The Vegan Mozzarella Cheese of your dreams, made with just 5 ingredients and in 15 minutes! SO stretchy, gooey and delicious. Perfect on top of lasagna, pizza or anywhere else you want to use it!
Meet the vegan mozzarella cheese of your dreams! Stretchy, tangy and oh-so-delicious cheese. I love using this mozzarella on pizza and my new favorite place for it is on top of Vegan Lasagna. Oh my goodness, it takes the lasagna to a whole new level of amazing!
My family has pizza night every Friday and I almost always make the dough. It’s kind of a big deal (especially to the kids!) Sometimes I make tempeh sausage crumbles, we always top it with various veggies and until recently we have used some kind of store bought vegan cheese shreds. But we have disagreements on this, which brand is the best. We all have different opinions!
But now, we have this homemade vegan mozzarella, and low and behold, everybody likes it! And I save money, because that vegan cheese is pricey at $5-6 per bag. Woo hoo!
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How do you make Vegan Mozzarella?
It’s very easy. First, you soak your cashews in hot water for 5 minutes. Drain them, and add to a high powered blender with all the other ingredients. Blend; the mixture will be very watery. Add to a saucepan like this:
Stir constantly over medium heat. After a few minutes, it will start to get clumpy.
And then all of a sudden it magically turns into smooth, stretchy vegan mozzarella! That’s it, it’s ready to use.
What is tapioca starch and where can I find it?
You can read more about tapioca flour/starch here at Bob’s Red Mill. Tapioca starch and flour are usually the same thing, but not always. It’s made from the crushed pulp of the cassava root.
It’s a white powder and works similarly to cornstarch as a thickener. It’s absolutely necessary and perfect for making this vegan mozzarella. If you don’t see it in your local store, you can order it on Amazon here. It’s pretty inexpensive, and 1 bag will last you a long, long time.
If you make this recipe, let me know how it goes! Rate it & leave a comment below. Enjoy!
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Recipe adapted from Minimalist Baker.
- 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked (see instructions)
- 1 1/3 cups water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, fresh from about 1/2 lemon
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons tapioca starch
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Boil 2 cups of water (I just heat up water in my tea kettle). Pour the water over the cashews and let soak for 5 minutes and up to an hour.
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Drain the cashews, and add them to a high powered blender along with all the other ingredients. Blend until very smooth, scraping down the sides of the blender as needed. It will be very watery at this point.
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Now pour the watery mixture into a small saucepan and bring the heat to medium. Begin to stir with a wooden spoon or whisk.
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After a few minutes, it will begin to get clumpy. Keep stirring, constantly until suddenly it will become super gooey, stretchy, thick and smooth. It will become one big mass of stretchy vegan cheese. Remove from heat as soon as this happens.
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Use immediately on lasagna or pizza, or store in a bowl with a lid for later. For pizza, drop 1-2 tablespoon sized balls onto the crust and pat down a little bit. It will brown in the oven. For lasagna, drop dollops of the cheese all over the top.
- Tapioca starch/flour is essential in this recipe, cornstarch will not work.
I didn’t get it to form an actual ball is that what I am aiming for? Cooked at least 10 mins at the end boil? Thanks
Sorry for any confusion Ellen! I changed the wording in the instructions to hopefully make the process a little more clear. It doesn’t exactly form a perfect “ball”. It’s more of a big mass of gooey, stretchy cheese. It should look like it does in the photo with the spoon. That’s when it’s done and perfect for using. From there you simply scoop spoonfuls and put it on your pizza or lasagna. I hope that helps!
Hi Nora,
Will this only work with nuts? Have you ever tried it with anything else, like chick peas perhaps? I’m asking because my family has nut allergies.
I haven’t tried it with chickpeas, I’m not sure how that would go honestly! The creamy, richness from the cashews is really what makes it so good. I would recommend one of the shredded vegan cheeses you can buy at the store, such as daiya, OR if you don’t want to eat that, you could try one of the potato-carrot-cheese sauces like this one.
I love this on our pizza and the lasagna.
Can I make this the day before I put it on lasagna?
You could make the cheese the day before putting it on lasagna, though I think it looks nicer and smoother if you make it right before topping the lasagna with it. But it’s totally possible, the cheese just gets a little more firm and less stretchy sitting the the fridge for a day.
Would arrowroot work?
No it wouldn’t work the same, sorry! Tapioca starch creates the stretchy quality of the “cheese” that I don’t believe arrowroot (or cornstarch) does.
Does this not require nutritional yeast for the cheesy taste?
No, it does not, though it wouldn’t ruin it to add some in. I like it without; tastes more like a white mozzarella that way. I’m working on a cheddar though, and for that I will use nutritional yeast. 🙂
Hi, will this work with arrow root powder instead? Thank you!
I haven’t tried it, but I don’t think it would work. The tapioca gives the stretchy consistency, where arrowroot and cornstarch simply thicken.
This is just fantastic! Thank you for sharing your recipes! I made a double batch and tried it on pizza today and everyone in my family was blown away. Way better than any other vegan cheese we’ve had yet 🙂 Do you know if freezing. It is ok? Just wondering if maybe it could be shredded if frozen…
Thanks Sarah! I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed this cheese so much. We love it on pizza, too! I’ve never tried freezing it, so I’m not really sure. That would be a good experiment!
Your recipe is simple and easy with ingredients easily found in any supermarket. I made spinach and mushroom lasagna roll ups with the vegan mozzarella. Vegans and omnivores couldn’t tell the difference.
That sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing.