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Raise a hand if you’ve ever said “I could go vegan, but I love cheese too much.” Now, raise a hand if someone you know has ever told you something similar. Do you have one or two hands up? In either case, we’re happy to inform you that our selection of dairy-free cheese recipes is here for you to provide the familiar stretchy, tangy, melty comfort you crave, whether you’re vegan or not.
National Cheese Lover’s Day (happening annually on January 20) might have been launched to celebrate the dairy industry, but we encourage you to look past that, and try a vegan cheese recipe off today’s list instead! We’ve got everything from dips and sauces to melty, grateable, and cultured cheeses, with both nut-based and nut-free options, which means everyone can enjoy them regardless of budget & allergies. Happy vegan cheese making!
Table of Contents
Nut-Free Vegan Cheese Recipes
Vegan Cheese Slices by Full of Plants
The best thing since sliced bread, this vegan sliced cheese is made from fermented tofu, and will be perfect for burgers, sandwiches, pizza, and more. This vegan cheese recipe is one of the many available on Thomas’ blog, and if that wasn’t enough of a gift to amateur vegan cheesemakers everywhere, he also released a free ebook called The Art of Vegan Cheese Making, so be sure to check it out!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Stracchino by Plant Based School
Straccino is a soft fresh Italian cheese generally made with cow’s milk, so naturally, its veganized version by Plant Based School is made with soy milk, soy yogurt, and a couple more ingredients that give it that tangy, cheesy flavor and melty, stretchy texture. Use it in pasta bakes, lasagna, or melted on bread or pizza!
Click here for the full recipe.
Easy Vegan Cheese Sauce by Ela Vegan
All you’ll need to make this simple nut-free vegan cheese recipe is coconut milk, tapioca flour, nutritional yeast flakes, water, and salt. It can’t be easier to make, too – just mix all the ingredients in a saucepan, heat up, and enjoy! This sauce is truly versatile as you can use it for pizza, nachos, mac and cheese, burgers, toast, and wherever else you feel some vegan cheese sauce is required to take a dish to the next level.
Click here for the full recipe.
Nut Free Soy Free Vegan Cream Cheese by Make It Dairy Free
Always the ones to watch out for people with food allergies and intolerances, the culinary geniuses behind Make It Dairy Free have developed a butter bean-based vegan cheese recipe that’s super easy to make, needs very few ingredients, is gluten-free, and can be made top 8 allergen-free as well!
Click here for the full recipe.
Greek-Style Vegan Feta by Rainbow Plant Life
Trust us when we say there will be no fussy complications in this vegan cheese recipe – just press a block of extra firm tofu, dice it into cubes, then place it in a tangy vegan brine for a little bit, and you’re set! Bonus: this is just one of the many recipes Nisha of Rainbow Plant Life has shared in her Complete Guide to Vegan Cheese that includes both best store-bought vegan cheese brands and homemade vegan cheese recipes, so be sure to check it out!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Nut-Free Cheddar Cheese by Zardy Plants
This vegan nut-free cheddar slices like a dream and shreds well – and what else do we need from a vegan cheese recipe, really? Using tofu as a base, Zardy Plants added a variety of classic vegan cheese spices to it for that rich cheesy flavor, as well as some tapioca starch & kappa carrageenan. Check out the Cheeze section of their blog for even more plant-based recipes (a lot of which are nut-free)!
Click here for the full recipe.
Tofu Cream Cheese by The Edgy Veg
This soft, spreadable, delicious vegan cheese recipe is made with tofu and just a few other vegan pantry staples, which means you can enjoy some creamy, cheesy goodness while saving money and without leaving the house – and if this isn’t the quintessential 2022 recipe goals, we don’t know what is!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce by Hot for Food
Potato-based vegan cheeses are a perfectly affordable allergy-friendly option that anyone can enjoy! Case in point: this nacho cheese sauce by Hot for Food that’s made with potatoes, carrots, pickled jalapeño, and a few other ingredients that make it taste like the real deal! With this easy vegan cheese recipe, you won’t see the point in buying the overprocessed mass-produced stuff anymore.
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Swiss Cheese by The Hidden Veggies
The whole “I would go vegan if it wasn’t for cheese” argument has more holes in it than Swiss cheese. There. We said it! But do you know what has just the right amount of holes AND the flavor and texture that will satisfy anyone’s cheese craving? You guessed it, this vegan cheese recipe by The Hidden Veggies! It’s coconut milk-based and with a simple chopstick trick, you can create holes that will make it look like the real deal. Check out the Vegan Cheeses section of Monica’s blog for many more vegan cheese recipes!
Click here for the full recipe.
Chickpea Flour Cheddar Cheese by PowerHungry
Another affordable and healthy vegan cheese recipe on today’s list, this concoction by PowerHungry is chickpea flour-based, which means it’s also high in plant protein! You’ll be surprised to find out how versatile this simple, pantry-friendly, beginner-level recipe is–it’s ideal for sandwiches, snacking, shredding, and so much more.
Click here for the full recipe.
Nut-Based Vegan Cheese Recipes
Vegan Parmesan Cheese by Jessica in the Kitchen
5 ingredients. 5 minutes. That’s all you need to make this delectable vegan cheese recipe! What’s more, it’s cheaper than traditional Parmesan yet will add just as much cheese flavor to your favorite pasta or salad, and it can be stored for up to 2 months (though we doubt you’ll resist the temptation to use the whole batch in the first couple of weeks!).
Click here for the full recipe.
Easy Vegan Ricotta Cheese 2 Ways by Lazy Cat Kitchen
If you’re not vegan yet, try giving the cows a break, and giving this vegan cheese recipe a go instead! Designed for the newbies in the world of homemade vegan cheese, all you’ll need to make this plant-based ricotta is a blender that will do most of the work for you, as well as some soaked cashews, plant milk/water, salt, and either lemon juice or a vegan probiotic capsule to give the cheese its typical tangy, funky taste. We’ll get into cultured vegan cheeses a little later in this article, but this is a great place to start!
Click here for the full recipe.
Melty Vegan Mozzarella Cheese by Okonomi Kitchen
Ever heard of vegan cheese made with rice? Well, it exists! We have to thank the culinary genius of Okonomi Kitchen for including not one, but two kinds of rice into her vegan cheese recipe: cooked rice and glutinous rice flour, which provide extra starch (meaning: extra stretchiness) to this delectable versatile plant-based mozz!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Cottage Cheese by Zucker & Jadgwurst
Cottage cheese is often overlooked in the eternal quest for a perfect go-to vegan cheese recipe, but if you used to enjoy its dairy counterpart, this vegan version by Zucker & Jagdwurst might be just what you’re looking for. The creamy part is made from a mix of blended cashews & plant milk, as well as some vegan yogurt, which adds a bit of tartness, and crumbled tofu is used for the “grainy” component. Yum!
Click here for the full recipe.
Macadamia Nut Queso Fresco by Dora’s Table
This vegan cheese recipe is simple and quick to make (effort-wise), so if you soak 1 cup of macadamia nuts today, you can be enjoying some delicious spreadable dairy-free cheese tomorrow! It’s perfect for a fruit and jam cheese plate, but also topped with a chipotle-pineapple salsa and some chips.
Click here for the full recipe.
Stretchy Vegan Cheese Dip by Anna Kot
You’ll love this melt-in-your-mouth, flavorful stretchy vegan cheese dip for how easy it is to whip up and how perfectly well it pairs with both sweet and savory chips as well as crudités. The stretch comes from adding tapioca starch in the mix and then heating it up gently, while the cheesy flavor punch comes from a little bit of lemon and vinegar, mustard, nooch, and smoked paprika!
Click here for the full recipe.
Baked Vegan Brie by Loving It Vegan
Rich, creamy, and loaded with flavor, this vegan cheese recipe by Loving It Vegan is reported to be better than its pale and bland dairy counterpart. The creamy base is provided by cashews, the umami kick comes from miso paste and nutritional yeast, and baking it takes it to the next level!
Click here for the full recipe.
Grateable Vegan Cheese by School Night Vegan
Meltable! Shreddable! Grateable! Is there anything this vegan cheese recipe is unable to do? We’ll let you find out for yourself. The ingredient list might seem intimidating at first, but hey – if you’ve made it this far on today’s list you’ve probably already familiarized yourself with things like lactic acid & kappa carrageenan powder (which are vegan and safe to eat), so that shouldn’t stop you from making your vegan cheese dreams come true!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Halloumi Cheese by @leeksnbeets
Halloumi cheese to Middle Eastern cuisine is kind of like what mozzarella is to Italian cuisine, and fried halloumi is like a Middle Eastern version of mozzarella sticks. Noha Elbadry-Cloud (aka @leeksnbeets on Instagram) put a lot of effort into developing an authentic vegan halloumi cheese recipe, and incorporated it in her Loaded Mediterranean Salad, featured in our Food Stories column, where Best of Vegan community members share recipes from their cultures and personal stories connected to those dishes.
Click here for the full recipe.
Maple Dijon Vegan Cheese Ball by Connoisseurus Veg
Made with cashew cheese flavored with Dijon mustard and a hint of maple syrup, this creamy, delicate pecan-studded cheese ball will be perfect for a festive plant-based cheeseboard that will impress your guests regardless of whether they are vegan!
Click here for the full recipe.
Easy Fermented Cashew Cheese by Panaceas Pantry
Fermentation fans, rejoice: you have arrived at the most intriguing part of today’s roundup! Cultured vegan cheeses, that is. The ingredients list for this particular recipe is incredibly short: all you’ll need, essentially, are raw cashews, and some sort of starter – sauerkraut brine, homemade kombucha, probiotic capsules, brine of any unpasteurized cultured vegetables (like kimchi), or even apple cider vinegar (with the mother). The nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and herbs are optional but welcome! This is one of the easiest fermented vegan cheese recipes out there, so if you’re new to this, be sure to give it a go!
Click here for the full recipe.
Cultured Cashew & Sunflower Seed Cheese by Seitan Beats Your Meat
One of the popular fermentation starters not mentioned above is rejuvelac – a fermented drink made from sprouted grains, that you can buy or make at home (Seitan Beats Your Meat provides a recipe for that as well). It’s the secret ingredient that will transform blended nuts and seeds into a thick, spreadable, and tangy cheese that’s perfect for impressing vegan cheese skeptics. Use it as a delicious cream cheese-type spread or even a dip!
Click here for the full recipe.
Vegan Blue Cheese (Artisan Roquefort) by Gourmet Vegetarian Kitchen
We close off today’s list with an incredibly impressive-looking vegan cheese recipe by Gourmet Vegetarian Kitchen that embraces the whole moldy aesthetic to the max and will make even dairy cheese aficionados take note. The worst part about this recipe is having to wait for the cheese to mature from 4 to 6 weeks (or more, if you like sharper flavor). But the best part about it is how immensely rewarding it is to know you have made this yourself, from start to finish!
Click here for the full recipe.
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Editor: Anna Kot.
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