Homemade healthy, best tasting vegan raw cashew cheese recipe for vegan cheese boards, sauces and appetizers.
Dairy Cheeses Are Not For Everyone
Who doesn’t love ‘Mac-N-Cheese’ anything, Cheese Breads, Pizza or Pastries with cheese!
Dairy cheeses are what most of use grew up with, not realizing that some of our ‘tummy troubles’ were directly linked to the milk that makes our cheese.
For many people, eating dairy cheeses can lead to feeling bloated, discomfort or worse.
Digesting lactose, the primary sugar in milk, is the culprit causing these undesirable stomach issues.
Easy Homemade Cashew Cheese
Vegan cheese recipes aren’t just for vegans! Homemade cashew cheese, like homemade yogurt, or homemade almond cheese, hummus or even baba ganoush, is a delicious approach to making healthy dips, spreads, appetizers even kids sandwiches!
Cheese made from cashews is simply cashews, pureed into a velvety, flavor packed spread, log or cheese ball.
The cheesy taste is derived from extra nutritional yeast, which is not the same as baker’s yeast, a yeast with active yeast cells used to make bread.
However, the real flavor in this recipe comes from fenugreek, garlic and a healthy splash of vinegar, which sets this recipe apart from the bland vegan cheese spreads I’ve tried from the store.
Why Would You Want Cashew Cheese
Cashew Cheese (or other), as with all nut cheeses, saved the day for cheese intolerant people, simply by transforming nuts into something that could most resemble cheese.
Easy vegan recipes, such as this cashew nut cheese, makes for beautiful cheese boards when presented in a ball, or rolled in favorite herbs or spices.
Key ingredients in nut cheese brings the elements of something tart, definitely salty and something a bit yeast-like to their flavors.
Raw Cashews – The Not So Nutty Nut
All my life I’ve loved cashews, salted, sort of sweet, cashew nuts.
Then I lived in Brazil for a spell, where cashews are from, and discovered so many interesting things about cashews.
Most nuts I am familiar with grow inside of a shell, as you can further this knowledge when I was foraging black walnuts and acorns.
However, cashews grow on the outside of the cashew (Caju), fruit, a plump, juicy bright yellow or orange fruit that hangs from trees.
The cashew, what we think of as a nut, grows almost like an afterthought appendage of the fruit.
One single cashew, per fruit, which makes me think it’s crazy that cashews are more expensive than they are.
The cashew fruit? Well, it was my son’s favorite fruit juice in all of Brazil.
Easy Homemade Cashew Cheese
A homemade cashew cheese couldn’t be easier to make at home. All you need is a high-powered blender or food processor.
Soaking the cashews in water softens them to puree into a creamy textured cheese.
An hour later, these cashews are ready for the blender and an entire 2 cups of homemade cashew cheese are quickly whipped up.
This easy recipe takes simple ingredients and turns them into a gourmet tasting cheesy sauce or thicker cheese spread, depending on your preference.
Real Nut Cheese Is Not Just Made With Nut Milk
Often, in the grocery stores, we will find vegan cheeses that are made with cashew milk or other nut milks, which is simply water and crushed nuts, strained for the essence of the nut.
Then the chemicals are hauled in to transform that nut milk into something thick and cheese-like, such as thickeners such as Xanthan Gum, Guar Gum and Carrageenan.
Sound like a processed food you want to eat? Many marketed yogurt brands have the same ingredients, making them ‘not real yogurt’!
No wonder so many Americans are having tummy troubles for foods we thought were healthy!
Why Nut Milk Alone Isn’t The Way To Make Cashew Cheese
If we are looking for a cream cheese or mayonnaise texture, then sure, go ahead and use a Homemade Nut Milk, some flavor, such as fresh herbs of spices, and something to thicken it.
The use of Agar would be my choice for a thickener since is gels quickly and firmly, and is made from a sea plant.
However, for a nut cheese with the texture of a chevre or a sheep milk cheese, or even a ricotta, we want all of the nuts involved.
Soaking the nuts to soften them enough to puree into a creamy cheese makes for great texture and nutty flavor. All we need next is other key ingredients that transform it into deeper flavors we know and love in dairy cheeses.
What To Serve With Raw Cashew Cheese
Nothing could taste better with this cheese than a homemade herb cracker, or homemade flatbread pita!
If you have the time, a variety of homemade bread recipes that fit into the dairy free category are all over my blog because I love bread making.
However, once the nut cheese is made and stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to two weeks, it makes a great dip or filling for tarts!
Easy Non-Dairy Cheese Appetizer
In want of a non-dairy cheese for a first time recipe, I thought grocery stores would be my best option.
Sure, both Trader Joe’s and Whole foods had cashew-based cheeses, however, the flavor was bland and too thick (nearly gelatinous), for the recipe I wanted to create.
That was when I set out to make my own cashew cheese. So glad I did!
I made the appetizer I was after, with a whimsical anchovy tail sticking straight up in the air, nestled in a dollop of healthy ‘dairy-free’ cashew cheese.
It was absolutely a hit! Now I make them, just because I love the creamy yet salty combo of cashew cheese with anchovies.
Let’s Make The Best Vegan Cheese Recipe Around!
I am not vegan and I absolutely love this plant-based cheese! The best thing about it, is not that it’s a dairy-free cheese, the best thing is that it is a great recipe with nutty flavor, making it delicious in many recipes.
Imparting flavor into a vegan cheese spread is no different than the approach we take for bringing flavor to the many types of sauces we make.
Since cashew cheese is not a fermented cheese, the cheese flavor is formed from nutritional yeast, which tastes fermented, and the best spice I know for this recipe; fenugreek, which in and of itself has a hint of herb and maple flavor to it.
Note: Almonds also make for a fabulous vegan cheese using this recipe, just need to remove the almond skins after soaking.
Making An Easy Vegan Cheese Appetizer For Non-Vegans!
I first created this cashew cheese, not to serve on a vegan cheese board, but rather as the spread that would go inside of a pastry tart with a salty anchovy on top.
It was for a Halloween dinner party in my home, and invited were several well known restaurateurs from my town.
Wanting to wow them with something very unusual, I served these Anchovy Cashew Cheese Tarts as appetizers, and yes, they were a hit!
After the meal had been served, I told them it was a vegan cheese that I made for the tarts, which really won me praise, especially since at that time (2016), vegan cheeses really hadn’t hit the markets yet.
How To Make Easy Cashew Cheese
This vegan cheese is easy to make and can be pureed to be thick for a great spread, or with just an extra splash of lemon juice or vinegar, can be pureed into a quick batch of cashew cheese sauce.
For the best results:
- First, we will need to soften the raw cashews in a little water. Just enough water to cover the cashews and allow to sit room temperature for about an hour.
- Secondly, once the water is drained off the cashews, with only a handful of ingredients tossed into a high-speed blender along with the nuts we are almost there. Without a lot of work, within minutes, a creamy spreadable cheese will be obtained. If a creamy sauce is desired, simply add a little extra liquid. If cheese logs are desired, a few sprinkles of agar agar can be added to the mixture while blending, making it into the texture of a vegan cream cheese.
- Finally, once made, the cashew cheese can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for several days. When ready to serve, allow to sit out room temperature.
How To Use Cashew Cheese
Yes, cashew cheese can be sliced like many other soft cheeses similar to chevre cheese in texture.
In need of an easy flavor filled sauce?
Simply add a bit more water to the puree while in the blender and you’ve got a great vegan cheese sauce for Mac and Cheese or simply to pour over roasted veggies.
Roll the cheese into a ball, plop it in a serving bowl for guests to help themselves from a spectacular vegan cheese board!
Other Delicious Recipes With Cashews
From my experience living in Brazil, (2006-2010), I learned about many plants being used in a variety of ways for health support, ways I had not yet experienced here in America.
A stroll along any city street in Brazil, you would find kiosks on nearly every block with ‘suco de saude’ health drinks. It was where I had my first smoothie, long before they were here back in the states.
From that amazing experience I brought back home, many new concepts for weaving Brazilian ingredients into my already healthy Mediterranean cuisine.
- Easy Homemade Nut Milk – any type of nut milk is made with only two ingredients, nuts and water, and it’s too easy not to be making it yourself!
- No-Bake Avocado Berry Vegan Cheesecake – with blackberries or blueberries, date and nut crust, sweetened with honey or agave, beautifully layered vegan dessert.
- Cashew Smoothie Bowl – Brazilian Protein and Fruit Smoothie Bowl is a protein and fruit rich, balanced meal first created in Brazil, now enjoyed here in America.
- Cashew Muffins – Wholesome Cashew Muffins are ‘Everything Free’, with natural plant based milk, nut flour, molasses and monk fruit or stevia and warm spices.
Variations Of Vegan Cashew Cheese Recipe
As you know by now throughout my blog of recipes, I love nuts in any size, shape and flavor!
Perhaps you read my story about the Black Walnut tree I discovered in my yard and the difficulty in opening these wild nuts?
If so, you know of the abundance in flavor and nutrients I spoke of in the black walnut in which I made several recipes from.
On a whimsy, I shared with you stories about the Acorn nuts in my yard and how I made cookies from them.
All of these nuts, as well as Chestnuts, Walnuts, Hazelnuts and a variety of other nuts, can be made into nut cheese using this same method.
Ingredients Needed
- Raw cashews – While all nuts, in their really raw state, right off the plant, tucked in a hard shell, must be boiled or roasted in order to remove the shell and any harmful oils, what we want in this recipe is a cashew without added roasting that dries out its natural oils. as opposed to roasted cashews are what we want for the mild, buttery flavor that allows us liberties to create our own flavor with this cheese.
- White balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar – white balsamic for a more tart flavor and apple cider for a bit more sweet vinegar flavor, both act as a substitute for rennet, the enzyme in cheesemaking, sometimes causing nut milk to curdle and create texture.
- White pepper – brings a little bite to the flavor of the cheese while blending in with its color.
- Salt – table salt as opposed to a coarse salt.
- Lemon juice – while the vinegar deepens the flavor of the vegan cheese, lemon juice brightens its flavor.
- Garlic – roasted garlic will add a deeper nuttier flavor while raw garlic will bring an added heat, both can be used.
- Nutritional yeast – An ancient form of yeast, has a naturally cheesy, nutty flavor making it a great plant based addition to the flavor of nut cheeses. Nutritional yeast has taken center stage, in recent years, bringing a deeper flavor to vegan recipes. However, Brewer’s yeast, a powder I took for years during pregnancy days making my hair, skin and body healthier, is used in brewing. It does not have the nutty flavor of nutritional yeast, trust me as I used to have to hold my nose to swallow drinks I would make with it.
- Fenugreek powder – My secret ingredient for nut cheeses because unlike the acid based ingredients which brighten the nut cheese flavor, fenugreek deepens the flavor, likened anywhere from maple syrup to burnt sugar. A complex flavor few will guess where it comes from.
- Water – as needed to obtain the texture.
- Olive oil or coconut oil for the added fat to round out this cheese.
Equipment Needed
- High speed blender or food processor to puree the mixture into a cheesy consistency.
- Measuring spoons and a measuring cup.
- 12 oz. airtight container, my preference is often Mason jars because they are glass, rather than plastic, is easy to clean and easy to see what’s inside when it is in the fridge.
Why Add Oils To Nut Cheeses
Nuts, in general, are loaded with natural oils, some offer much more than others. For example, when walnuts are pureed in a food processor, verses almonds, walnuts produce much more oil, both English walnuts and Black walnuts.
When making almond cheese or cashew cheese, both nuts having a little less natural oil and are lighter in flavor, an added oil can both emulsify the cheese texture and offer flavor.
Olive oil is a great choice when wanting to keep the plant strong flavor of the nut cheese present, while coconut oil is gentle in flavor and will not change the natural flavor of the nut by very much.
However, now would be a great time to add a Truffle oil (real truffle oil, because most can taste weird), or a chili oil to really start the party with your vegan dairy free nut cheese!
Easy Vegan Raw Cashew Cheese
Equipment
- Food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 2 cups Raw cashews
- 1 tbsp White balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp Coconut oil or olive oil
- 1/4 tsp White pepper or black pepper
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp Lemon zest
- 2 Garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp Nutritional yeast or more to taste
- 1 tsp Fenugreek powder
- Water – as needed
Instructions
- Cashew Cheese Soak raw cashews, completely covered in water, for 1 hour. Drain
- Place soaked cashews, vinegar, salt, pepper, lemon juice, garlic cloves or powder, nutritional yeast and fenugreek in a high speed blender or food processor.
- Puree into a paste. If a little liquid is needed, drizzle a little warm water into the paste (about 1/4 cup), for a creamy vegan cashew cheese consistency.
- Will last 5-7 days in a clean mason jar or airtight container.
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Notes
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.