A bit delayed, lots of people mentioned that they’d be interested in learning more about how I made the raw cashew cheese. Though it takes a couple days, it’s really easy! Most of the time you’re just waiting for the cashews to soak and letting the finished product sit to develop flavor, so don’t be intimidated!
Raw Cashew Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups raw cashews or cashew pieces
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice fresh squeezed is the best
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
Instructions
- Put the cashews in a bowl and cover with enough water to cover the nuts by about two inches. Let soak for 2+ hours and then drain.
- Combine the soaked + drained cashews, water, lemon juice, garlic cloves and sea salt in a food processor and blend. Scrape down the sides and blend again until completely smooth, a couple minutes or more depending on how good your processor is.
- Put your "cheese" in a small bowl or Tupperware and cover it. Let stand at room temperature for 24 hours to let the flavors meld and ferment a bit.
- After 24 hours, it's done!
- Keep the cheese in the refrigerator covered for up to 5 days.
You can sprinkle herbs on the top if you like. To get it to look like my above photo, I just sprinkled smoked paprika, chili pepper flakes and black pepper in a circle on some plastic wrap and then put the cheese on top and wrapped it up into a circle. I think dill or scallions would also be awesome!
I used it to make these lettuce wraps with avocado and sprouts. Mmmm!
Have you made any other types of raw vegan cheeses? Do you like to mix other things inside? How else do you serve it?
Holy cow! That looks amazing! Definitely on my to-make list.
Thanks for posting the recipe!
This looks amazing! I’m definitely going to make it to eat in my sandwiches!
oohhhhh been waiting for this! LOVED it! <3
KTG
Cooked it for a BBQ, everyone loved it!! The main variation is that it stayed one day longer out of the fridge (because I forgot..) and the texture was more the one of a spread than firm! but anyway, it was yummy! thx for the recipe
Thanks for posting. I’m going to give this a try =]
Hey! Thank you so much for this recipe – I’ve been trying to go dairy free but refuse to give up cheese!
Like Mya, I made it & it was delicious, but slightly more the texture of a dip. Do you have any tips on how to make it firm?
Thank you! 🙂
@Britt
Thanks so much for your comment, happy you liked it! I guess I should mention in the post that’s it’s more like a spread. The only vegan hard cheese I’ve had is stuff I’ve bought. I don’t know where you live, but in America Dr. Cows is super good (but expensive) and in Europe there’s a Swiss brand called No Muh Chaas that I love.
I’m working on a recipe for a cheddar like cheese that melts. So far I’ve made nachos and a grilled cheese sandwich successfully! It’s not a cheese and crackers kinda cheese, but nachos are my favorite food (hah) so it’s perfect for me. I just need to type up the post, so look out for that soon!
Hey I gor around to making this but Im not sure what to do with it now? could you post me some ideas/ ps. thank you 🙂
@Michia – I usually eat it on crackers, put it in sandwiches, on bagels, dip veggies in it, etc.
It looks lovely. When I make cashew spread, I use similar ingredients. What makes this cheese go hard?
O.k. I just read your comment about it being like a spread. It is so delicious. I only planned to eat 1 slice of bread, but after having the spread, had to make more!
@Anonymous 8:55 – Happy you like it! 🙂
This looks amazing! I’m definitely going to make it to eat in my sandwiches!
So this is good for 5 days in the fridge? or you have to let it sit for 5 days in the fridge before you eat it?
@Sarah – It should be good at least 5 days in the fridge! I usually only let it sit a day or two…I’m too impatient!
Going to try this today!
@akzn – Great! Hope you enjoy!