This is my love language.
Ooey, gooey, stretchy, melty, where have you been all my life- vegan mozzarella. I'm pretty sure I just made all my vegan dreams come true. I made this recipe four times this week, FOUR. That's how amazing this is. Just dip some tortilla chips in this bad boy and welcome to heaven.
You can also use this anywhere you would like a melty mozzarella experience, which is, um, everywhere! Let's see... pizza, lasagna, grilled cheese, dips, the possibilities of deliciousness are endless.
I haven't even gotten to some of the best news yet. This takes only 7 ingredients, one of them being water. It takes only 15 minutes to make, AND it doesn't even have any oils or "bad stuff". Can you tell I'm excited? I'm SO excited.
So what makes it stretchy and gooey. Tapioca! Who knew right? It's the main ingredient in Daiya, a well-known brand of vegan cheese, and I found that Somer McCowan from the blog Vedged Out also used tapioca starch in her Fresh Moxarella Cheese. She is one smart cookie, er.. well some smart cheese, because she knew what was up. I adapted her original recipe to make a mozzarella that suited my own taste buds but be sure to try her original recipe and check out her blog. So many delicious vegan recipes to be had!
Back to tapioca. Tapioca provides this amazing stretchy, melty quality that any good vegan cheese deserves. It is an absolute must for this recipe. Any other starch will make a thick sauce, but only tapioca will give it that stretch. If you can't find it in stores you can pick it up on Amazon here.
This recipe will stay in a melty stretchy state, even when cold, but if you are looking for a grate-able cheese, try my recipe for The Best Vegan Mozzarella.
To make melty stretchy gooey vegan mozzarella:
To make Melty Stretchy Gooey Vegan Mozzarella: Boil the cashews for 10 minutes until softened. Then toss into the blender with the remaining ingredients, and blend until completely smooth. It will be very watery, don't worry, it will get cheesy!
Pour it in a small sauce pan, and heat over medium-high heat. Stir to keep anything from burning. You will start to see clumps forming.
Then all of a sudden, magic! Everything comes together and makes this cheesy, melty, deliciousness. Keep stirring and cooking for another minute or two, to make sure it's finished firming up. It should take about 5 minutes to cook total. That's it! Done. So easy.
If you want to save it for later, store in an air tight container in the fridge. It won't firm up like a hard cheese, it will stay pretty soft, but let's get real, who needs hard mozzarella anyways?
Serve as a dip, spread onto some toast, dollop onto pizza, do whatever your creative cooking spirit tells you. Don't worry if you eat it all in one sitting (cause I would never do that), you can always make more.
Bon appetegan!
Sam.
Melty Stretchy Gooey Vegan Mozzarella
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw cashews, softened (see step 1)
- 1 cup water
- 3 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour)
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
Softening the cashews:
- Softening the cashews first helps them blend. If you have a high-powered blender you may be able to skip this step, but if not, this step is important to get a smooth cheese. You can either boil or soak the cashews. To boil the cashews (the fast method): add the cashews to a small pot, cover with water, and boil for about 10 minutes until the cashews are very tender. To soak the cashews: add the cashews to a bowl, and cover with water. Let soak for 4 hours or overnight until tender. Drain and rinse cashews before using.
To make the vegan mozzarella:
- Add the cashews along with the 1 cup of water and all the remaining ingredients to a blender. Blend until completely smooth. It will be very watery.
- Pour into a small saucepan and put over medium-high heat. Continually stir. The cheese will start forming clumps, keep stirring and it will continue clumping until the mixture turns from watery to a thicker melty cheese sauce. This takes about 5 minutes. Serve hot or allow to cool and store in an air-tight container in the fridge for 2 - 3 days. The cheese will get thicker as it cools but will stay in a melty state.
Notes
*If you want to return the cold mozzarella back to dipping consistency, reheat over medium heat while stirring constantly so it doesn't burn. Once it is hot and bubbling it might have thickened up too much. You can thin it out by adding a splash of water at a time, stirring it in until desired consistency is reached.
*To ensure a smooth cheese, you may also want to pour the liquid through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth before cooking to remove any cashew bits that didn't grind up. This will ensure a smooth cheese texture.
Nutrition
Leslie says
So good and easy!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay!!
Donna says
You are a superstar! Thank you for all of your amazing recipes. Keep on rockin!
Iodine says
Cannot believe how easy and delicious this recipe is. I used my NutriBullet and didn’t need to strain the cheeze. This was my first time using tapioca flour, and it was mesmerizing watching the mozzarella coagulate. Thanks!
Jayne says
I made this and really liked it. My Dh not so much.
It makes a lot, so I ended up having to freeze it, twice! The first time it bounced back nicely in the microwave, the second time I had to add a little water and mix it with a whisk over heat for a bit.
I added a bit to my vegan mac and cheese and it made the dish very creamy and cheesy. Definitely a keeper. Thank you!
Kristin says
This cheese is insanely easy and insanely delicious! I made a margarita pizza with this and it was probably the best vegan pizza I've ever had. I will make this over and over, for sure.
Beaudi Gibbons says
Hi, I have an allergy to nuts, therefore, can't use the cashews in the recipe, Is there something I can substitute it for?
Maureen Cram says
I have used sunflower seeds when I make it for my daughter who doesn't eat cashews.
Chrissy says
My daughter is allergic to cashew and peanuts. I just used hemp seeds and it’s delicious! I did add some more ACV and salt . I’m not sure if that’s my flavor preference or if it had to do with the hemp seeds. Yummy recipe!!
Kristin says
How did it turn out with the sunflower seeds?
Maureen Cram says
Forgot to say she loved it using the sunflower seeds.Slightly darker in color but tasted great.
WritingWyo says
If you use this on pizza or lasagna, do you put it on before you bake it or after? I just found a great vegan ricotta recipe and would love to make a lasagna
Sam Turnbull says
Before you bake. Enjoy!
WritimgWyo says
Awesome! I've made it once, and it was amazing! My omnivore husband approved, so it looks like lasagna is in my future! I've been recommending your website and plan to try more recipes. Might buy the cookbooks too. Thanks for the great resource!
Anissa says
My family really loves this recipe. We make it all of the time. We never have tapioca starch on hand, so we just substitute with corn starch, throw everything in a bowl and microwave for speed.
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful!
Robert says
I made it and it's pretty good. The closet thing I can find to real cheese. Better than what is sold in stores. Now I can make a pizza or lasagna once in a while. Thank you.
Meg says
Fantastic recipe. Substitute slivered almonds if I am in a hurry as all they need is a quick soak in hot water to blend smoothly. The almond version tastes a little more "ricotta" like (but obviously without the ricotta texture). The cashew version is a much better choice when replicating cheese, but wanted to throw out the almond version out there as I saw some people commenting about it.
Also, I did not want to comment on this but I can't help myself. I would not have found this recipe if it weren't for your blog. If you are in the blogging world, sharing is caring, as there literally are billions of recipes all very similar. All about finding your own take. I've seen similar recipes to this elsewhere, but this one is the easiest to access, and has the clearest instructions. Thank you for your post, and thanks to everyone else who contributes to providing easy, free recipes to vegans.
Marna Scarpaci says
What's up to every one, since I am really eager of reading this webpage's post to be updated daily. It contains nice information.
Stephanie says
I followed this exactly and its very gummy and unpleasant. Any ideas where I went wrong as all other reviews are positive!!! I've tried loosening with more water but gummy texture remains.
B says
I've been having the same difficulty. I still like the flavor but I have to fight with it to get it on pizza. I'm thinking I need to use less tapioca starch?
Annie says
This recipe is amazing for its ease of making and versatility. I use an icing bag to spread it out on pizza or lasagna.
All non-dairy cheeses fail to live up to the real thing until you stop insisting that they taste the same as dairy cheese. If the gummy texture is a major turn-off and you want it to taste more like the real thing then you may need to spend more time making a cultured cheese. It's a pain, but doable.