Guys, I am SO excited to share this with you. This stretchy, melty, gooey, cheesy mozzarella can be used for SO many things!
From pizza, to grilled cheese, to POUTINE!
Can this get any better?
YES it can!
This mozzarella is oil free and gluten free too! AND, it only needs six simple ingredients, and about 10 minutes (plus soaking) of your time.
How do you make vegan mozzarella cheese that actually melts?
The key ingredient here is the tapioca starch (also known as tapioca flour), so whatever you do, do not replace or sub this ingredient. It is essential to get your mozzarella stretchy.
First thing to do is boil some water and soak your raw cashews for about 30 minutes. Longer is fine too if you’re preparing ahead. The water will get the cashews to expand and soften, making them easier to blend into a smooth consistency.
Then add all your ingredients, but only half of the water called for in this recipe, to a high speed blender. Process the mixture until smooth and creamy, which should take around a minute or so. Let the blender run a little longer to ensure there are no loose bits before adding the remaining water.
By processing the mixture with only half the water, you’ll get a smoother mixture, with less space for loose cashew bits to float around.
Pour your liquid into a small sauce pot and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly so it doesn’t burn. Your mixture will go from liquid, to small clumps, and eventually turn into a big blob of gooey mozzarella. 🙂
If you don’t have a high speed blender and are still finding some small cashew pieces in your mixture, strain the liquid into your pot using a fine strainer or nut milk bag. Serve hot with all your favourite dippers.
How to use this vegan cheese?
You can use this vegan cheese recipe in almost any recipe calling for mozzarella cheese. Don’t limit yourself to a dip.
If using for pizza, it’s easier to let the cheese cool down slightly and cut or scoop blobs of delicious gooeyness over your crust. This cheese recipe will not grate well since it’s quite sticky, so just scoop or slice it onto pizza or into lasagna, or any other recipe that could use some of this mouthwatering “cheese”.
Don’t forget to try the POUTINE!
If you enjoy this stretchy vegan mozzarella recipe, you might also want to try my vegan parmesan cheese for a cheese you can sprinkle on just about anything. 🙂
If you tried this recipe, please let me know about it in the comments below. I always love hearing from you! Don’t forget to Subscribe to This Healthy Kitchen to be among the first to get my new recipes! You can also FOLLOW ME on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter to see more delicious food and get all the latest updates.
Buon appetito,
Rosa
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw cashews*
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1 cup water half at a time
Instructions
- Add your cashews, tapioca starch, nutritional yeast, salt, vinegar, and half a cup of the water to your blender. Blend on high speed until smooth and creamy, this should take about 1 minute. Then add remaining water and blend to incorporate.
- Pour the liquid into a small sauce pot and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for approx 5 minutes. You will see your mixture go from liquid, to lumpy, to eventually a big ball of cheese. Make sure to keep stirring so it doesn't burn. Serve hot with chips, veggies or crackers.
Such an easy and delicious vegan mozzarella! Highly highly recommend!
Thanks so much for the review Laura!
Looks great. Is there a sub for the nuts? We are but free. We can do peanut (it’s a legume) but no tree nuts.
Usually sunflower seeds, pumpkin, or hemp is our sub.
I haven’t tried these without the nuts, but I think sunflower or pumpkin seeds would work better than peanuts for flavouring. Please report back if you try one of these options, enjoy!
What is the serving size used for the nutritional information ?
Hi Jill, it’s one quarter of the recipe. Hope you enjoy.
First time ever trying to make vegan cheese, and this came out great! Used it to make poutine and will be trying what’s leftover on some pizza! Bonus point: It was very satisfying to watch it go from liquid to a sticky cheese!
Thanks so much for the review Emma! I completely agree, it’s super satisfying to watch. 🙂
Works a treat!
Wonderful to hear, thank you.
Can you use a different type of starch for this recipe?
Hi Joanne, tapioca starch or tapioca flour is a must for this recipe in order to get the right texture and make the cheese stretchy. Hope you give it a try!
Would subbing the tapioca starch for corn starch work the same?
Hi Alonna, no corn starch won’t work. Tapioca starch is the magic ingredient here to get your cheese nice and stretchy.