Plant-based Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Over the last few attempts, I’ve found a couple of recipes that really seem to work. And this one, based off the recipe from LovingItVegan.com really seems to work amazingly well, and makes something super tasty!
Plant-Based Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Red pepper vegan cheddar cheese. Firm, slice-able and totally delicious!Last updated July 30, 2019.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Raw Cashews
- ⅓ cup Water
- 5 Tbsp Lemon Juice (More makes it extra sharp!)
- ¼ cup Tahini
- 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste or sauce
- 2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 Medium Red Pepper deseeded and chopped, about 3/4 cup
- 2 ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Paprika Smoked Paprika if you like a smoked taste.
- ⅛ tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
- ¼ cup Nutritional Yeast
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 cup Water
- 1 Tbsp Agar Agar Powder not flakes
Instructions
- Add the cashews, 1/3 cup water, lemon juice, tahini, soy sauce, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, red pepper, salt, paprika, cayenne pepper, dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, garlic powder and onion powder to a high-speed blender. Blend until super super smooth. Set aside.
- Add the 1 cup of water and agar agar powder to a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Once boiling let it boil for about 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and pour it into the blender on top of the cheese mix.
- Blend until smooth.
- Working quickly, as it will start to set very fast, pour it out into plastic wrap lined small loaf pans.
- Put it into the fridge to set, uncovered. After 20-30 minutes, remove from fridge.
- Lift out of loaf pans by plastic wrap, wrap plastic wrap to cover cheese, and store in air-tight container, back in the fridge, or freeze for later use.
I’ve also found that if I really let it firm up, I can grate it up. It’s a kind of wet cheese grate, but does that job, and freezes well this way, too.
