You can make it in 5 minutes, and use it on pizza, toast, and oven-baked pasta. It’s perfect on food that goes in the oven, as it melts like mozzarella cheese. Check out our best Italian recipe collection!
Ingredients and substitutions
Soy milk: use unsweetened soy milk. Unsweetened soy milk is the best choice because it’s neutral in taste and because of its nutrient composition. It will make the best, creamiest, vegan cheese. You can replace soy milk with unsweetened oat milk although the cheese will be slightly less stringy. I also think you could use other unsweetened non-dairy milk, like cashews milk, but I have not tried personally so can’t vouch for it. Tapioca starch: perfect to give a creamy, yet stringy and melty texture to this plant-based cheese. If you can’t find tapioca starch, you can replace it with corn starch and potato starch mixed together. The corn starch makes the cheese creamy, the potato starch makes it stringy. I write the exact quantities in the recipe box at the bottom of the page. Olive oil: we have also tried other vegetable oils, but extra virgin olive oil produces a vegan cheese with a richer flavor. Nutritional yeast: to add that cheesy flavor. Salt: to add taste. Soy yogurt: plain, unsweetened soy yogurt is best for this vegan cheese recipe. Soy yogurt adds a little tanginess and that sourish note present in most real cheese. It also helps with texture and creaminess, so it is a key ingredient. I have not tested this recipe with other types of dairy-free yogurts, so I am not sure if it works with those. My guess is that it could work, but the flavor would change slightly. If you try, do let me know in the comment section below. Lemon: to add acidity. Some people don’t like the tangy flavor. So go easy with it if it’s the first time you do it. Start with a tablespoon and add more if you like.
Variations
Questions
Storage
Before storing, make sure your vegan cheese has cooled down to room temperature. Then store in a bowl, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. We do not recommend freezing it.The cheese will clump together when in the refrigerator. This is fine. It will still be perfectly spreadable and delicious, and it will melt again once you warm it up.You can also give it a more traditional cheese shape by putting it in a cheese mold. You can purchase those online for a few bucks. If you are looking for other amazing cheese recipes check out our vegan ricotta cheese, also made without nuts, our vegan parmesan made with almonds, and our vegan white sauce, which is technically not a cheese, but it’s still crazy creamy. On your stovetop, on medium heat, warm up the liquid, while stirring continuously with a whisk. Keep stirring until the liquid becomes very thick and gluey.Turn the heat off and keep stirring vigorously for another minute to cool it down slightly. Now add the soy yogurt and the lemon juice and stir with the whisk. Stir gently at first, to incorporate the yogurt with the other ingredients. Once incorporated stir fast and vigorously for a minute or so, until the cheese becomes smooth, creamy, and stringy. Your vegan cheese is ready and you can use it straight away, put it in a cheese mold to give it more of a cheese shape, or just store it in a bowl in the fridge, with a lid on.The cheese will thicken in the fridge, that’s normal. It will melt again when you heat it up. Melt it on breadThat’s awesome for a quick starter, or even as an easy dinner. Spread the cheese on a slice of bread, then put it in the oven with the broiler on and wait a couple of minutes until it gets all melty and slightly charred. Serve with a pinch of salt and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. On pizza or flatbreadDid you see our flatbread pizza with this vegan melted cheese and tomatoes on top? It’s one of the best vegan recipes we’ve ever made. It’s so tasty and delicious. It melts perfectly and paired with tomatoes, basil, oregano, and olive oil is just delicious. In an Italian PiadinaPiadina is an Italian flatbread similar to Mexican tortillas. It’s one of the most popular street foods in Italy, especially during spring and summer, and it’s usually filled with stracchino cheese and arugula. Our vegan cheese recipe is perfect for piadina with arugula. It’s definitely one of our favorite quick lunches.
With thin Italian focacciaA delicacy from northern Italy in the region of Liguria, and the town of Recco. This is thin focaccia filled with stracchino, an Italian soft cheese. We made a vegan version of focaccia di Recco using our melted vegan cheese and it turned out absolutely incredible.
In pasta bakesWant a cheesy yet dairy-free pasta bake? Combine this recipe with our vegan ricotta cheese and with our vegan parmesan cheese for max flavor, perfect texture, and a pasta bake that even the most committed cheese eaters will absolutely love.
With oven-baked veggiesChopped and roasted cauliflower, oven-baked broccoli, oven-baked carrots, Brussels sprouts, and mixed veggies. You can add this cheese on top 5 minutes before they are done baking. It’ll melt and char slightly on top.
Optionally, to make your vegan queso dip more interesting, you can add 1 teaspoon of chili powder or black pepper, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika, and/or 1 teaspoon of hot sauce. Adjust the quantities of these ingredients based on your taste.Blend at high speed until you get a smooth, silky, and creamy vegan cheese sauce. You might have to adjust the thickness by adding more liquid.Taste, adjust for salt, lemon, and spices, and you are done. This way you’ll get a vegan cheese sauce that you can use not only with Mexican food but also with pasta and fries. For many more side dish ideas, check out our sides category page.
