The BEST Vegan Mozzarella Cheese recipe is chewy, stretchy, and melts just like the real thing. Best of all, it’s completely healthy, plant-based, and so easy to make. Perfect for pizza, making the perfect vegan grilled cheese, or your favorite pasta bake.
Cheese, cheese, cheese! Ask anyone what prevents them from going plant-based or vegan and they’ll almost always tell you it’s the cheese. But, now that excuse is no longer valid.
I totally get it. Who doesn’t love that melty, gooey, stretchy texture? Come on, be honest.
This dairy-free mozzarella is so close to the real thing it’s scary and sure to satisfy your cheese cravings. It stretches, melts, and has just the right amount of tang.
You can use it on top of your favorite vegan pizza or make one amazing grilled cheese sandwich. But, the fun doesn’t stop there. You can whip up some amazing quesadillas or bake up some tortilla chips and enjoy it as a dip.
Bottom line: cheese is back in your life and for the better. Because it’s healthy and made entirely out of whole foods and uses no oil. So, time to leave those store-bought brands alone!
Alright, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: LET’S MAKE IT!
Ingredients You’ll Need
All you need are 7 simple ingredients and 10 minutes to make this delicious vegan cheese.
- Cashews: cashews are the perfect base for plant-based cheeses. They’re creamy and blend very easily. Be sure and use only raw cashews that have not been roasted so they’re free of salt and oil.
- Liquid: I use water in this recipe but you could unsweetened soy milk or any other non-dairy milk if your prefer.
- Nutritional Yeast: you can’t have vegan cheese without the nooch.
- Acid: lemon juice and apple cider vinegar provide “tang” and brightness.
- Garlic Powder: Unlike the dominating flavor of fresh garlic, garlic powder adds a subtle fullness of natural flavor that may be more difficult to detect than with fresh garlic, but it makes the recipe taste better.
- Tapioca Flour: also known as “tapioca starch” this is literally the glue that holds everything together. It makes everything stretchy and gooey. Tapioca flour is a wonderful thickener that is much more superior to arrowroot starch, cornstarch, or potato starch.
- Salt: I used ½ teaspoon and found it to be plenty, but make it suit your taste.
How To Make The Best Vegan Mozzarella Cheese
This vegan mozzarella recipe is so easy to make and tastes so close to the real thing. It slices, melts and stretches.
- Boil the cashews for 5 minutes or soak in hot water for 15-20 minutes.
- Place all of the ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend until completely smooth.
- Pour the mixture into a nonstick skillet or small saucepan and stir constantly over medium heat until it starts to thicken and looks like melted mozzarella cheese.
- Use immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
That’s it! The easiest and best vegan mozzarella cheese recipe. Now, how can you use it?
How Do I Use Vegan Mozarella
Well, I’m glad you asked. The easiest answer is, “just like you would regular mozzarella.” But, there are a few of my favorites…
- Vegan Quesadillas: spoon the cheese between your favorite whole wheat tortillas with some beans and rice, heat in a nonstick skillet on both sides, and enjoy!
- Pizza: spread some sauce on easy whole wheat vegan pizza dough, then spoon the vegan mozzarella on top to make the pizza of your dreams.
- Caprese Salad: place the cheese in the fridge for a couple of hours, let it firm up, then pull off pieces to toss into your salad, and make the best vegan caprese salad.
- Grilled Cheese: spoon the cheese between two pieces of your favorite whole grain or sourdough bread, place in a nonstick skillet over medium heat and cook until both sides are golden. All that’s left is to serve it with some delicious vegan tomato soup.
- Party Dip: whip up some of my healthy baked tortilla chips and enjoy it as a delicious dip.
- Vegan Lasagana Rolls: Spoon the cheese over the lasagna rolls when there is 15 minutes left to bake.
Tips, Notes, and Suggestions
- If you don’t have cashews you can use blanched almonds. You will want to boil or soak them as well.
- Place vegan mozzarella in a freezer-safe container and store in the freezer for up to 1 month.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 week.
- Use ONLY tapioca flour. You WILL NOT get the same stretchy and gooey texture with cornstarch or arrowroot starch.
More Vegan Cheese Recipes
Looking for more vegan cheese recipes for your gathering or just to snack on when you’re alone? Hey, no judgment here.
Check out these delicious recipes…
- Vegan Cashew Queso
- Easy Garlic Herb Vegan Cheese Spread
- Easy Vegan Cream Cheese
- Plant-based Paremsan
- The Best Vegan Cheese Sauce
- Vegan Baked Mac & Cheese
And, just for fun, I think it’d be great if you checked out this article about the Best Healthy Substitutes for Cream Cheese.
I hope you enjoy this Vegan Mozzarella cheese recipe. Please leave a comment below with a star rating. And, be sure and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #shaneandsimple. I want to see your work. Enjoy!
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BEST Vegan Mozzarella Cheese (Melts and Stretches)
- Prep Time: 10 mins.
- Cook Time: 5 mins.
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizers and Snacks, Vegan Main Dishes
- Method: Blend, Stovetop
- Cuisine: Vegan
- Diet: Vegan
Description
The BEST Vegan Mozzarella Cheese recipe is chewy, stretchy, and melts just like the real thing. Best of all, it’s completely healthy, plant-based, and so easy to make. Perfect for pizza, grilled cheese, or your favorite pasta bake.
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 1 cup of water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ cup tapioca flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Boil cashews for 5 minutes or soak in hot water for 15-20 minutes.
- Place all the ingredients into a high-speed blender and process until completely smooth.
- Pour the mixture into a nonstick skillet or small saucepan and stir constantly over medium heat until it starts to thick and looks like melted mozzarella cheese.
- Use immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
If you don’t have cashews blanched almonds are a good sub. You will want to boil or soak them as well.
Place vegan mozzarella in a freezer-safe container and store in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 week.
Use ONLY tapioca flour. You WILL NOT get the same stretchy and gooey texture with cornstarch or arrowroot starch.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ⅛ of recipe
- Calories: 54
- Sugar: 0.6 g
- Sodium: 148 mg
- Fat: 4.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 3.3 g
- Fiber: 0.3 g
- Protein: 1.8 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: vegan cheese, plant-based, vegan mozzarella, easy vegan cheese, stretchy, melty, gooey, vegan pizza cheese
Oh my goodness!!! This is the best plant-based mozzarella cheese recipe I have found! It’s easy to make I have been plant-based for over two years now and I have tried many cheese sauces. And this is the very best! For pizza and nachos in anything like that! Thank you so much for creating this! I am making a plant-based pizza tonight and I know my husband is going to be thrilled With this recipe! Thank you again!
★★★★★
Awesome!
So… I have recently switched to a plant-based/vegan lifestyle and honestly the only thing I have found to be difficult is finding substitutes for cheese — I have tried a few different recipes and thus far, none of them did it for me. I wasn’t an overly enthusiastic fan of cheese before going vegan (I enjoyed it on a moderate level), but there a a few dishes in which cheese is the main factor (think Mac and Cheese, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, and of course Pizza). I was so happy to stumble upon this recipe. I just made it for my pizza and WOW! It’s amazingly delicious. Brilliant! I may or may not have licked the entire spoon clean after stirring on the stove 😋 Thanks for the amazing recipe!
★★★★★
Awww, thank you so much, Ashley! That’s so great to hear and yes, including me, cheese was hard to give up initially. Welcome aboard! 🙂
Amazing! And so simple to make. I put it in a small glass bowl and refrigerated for a few hours and when I was ready to use it, I popped it out of the bowl and it sliced up very nicely. I only wish I had made a double batch!
★★★★★
This is by far, the best vegan mozzarella recipe out there. The texture is PERFECT! I was skeptical but once I made it I was hooked. All of your recipes are keepers Shane. Thanks for all you do! Would you consider doing a cookbook? I love having hard copies of good recipe sources.
★★★★★
Amazingly good. Taste better than real mozzarella IMO. I’ve stopped buying the vegan shreds because of all the added oil. I made this for my homemade vegan pizza and was blown away. I almost ate half of it straight from the sauce pan. Thanks again Shane for another great recipe. I can’t live without your cashew mayo. It was a game changer for me.
★★★★★
Good Morning! I would really like to try this recipe. However, I am very conscious about the nutritional information. Do you have that posted anywhere? or will I need to figure that out on my own.
Thanks in Advance ,
Tarah
It’s at the bottom of the post in the recipe card.
Shane, can this be refrigerated or frozen and then be shredded?
You could try but I’ve not let it sit up that long:) It usually goes pretty fast in our house. LOL!
Made this yesterday and it was perfect on my pizza! I followed the recipe and by accident found what I think may be a good shortcut! I let the vitamix run on “ soup” to kind of preheat before I finished it off in the sauce pan. I hate standing over the stove stirring! So I thought if I get it good and warm, less stand and stirring time. Well, the cheese was the consistency of melted mozzarella so I skipped the sauce pan. After an hour in the frig it was still a pudding like consistency. Hopefully it freezes and grates well!
★★★★★
Dumb question but do you cook the pizza with the cheese on it or do you just place drop spoonfuls of the cheese on top of the cooked hot pizza. Many thanks.
You can actually do either. I got back and forth.
Amazing recipe – thank you! We made it for a pizza and I even used the leftovers on a breakfast sandwich. Possible uses are endless.
★★★★★
Delicious! Thanks for all your recipes!
★★★★★
My pleasure and thank you!
Really an excellent recipe and fabulous flavor!
Thank you Shane!
★★★★★
Thank you!
I was hesitant due to a difficult time getting off the casomorphin laden, (I call them quesomorphines jokingly because they interact with opiate receptors) cheeses a couple years ago. After reading the ingredients I was in! You are the real deal, thank you for not adding oil or some other junk. My question now is I have half of the mix from yesterday still in the Vitamix attachment. Do I just throw it back on and mix when ready, add anything, or throw out and begin again?
★★★★★
You can store it covered in the fridge for up to 3 days and then use it again. It should be just fine.
Made this for my pizza tonight and it was perfect! All ingredients that I already keep on hand and much better than any vegan cheeses that I have purchased. I was pretty sure that this would be a winner after I tried Shane’s mayo (which I now can not live without). I was right. Thank you Shane.
★★★★★
Amazing tasty and easy!!! Thank you!
★★★★★
This recipe has fantastic flavor! I love it! One question though…I’m wondering if I cooked it long enough? It wasn’t quite the stiffness of say Velveeta (I definitely don’t eat it anymore!). Is that the right consistency? Or should I have cooked it a little bit longer? Also…if I freeze it, I’m assuming it will shred at that point? I tried it for the first time last night on a pizza and it was so good!
★★★★★
Please clarify……out of ignorance I ask this question. I don’t use the cashew soaking water for the water in the recipe ?? Thank you. About to whip this up, and I need to know. Thanks in advance~
Great question. No, you don’t use the cashew-soaking water. I’ll go back and make sure it’s clear in the post. Thanks!!!
Thanks so much! I made the recipe, and it is fabulous!! Whoot! Whoot! My husband and I loved it on our pizza! Thanks for all you do!
That’s awesome, Karen! Thank you so much. If you wouldn’t mind rating it I’d greatly appreciate it. It helps me out with the Google “authorities” and helps others to see it. Again, thank you!
good and easy
★★★★★
Thank you!
Sorry to hear about your hand! I hope it mends quickly! This looks like a great recipe! I can’t do anything fermented or with yeast. Could I just use extra lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar and any thoughts on how I could zip things up without using nutritional yeast? Maybe some mustard powder? Would love to give this a try!
★★★★★
I’d try a combination of dijon mustard, dried mushrooms and maybe garlic? It wont give the same cheesy flavour but should give a tasty umami alternative
Yummer-Doodle. It is clear how much experimenting/testing work you put into your recipes to make them successfully delish for me. Thanks be for encouraging me to stay the path on this new lifestyle for me.
Cheers, Nita
I really loved this… Is a tablespoon of garlic powder correct? I may cut it down a bit next time. Or it could be I used granulated garlic so maybe that’s stronger than powder@
★★★★★
Whoa! Good catch, Vickie. That should be 1 teaspoon. Man, I like garlic but even that would be a little too much for you me. LOL!
This recipe made my heart sing. I was very happy to enjoy a pizza with your cheese, sauce, and breakfast sausage crumbles and baby spinach.. top with a balsamic glaze. Delicious!!!
★★★★★
Wow, that sounds amazing!
This is delish! I can’t believe how easy it was to make. Amazing how it can be meltable or not. But mostly, it is plain delicious.
★★★★★
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. It’s a fave around our house.
Peace,
shane
★★★★★
This is the first vegan cheese I have made and it is wonderful. They always seemed like too much trouble and many cannot be frozen. Used my food processor so maybe it would have been smoother using a blender but no complaints here. Can’t wait to try a grilled cheese and pizza. Maybe even on a baked potato. Thank you Shane.
★★★★★
So good.
★★★★★
So good! And so easy! Two things that are important to me. I didn’t have lemon juice so subbed lime juice and it is still delish. Thanks for an amazing recipe!
★★★★★
You mention a high-speed blender. Is that a $500 Vitamix? I have a $40 Hamilton Beach blender. Will that work?
Hi, Stella! No, you don’t need a Vitamix, though it’s fun and helps:) You don’t want to use a 20 dollar bargain blender. Just be sure and either boil or soak your cashews.
Just tried this. Goes together quickly. No cashews so I subbed raw pumpkin seeds. Other than giving a slight greenish tinge of color, this was so good. Mouth feel very melty cheese. Good neutral cheesy flavor. I have really missed this! Can’t wait to try it after it chills.
★★★★★
Any chance white beans can be subbed for cashews (allergies here). Thanks!
Hi, Mary! Unfortunately, white beans won’t give you the same texture.
Hi Shane. This looks yummy but I cannot eat nuts or seeds. Any chance you have a substitute for the nuts?
Hi, Carla! I’m so sorry to hear that, but unfortunately, there’s really not another sub in the recipe. I’m sorry:(
Can’t wait to try. Love oil-free.
Ingredient list says tapioca starch; elsewhere says tapioca flour.
Are they different?
Which is correct?
Thank you!
★★★★★
They are the same thing:)
Curious… do you know if ground up tapioca pearls is the same thing as the flour? I think I have flour, but I know I have pearls. I haven’t tried making this yet, but certainly intend to!! THanks much!
I’ve never tried making it that way so I can’t say for sure.
The BEST Vegan Mozzarella Cheese recipe is chewy, stretchy, and melts just like the real thing. Best of all, it’s completely healthy, plant-based, and so easy to make. Perfect for pizza, making the perfect vegan grilled cheese, or your favorite pasta bake.
★★★★★