Just 5 ingredients and 15 minutes to make (plus chilling time) and you can have a homemade vegan cheese recipe that is creamy, spreadable, and delicious! This quick & easy vegan cheese recipe is made with easy-to-find ingredients, is more affordable than store-bought cheese, and tastes so much better! Ready to experiment with making your own vegan cheese? Let's go!
Over the years I have posted a ton of delicious vegan cheese recipes. Some of the cheese are more complicated than others, and some are made using ingredients that are a little more difficult to source. So I decided it was time to go back to the basics and make the most perfect, super simple cheese recipe! Made from just cashews, coconut oil, salt, garlic, and my secret ingredient: olive brine (which makes it taste tangy and like it has been aged). You won't believe how amazing this tastes!
Plus, if you are feeling a little creative you can stir in freshly chopped herbs, lemon zest, crushed red pepper flakes, coarsely ground black pepper, or any other fun add-ins you can think of. In these pics I added fresh thyme leaves, lemon zest, and black pepper. These cheeses are freezer-friendly so I love to make 2 or more blocks at once and store them for later so that I have a delicious round of cheese anytime I desire.
Common questions about vegan cheese:
What is vegan cheese?
Traditional cheese is made from animal milk whereas vegan cheese is made from various nuts, seeds, soy, tapioca, oils, or other ingredients. In this recipe, the base of the cheese is made from raw cashews. See the recipe notes for other variations.
What is vegan cheese made of?
Raw cashews, refined coconut oil, olive brine, garlic, and salt. You can also optionally add in chopped fresh herbs, lemon zest, coarsely ground black pepper, or crushed red pepper flakes to jazz it up a little! Raw cashews are the base of the cheese which will make it smooth and creamy. Refined coconut oil will add richness and also make the cheese firm up in the fridge. Olive brine adds an aged tang to the cheese, and garlic and salt are flavor enhancers.
How to use this vegan cheese?
This quick & easy vegan cheese is best enjoyed as a snack. Serve with crackers or bread, spread the cheese on top, and enjoy! It's also fantastic dolloped onto a fresh bowl of pasta, crumbled over roasted vegetables, spread onto toast and topped with jams or fresh fruit, add to a salad, or amp up your vegan cheeseboard.
How to Make Vegan Cheese:
To start you will need to first soften your cashews so that they will be easier to blend until a smooth and creamy cheese.
Soften the cashews: Add the cashews to a medium pot and cover with water. Put over high heat and bring to a boil. Boil for about 10 minutes until the cashews are tender. Drain and rinse with cold water. Alternatively, you can soak the cashews, by placing the cashews in a bowl, covering them with water, and allowing the cashews to soak for a minimum of 6 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse before using.
Blend the cheese:Â Add the softened cashews to a food processor along with the coconut oil, olive brine, garlic, and salt. Blend until smooth, creamy, and sticky, stopping to scrape the sides as needed. You want to make sure you blend this very well so that it gets as smooth as possible. It will likely get warm when blending from the friction. I blend mine for about 5 minutes, stopping to scrape the sides.
Form the cheese: Line two molds (I used these), or two small bowls with a square of cheesecloth. Divide the cheese among the two cheesecloth-lined molds. If you are adding fresh herbs, sprinkle them over the cheese and then use a chopstick or something similar to swirl the herbs into the cheese.
I like to keep one cheese wheel of quick & easy vegan cheese plain with no add-ins, and the other wheel with added herbs. Smooth the top of the cheese with a spatula and then fold the cheesecloth over the cheese.
Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight until the cheese has firmed up. Unwrap and enjoy!
This cheese is...
- creamy
- tangy
- spreadable and melty
- 5 ingredients
- 15 minutes to make
- freezer-friendly
More delicious homemade vegan cheese recipes:
Easy Vegan Blue Cheese
Vegan Sunflower Seed Cheese
Vegan Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Cranberry Thyme Vegan Cheese Ball
Vegan Parmesan
Vegan Baked Brie in Puff Pastry
If you try this quick & easy vegan cheese recipe let us know by leaving a comment, rating it, and don't forget to tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram.
Bon appetegan!
Sam Turnbull.
Quick & Easy Vegan Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 cups raw cashews softened (see step 1)
- â…“ cup refined coconut oil melted
- 2 tablespoons green olive brine (the liquid in a jar of olives)
- 2 cloves garlic peeled
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- Optional add-ins: coarsely ground black pepper, lemon zest, crushed red pepper flakes, or chopped fresh herbs (such as thyme, dill, rosemary, parsley, or basil)
Instructions
- Soften the cashews:Â Add the cashews to a medium pot and cover with water. Put over high heat and bring to a boil. Boil for about 10 minutes until the cashews are tender. Drain and rinse with cold water. Alternatively, you can soak the cashews, by placing the cashews in a bowl, covering them with water, and allowing the cashews to soak for a minimum of 6 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse before using. Both of these methods will soften the cashews making them easier to blend into a creamy texture.
- Blend the cheese: Add the softened cashews to a food processor along with the coconut oil, olive brine, garlic, and salt. Blend until smooth, creamy, and sticky, stopping to scrape the sides as needed. You want to make sure you blend this very well so that it gets as smooth as possible. It will likely get warm when blending from the friction. I blend mine for about 5 minutes, stopping to scrape the sides.
- Form the cheese: Line two molds (I used these), or two small bowls with a square of cheesecloth. Divide the cheese among the two cheesecloth-lined molds. If you are adding fresh herbs, sprinkle them over the cheese and then use a chopstick or something similar to swirl the herbs into the cheese. I like to keep one cheese wheel plain, and the other with herbs. Smooth the top of the cheese with a spatula and then fold the cheesecloth over the cheese. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight until the cheese has firmed up. Unwrap and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
More cheesy vegan recipes you might enjoy...
Paula says
Mine is super oily. What did I do wrong?
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
Tough to say without being in the kitchen with you. Did you use coconut oil or an alternative?
Ross says
Is there a reason green olive brine is specified? Will black olive brine also work?
Sabina says
Probably because of the colour. Black olive brine is dark.
sadie says
Howdy,
This looks wonderful. I'm going to give it a try. Question: Would you say adding noosh would help with oomphing the cheese flavor factor? I will try irrespective, but I wanted to ask for your thoughts. Thank you for the inspo! 😀
sadie says
Well, I tried this. It's good. It's cheese-adjacent, I would say. The flavor is great (and super adjustable). The texture is super soft. Totally usable, and doable... but soft. Glad to add this to the roster!
Sam Turnbull says
It will just be a slightly different kind of cheese taste. Many of my other vegan cheese recipes contain nooch. 🙂
Heather says
I am currently doing an all nut, seed, fruit and vegetable detox cleanse with my dairy loving, carnivore husband...and we have been very limited to salads and smoothies. We are usually omnivore foodies, and he was losing his mind a bit. Sam, you are an absolute genius, and THIS HAS CHANGED EVERYTHING. I actually made mine in a blender (I also made the Bleu cheese and sharp cheddar) because I was so excited to start immediately. It was a lot of work, but it can be done...lots of scraping. My husband bought a food processor today because he loved the cheese so much!
I substituted Tahini with kelp flakes instead of miso paste for the "umami". We don't eat soy, and legumes in general aren't allowed on this detox so it makes finding delicious recipes a bit difficult. These cheeses turned out so amazing!!
I left one plain as you suggested and put red pepper flakes, cracked pepper, and lemon zest on the other.
Coffee filters instead of cheesecloth, worked pretty well, too.
I'm planning on making these quite often!! Thinking of adding some cherries to make a holiday gourmandaise kirsch.
Thanks so much!!
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful! So happy you loved the cheese! 🙂
Katya says
Hi!
I’ve made this a few times and love it but last couple of times the liquids wasn’t blending with the solids . It was super separated. And wasn’t blending together.. any suggestions?
Sam Turnbull says
Did you soften your cashews and did you keep blending? It works every time for me. Maybe try blending longer. The cheese will get warm and sticky and gooey when it is blending properly. Enjoy!
Peggy says
Looks delish. I will be making this tomorrow. QUESTION: Can I use a few capers along with the brine? What do you think?
Galya says
Do you have to use a food processor? How about a high-speed blender?
Sam Turnbull says
I think the mixture will be too thick for a blender and will not mix well.
kate says
There is no need to boil the cashews. simply soak them over night,
or four hours, etc. if you soak instead of boil, then the cashews are
uncooked ( if you get the good cashews that are cold processed, such as Divine Organics) . You could put them in warm water to soak, and it would speed up the soaking....
Nina says
I am going to make this tonight.
Do we have to use cheesecloth, or will just oiling a mould work?
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Nina, see the recipe notes for cheesecloth alternatives. I think the cheese would stick if you just used oil so best to use some kind of wrap. 🙂
Kaki Robinson says
I like this cheese. Very easy to make. Delicious spread. I added some red pepper flakes and fresh flat leaf parsley. Will definitely make again with other hen combinations. Maybe add some diced green olives to some of it
Sam Turnbull says
Happy you enjoyed Kaki!
Charo says
Hi,
I love to try this. How many days/weeks can I keep it in the fridge?
Thanks
Charo
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Charo, the cheese can be kept wrapped in the fridge for up to a week or it can be frozen.Â
Pauline says
I used to enjoy cream cheese cubes marinated in olive oil with sundried tomatoes, cracked peppercorns, lemon zest, minced garlic and fresh rosemary. I cubed half of this up and mixed it up with the marinade and it is amazing. Thanks for bringing back this option for me!!!
Sam Turnbull says
Aww that's wonderful! You're most welcome 🙂
Gail Holm says
I made this last night and served it today to my non-vegan friends and they loved it. I put in extra garlic and a bit of onion powder for seasoning and it was amazing. Will definitely be a staple for me now
Sam Turnbull says
Aww that's wonderful! So happy you loved it, Gail 🙂
Bernadette Montano says
Hi Sam, Do you need to use cheesecloth? I don’t have any and wondering what I can substitute. Thanks!
Sam Turnbull says
You could use a clean dish cloth, wax wrap, plastic wrap, or anything like that. The cheesecloth does help dry it out slightly but otherwise it should be pretty similar 🙂
Walt says
Silly question, but is there anything I can substitute for olive brine. I don't eat olives. So it would be nice to be able to use something else.
Meg says
I believe another of Sam's recipes suggest adding sauerkraut or sauerkraut juice. I've tried that and it's very tasty. Light colored miso paste can also give good flavor to vegan cheeses.
Walt says
Thanks! I have both sauerkraut (and its juice) and miso paste. So I'll have to try one of those.
Sherry says
I use a pinch of sauerkraut in many vegan 'cheeze' recipes for the tang. You could also sub white vinegar or lemon juice, but it won't have the same depth of flavor as olive brine or sauerkraut.
Suzy says
Might be a silly question, but would dill pickle juice work?
Sam Turnbull says
Hmmm it might taste pickle-y... but maybe that would be nice?
susan says
I often substitute capers for olives and I think that brine would work well also, though I haven't made this YET!
Sam Turnbull says
Sauerkraut, lemon juice, white miso paste, apple cider vinegar, caper brine will all work. Of coruse they will all provide different tastes but will still be nice 🙂