined/odorless. We have made this with regular/virgin coconut oil but the coconut taste came through and interfered with the other flavors so refined coconut oil is best for this recipe. If you use a different oil, it may affect the color of this cheese and it also may not set quite as well.
- Agar agar powder – this should be the powder and not the flakes. It should also be a pure product, 100% agar agar and not mixed with other ingredients. If you do have to use the flakes then you will need to use 3 tablespoons.
- Dried herbs – we used a dried herbs mix containing oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, parsley and tarragon, but you could use any mix or just use oregano and thyme.
- The agar agar mix needs to have a chance to activate properly. The agar agar powder should be added to cold water and heated in a saucepan with the water, stirring all the while until it boils. Then it needs to boil for a full minute, stirring all the while. You will notice it thicken and become very gelatinous.
- You need to work quite quickly. Once the agar agar and water mix is poured into the blender, you need to blend it up fast and then transfer the cheese mix to your prepared spring form pans, bowls or ramekins. The reason for speed is that the cheese starts to set up fast.
- Springform pans: We used two 4.5 inch round spring forms for this recipe. You can make one larger cheese round or two smaller rounds or three mini rounds. Just use whatever bowls or ramekins you have on hand.
- Storing. It can be stored in the fridge for 7 days (covered).
- Freezing. It can be frozen for up to 3 months. The texture after thawing will tend to be a little more firm than before.
Hi there. Due to nut allergies, I was wondering if I could substitute sunflower seeds for the cashews in this recipe? If so, would the quantity be the same? Thanks.
I haven’t tried it but I think so yes! Same quantity.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I was a bit sceptical about the agar agar because in the past those cheeses have turned out a little jelly-like for me, but I trusted the process and it has turned out DELICIOUS! And super spreadable.
Awesome Frank! Thanks so much for the great review!
Recipe looks simple want to try it today. Your recipe says 1 cup of cold water is that for the agar agar or soaking the cashews?
It’s for the agar agar. The amount of water needed for soaking the cashews is not listed in the recipe. You just need to pour over enough water so that the cashews are submerged.
Howdy
Did this today and it was great. Will make it again when it’s gone!!
Thanks
joe
Awesome! So glad it was a success Joe!
Hello, can I use kappa carrageenan instead of agar agar powder?
Hi Teddie, yes I’m sure you could, but I haven’t used it myself so I’m not sure what changes would need to be made.
This is a must try! It’s sooo good!
Thanks Anna!
Hi Alison, this looks great! Can we subs almond for oat milk?
Thanks,
Mia
Hi Mia, sure, you could really use any plant milk, but of course there may be slight flavor variances.
Hi Allison!
This cheese looks terrific. If I omitted the coconut oil and added more agar agar would that do the trick? And if so, how much agar? Can’t wait to try this recipe but not a fan of ever using coconut oil.
Thanks!
Hi Deb, you could just leave it out, no need to use extra agar agar. 🙂
Hi Why distilled? Ordinary one would work too?
Hi Joe, we do have a link in the ingredients list to an example of a white vinegar that we would use. White vinegar just has a unique flavor that works well in vegan cheeses and distilled is just usually better for food and it’s the one we used.