7 delicious vegan cheese recipes

Want to avoid dairy, but miss cheese? Well, you don’t have to: there are a variety of healthy vegan cheeses and you can even make them at home!

If you want to follow a vegan diet, but you like cheese, you have at your disposal numerous alternatives one hundred percent vegetables, which will allow you to enjoy this food.

Vegan cheeses are made from different bases. They can be made, for example, with soy derivatives, vegetable milks or pasta and yogurts from nuts or soaked seeds.

A separate specialty is raw or raw vegan cheeses: in this style of vegan cheeses refined products are not used, so they are much healthier than many of the commercial vegan cheeses, and also do not undergo more than 42 ° C, so as not to denature their ingredients and preserve all their nutritional value.

Here you will find a selection of raw vegan cheese recipes very easy to make, made from nuts and seeds. Enjoy them!

Remember also that if you are interested in vegetable recipes, the ebook “Healthy lunches and dinners: 100 vegetarian recipes” of Cuerpomente is ideal to discover ideas of healthy dishes, vegetables and delicacies.

ALMOND COTTAGE CHEESE WITH MAPLE SYRUP

A vegan version of cottage cheese made with almonds that you can take as a dessert or also in a salty version.

Ingredients for 2 people

• 100 g raw almonds, activated with a pre-soak of 8-12 h and peeled
• 125 ml or half a cup of rejuvelac
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, liquid
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• maple syrup to taste
• Half a cup of berries or berries to accompany

Preparation 10 minutes (ready in 48 hours)

1. In a turbo blender, crush the almonds well together with the rejuvelac until a smooth and homogeneous cream is obtained.
2. Place it in a glass jar covered with a clean cotton cloth and reserve it in a dark, cool and dry place to ferment.
3. After 48 hours, the cottage cheese will be fluffy and will have created some air bubbles in the fermentation.
4. Add the coconut oil, lemon juice and yeast and beat again until mixed evenly.
5. With the help of a ring create round portions and serve on a plate with maple syrup to taste and some red fruits.

You can serve it as a dessert, but also in savory dishes, to accompany or as a dip. In that case, add well-chopped fresh herbs before serving. Or garlic powder or lemon zest.

OLD SUNFLOWER SEED CHEESE

A vegan cheese that you can take freshly made or aging it to gain intensity of flavor.

Ingredients for 1 small

• 250 g sunflower seeds, soaked 8 h and washed
• 125 ml or half a cup of rejuvelac
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 garlic, crushed and skinned
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper –
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• half cup dried herbs: thyme, rosemary, oregano

Preparation 20 minutes (ready in a week)

1. Crush the seeds in a processor or turbo cup blender and beat with the rejuvelac until you get a white and soft cream.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the herbs, and beat it well.
3. Introduce the mixture in a bag to make clean vegetable milk forming a bundle and hang it 8-12 hours from a hook in the kitchen. Put a bowl underneath to collect the serum.
4. At 8-12 hours, take out the cheese and shape it with your hands.
5. Place the herbs on a flat plate and coat carefully until evenly coated.
6. You can eat fresh cheese like this, but if you age it will taste even better. To do this, let it dry for a week or two on a rack in a dry, cool and airy place, turning it every 12 hours. In a week or two it will be ready to cut and serve.

Aging it in a ventilated place prevents mold from creating. If it comes out, scrape it well with a knife.

CASHEW CHEESE WITH FINE HERBS SPREAD

You can decorate it with black olives in aritos or basil pesto. They will give it color and a lot of flavors!

Ingredients for 4-6 people

• 275 g raw cashews, soaked 8-12 h and washed
• 125 ml or half a cup of rejuvelac
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• half a teaspoon dried garlic powder
• half a teaspoon dried onion powder
• 1 pinch of sea salt
• 2 tablespoons chives, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh dill, finely chopped

Preparation 5 minutes (ready in 12 hours)

1. Crush all the ingredients except the herbs in a turbo blender until you get a homogeneous and smooth paste. Let it ferment for 12 hours in a glass container with a lid, covered only with a clean cotton cloth.
2. Once fermented, add the aromatic herbs.
3. Close the container with its lid and store it in the refrigerator. It keeps for several weeks.
4. When serving, you can place it in a bowl to share. You can also accompany it with crudités to dipear: carrots, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, pepper strips, apple and pear sticks, cucumber, grapes, garlic … They are all delicious.

FAST PARMESAN RICH IN OMEGA 3

A vegan Parmesan cheese ideal for sprinkling on salads, vegetable creams, raw pasta – such as ribbons or spaghetti of zucchini or other vegetable – and pizzas.

Ingredients for 4-6 people

• Half a cup of nutritional yeast –
• half a cup peeled hemp seed
• 1 pinch of Himalayan salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preparation 5 minutes

1. Place the nutritional yeast, hemp seeds and salt in a turbo blender or grinder, and crush them very well so that they are ground evenly.
2. Place this mixture in a small bowl and add the lemon juice.
3. Stir carefully with a spoon so that it mixes well and prevents clumping or lumps.
4. Serve in a bowl to sprinkle over the chosen recipe.

SWEET CHEESE OF YOUNG COCONUT AND CASHEWS

Ingredients for 4-6 people

• 1 young coconut, the pulp and half a cup of its water
• 100 g raw cashews, with a pre-soak of 8 h
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 pinch of sea salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preparation 5 minutes (ready in 24 hours)

1. In a turbo blender, beat all the ingredients until you get a dense and smooth cream.
2. Place in a glass jar with a lid, leaving a quarter of the pot free, so that the cheese breathes while fermenting.
3. Cover with a clean cotton cloth and let it ferment for 8-12 hours in a dry, airy place where sunlight does not shine.
4. Serve with berries and fresh aromatic herbs.

MACADAMIA AND CASHEW QUSEO WITH A MARINE TOUCH

The marine touch in this vegetable cheese based on nuts is achieved thanks to the dulse seaweed.

Ingredients for 4-6 people

• 100 g raw macadamia, with a pre-soak of 8 h
• 100 g raw cashews, with a pre-soak of 8 h
• 1/4 cup filtered water
• 1 teaspoon unpasteurized white miso
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 pinch of sea salt
• 1 cup well-pressed dulse seaweed

Preparation 5 minutes (ready in 24 hours)

1. Beat all the ingredients, except the seaweed, in a turbo blender until you get a very soft dense cream.
2. Place in a vegetable milk bag or a clean cotton gauze and hang about 12 hours from a hook in the kitchen, with a bowl underneath, to release the whey and ferment.
3. In a bowl of water, rehydrate the algae sweeten about 5 minutes. Drain them thoroughly, drying a little even with a cotton cloth, and stretch them very flat on a baking paper.
4. Shape the nut paste with your hands and place on the seaweed base. With the baking paper, cover it with the algae evenly. Then wrap the cheese well with the same baking paper.
5. Place on a flat plate and reserve in the fridge for about 6 hours. Turn it over and let it cure for about 6 more hours.

When draining: if you have nowhere to hang the cheese, leave it in a fine strainer on a bowl with a weight on top.

TOPPING CHEESE SAUCE

This cream cheese is very easy to make and is very soft. You can use it as béchamel and other white sauces, and thus take advantage of the hepatoprotective properties of sesame, for example completing your raw vegan lasagna with it or adding it to spaghetti or raw zucchini cannelloni.

Another option is to use this sauce as a dressing for your salads or serve it as a dip with crunchy celery or carrot crudités.

This cheese also suits you very well, along with a pinch of nutritional yeast, cabbage or broccoli recipes.

Ingredients for 4-6 people

• half a cup raw white tahini
• half cup nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup rejuvelac or filtered water
• 1 pinch black pepper, freshly ground
• half a teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon aromatic herbs mixed to taste (such as rosemary, parsley, sage, thyme, or oregano)

Preparation 5 minutes (ready in 12 hours)

1. Combine all the ingredients in a turbo blender and beat very well until you get a completely homogeneous and smooth paste.
2. Place this paste in a glass container that can go with a lid and for now cover it only with a clean cotton cloth. Let it sit like this for about 12 hours to ferment.
3. Once fermented, you can cover the container with its lid and store it in the fridge for weeks.

HOW TO MAKE VEGAN CHEESES

Vegan cheeses are made from soy derivatives (silky or firm tofu, soy milk or yogurt), vegetable milks (rice or oatmeal) or pasta and yogurts from nuts or soaked seeds.

With this base, different types of ingredients are used to give elasticity and a cheese texture without affecting the flavor:

• Starches such as tapioca or potato, glutinous rice flour or modified starch.
• Gelling agents such as agar-agar.
• Thickeners or stabilizers
• Emulsifiers such as lecithin (soy or sunflower).

The creaminess and firmness are achieved by adding oils such as raw coconut oil, with its peculiar flavor or DE flavored and refined.

HOW TO GET THE CHEESE FLAVOR

To provide a mild fermented flavor, natural and healthy acids such as lemon, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar or rejuvelac, a fermented water obtained from sprouts, are added.

Another option is to use ferments and bacteria as is done with dairy cheeses.

You can also achieve greater intensity of flavor by adding nutritional yeast, garlic, dried tomato, spirulina seaweed, salt, chili, pepper, aromatic herbs and natural flavorings or aromas.

BENEFITS OF VEGAN CHEESES

In vegan cheeses, especially raw vegans, all are advantages. Not only are they less processed and more natural than dairy cheeses, but they are very complete. Among its advantages and properties for health we can highlight:

1. They provide pure and nutritious energy. They provide abundant energy in the form of carbohydrates, accompanied by fiber. Also, healthy fats and quality proteins.
2. They are rich in calcium and vitamins. The ingredients used as the base of cheeses make them a great source of calcium and other minerals and trace elements. They are also rich in vitamins such as E, provitamin A, B complex and C.
3. It has probiotics and take care of your intestines. They provide probiotic bacteria, which protect the microbiota or intestinal flora. On the other hand, they do not contain addictive opioid peptides that increase intestinal permeability and constipation, nor substances of difficult or impossible digestion (such as lactose or casein) that end up in the blood and produce mucus, respiratory problems and autoimmune disorders, among others.
4. There are options for everyone. For people with intestinal problems, intolerances or allergies there are gluten-free, soy and nut-free versions that can be made with seeds such as sunflower or starches and oils.
5. They are free of toxins. It avoids consuming residues of hormones, viruses, bacteria, pus and toxins contained in dairy products and generated by antibiotics, pesticides and disinfectants assimilated by cattle in the industrial production process.