The Stretchy Vegan Mozzarella Cheese of your dreams, made with just 5 ingredients and in 15 minutes! Perfect for grilled cheese, lasagna, pizza and more!
Meet the vegan mozzarella cheese of your dreams! Stretchy, tangy and oh-so-delicious. 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!
This cheese also makes a mouthwatering vegan grilled cheese sandwich, which I love alongside tomato soup. Talk about an easy meal that kids and grown-ups will love!
I’m sure you could use this vegan mozzarella in many more ways that I haven’t even discovered yet. I’m thinking french onion soup, eggplant parmesan, quesadillas, dips… The possibilities are endless.
How do you make Vegan Mozzarella?
It’s very easy. First, you soak your cashews in hot water for 5 minutes (or up to an hour). Drain them, and add to a high powered blender with all the other ingredients. Blend; the mixture will be very watery.
Add to a small saucepan and stir constantly over medium heat. After a few minutes, it will start to get clumpy. Keep stirring. And then all of a sudden it magically turns into smooth, stretchy vegan mozzarella! That’s it, it’s ready to use.
How to brown vegan mozzarella in the oven:
I’ve discovered something new lately about this cheese. It will totally brown and bubble in the oven, like real mozzarella would! Simply spray the cheese with a little oil (I used olive oil spray), and broil for 5-10 minutes in the oven. I spread some cheese on sourdough bread and broiled it, and wow, it was incredible cheesy bread. I think this would work on top of casseroles (like lasagna), pizza and more.
What is tapioca starch and where can I find it?
Tapioca flour is a starch extracted from cassava. Tapioca starch and flour are usually the same thing, but not always.
It’s a white powder and works similarly to cornstarch as a thickener. The difference is it’s the key to making cheeses like this stretchy instead of just thickened. It’s absolutely necessary and perfect for making this vegan mozzarella.
How to use vegan mozzarella:
- Grilled Cheese – Spoon the cheese between two slices of (vegan) buttered bread and grill for a fantastic grilled cheese.
- Pizza – Spoon dollops of cheese on top of pizza crust along with other toppings of choice and cook as you normally would. You can also try to spread it all over the pizza (this works best when the mozzarella is very fresh).
- Lasagna – Spoon the cheese all over the top of the lasagna in the last 20 minutes of baking in the oven. Bake uncovered with the cheese, and broil if desired to brown in spots.
- Anywhere else you’d like! Dip chips into it, make quesadillas, in enchiladas, etc.
Recipe adapted from Minimalist Baker.
EASY Stretchy Vegan Mozzarella Cheese
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked
- 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
Instructions
- 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.
- Drain the cashews, and add them to a blender along with 1 1/3 cups fresh water (not the water you soaked the cashews in), lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, salt and tapioca starch. Blend until very smooth, scraping down the sides of the blender as needed. It will be very watery at this point.
- Now pour the watery mixture into a small saucepan and bring the heat to medium. Begin to stir with a spatula or spoon.
- 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.
- Use immediately, or store in a covered container in the refrigerator. It is easiest to use immediately, because it will thicken up more in the fridge and be less stretchy. So if possible, especially for using on pizza or lasagna, make right before using.
- For pizza, drop 1-2 tablespoon sized balls onto the crust and pat down a little bit. Or spread it all over. It will brown in the oven. For lasagna, drop dollops of the cheese all over the top towards the end of cooking time. Or place between bread and grill for grilled cheese.
Video
Notes
- Tapioca starch/flour is essential in this recipe, cornstarch will not create the same "stretchy" quality.
- I've never tried it with another nut, but I suspect raw slivered almonds could work.
- If you want the cheese to brown in the oven (like it looks on the bread in the post above), simply spray with a little oil and broil for 5-10 minutes, watching carefully. This is wonderful for lasagna, pizza, or just atop bread for cheesy bread.
- I have frozen this and while it is still edible, it definitely tastes best fresh. It will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. But again, it will be the most stretchy and easy to work with immediately.
Approximately how long do you stir it? I can’t tell if it’s finished. It hasn’t become one big blob, but it’s stopped changing. It’s really thick. Do you have a picture of what it should look like when done? And then what do you do? Wait for it to cool in the pan? Remove from pan immediately? I just don’t have the best cooking instincts.
You’ll know you can stop stirring when it looks smooth and stretchy (it should take about 10 minutes or so). The process photos in the post above will show you what the texture should look like. After that, it’s best if you use the cheese immediately or transfer it to a container to store in the fridge (while it’s still hot). I hope this helps!
Well I just made this recipe for the third time in a week. It’s a winner! We loved it in quesadillas and grilled cheeze sandwiches so far. Pizza will be next!
Do you think the ingredients could be blended ahead of time & then held in the fridge before the heating step?
I plan to make a lasagna for guests, baking it while they’re here…& any prep I can do ahead of time would be helpful.
I’m thinking I’d then heat the cheeze to bring it to its stretchy texture as the lasagna is baking & dollop it on toward the end of baking time as you suggest.
Hi Donna. Your meal sounds delicious! Yes, you can blend the cheese ahead of time, then warm up later. Hope that helps!
This turned out amazingly
That’s so great! Thank you for sharing your feedback!
Can you sub white beans for the cashews?
I’ve never tried it so it’s hard for me to say, sorry!
This was fantastic! I made a double batch of it to go with your vegan lasagna recipe, and it was ??. I thought that I had tapioca starch in the pantry, but I didn’t! So I decided to try half potato starch and half corn starch, and it worked great! The flavor was good, it was gooey and stretchy, and it browned very nicely on top of my lasagna. Thank you, Nora!
Hi Emily. You are welcome! I’m so glad the cheese turned out great for you! It sounds so good on your lasagna! Thanks for sharing your wonderful feedback!
I really like this recipe. I’ve added extra tapioca flour to it before, and it firms up in the fridge enough that you can slice it for sandwiches. I’m a lone vegan in an omnivore household, and I do all the cooking. So finding recipes like this that everyone likes crucial to keeping the peace. Thanks for sharing!
I’m so happy this recipe can help you keep the peace at home, Jessie! It can be hard to be the lone vegan sometimes but having the right recipes definitely helps! Thanks so much for your wonderful feedback and review 🙂
This recipe sounds amazing. I’m assembling the ingredients and plan to try it out this week. I’m single and only need about 1/4 cup of “cheese” for any single meal. Can I blend the ingredients on day one, keep the mix in the frig and cook up 1/4 of the mix at a time over a week or a two week period?
Hmm I think that will work, I’ve just never tested it to know for sure.
freeze it. you get the added bonus of being able to flake it with a cheese grater when frozen
To give it a little more cheesy essence, I made my second batch with an added 4-5 Tbsp of nutritional yeast. Tastes great either way. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
You are welcome! I’m thrilled you love the cheese! Thanks for sharing your great feedback!
I looove this recipe and use it all the time!! I suspect I would be struggling a lot more with my commitment to veganism if it weren’t for awesome recipes like this one. If anyone can’t find tapioca starch, I ground up Kraft Minit Tapioca in a coffee grinder and used that instead – it works great!
Hi Laura. I sure love vegan cheese choices as well! I’m thrilled you’re loving my cheese recipe! Thanks for sharing your wonderful feedback and great idea!
I find tapioca starch at my local Asian market. Tapioca flour or starch, it’s the same thing
Do you think this would work using cashew flour soaked and drained in cheese cloth? I’m not sure my blender can purée the nuts as thoroughly as I’d like.
I have never not made this recipe with blended nuts and seeds, so I’m not sure soaked cashew flour would work quite the same.
Would it be possible with cashew flour to forego the shaking and just add the ingredients together in the blender and just follow the directions from there? If the cashews are already pulverized, no need to soak, because the consistency would already be there I’ve YouMail add the water… just a thought.
I think it’s worth a try! But I haven’t tested this method, so I’m unable to say for sure.
HI Nora!
Can arrowroot be used instead of the tapioca starch? Thank you! Excited to try this recipe:)
Hi Meagan. No, I don’t think that substitution will work. Tapioca is what gives it that cheesy stretchiness. Arrowroot will just make it a little thick, but not cheesy.
Can this be made into mozzarella sticks in an air fryer? or pan fried mozzarella sticks?
No, not really. It stays too soft. For mozzarella sticks and a firm vegan cheese, try my Shreddable Vegan Mozzarella. Happy cooking!
Hi. Do you think I could substitute lemon for the ACV? or any other non vinegar substitute? Thanks! I am hoping I can try this recipe!.
Sure, an extra tablespoon of lemon juice should be fine!
Yummy! I think next time will skip the vinegar. Not a big fan. Otherwise very tasty. Thanks for this.
You are welcome! So glad you like the cheese! Yes, adjust or omit the vinegar to your taste preference! Thanks for sharing your positive review and feedback!
Quick question:
Once it has cooled, can you grate it like a soft mozzarella?
I have done it before and it works okay, but it’s pretty soft.
I have a huge batch of pre-blended cashews and I am unsure of how much of it to use. I’m normally the kind of cook who eyeballs stuff but I’ve never made this before so kind of wanted to follow along with your recipe. How much pre blended cashews would you use? I know that’s a difficult question to guess on since o do know the consistency so feel free to tell me to just guess and I will lol!
You could try blending 1 1/2 cups of the pre-blended cashew cream with lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, salt, and tapioca starch. It might be off because I don’t know how much water you used in your mixture but you’ll know if it didn’t work if the heated mixture doesn’t become gooey, stretchy, or smooth in the pot. I hope this helps!
Didn’t care for this recipe it was flavorless. Surprised that there weren’t any spices, nutritional yeast… I will not be making this again.
Love love love love yor recipes. Sharing with my mum and brothers who are strict vegan.
I have acid reflux disease so can I leave the vinegar out and just use a smaller amount of lemon juice as well? Or is it crucial to the recipe 🙂 thanks
You can absolutely do that, it’s not crucial to the recipe. It just adds more tang, but it will be fine if you omit the vinegar and even add less lemon juice. Enjoy!
I’m making your vegan lasagna and it says to double this. I was hoping to just buy some vegan parm and mozerella and am curious about quantity? Does this make a cup? Two cups? Etc?!
Thank you!!
This recipe makes a little over 2 cups of cheese, so you’ll need about 4 cups of storebought vegan cheese.
My daughter is allergic to ALL nuts & sunflower seeds. Makes plant based cooking very difficult. Is there any substitute you think I could try for the cashews in this mozzarella recipe?
I can imagine how difficult that would be, Donna! Unfortunately, I’ve only ever made the cheese with cashews, raw slivered almonds, and sunflower seeds before. You could try using silken tofu instead but I’m not sure it will work as well.
There are nut-free recipes around, I’ve made something similar to this with unsweetened soy milk and yogurt (found recipe online too, look for “stringy melting nut-free vegan cheese” 😉 )
I used Bob’s red mill vegan egg replacer instead of tapioca starch and it worked out just fine!
Thanks for you feedback, Esther! I’m glad the cheese turned out great for you!
Hi Nora! I just made this tonight to top on your vegan lasagna recipe. The lasagna’s not ready so I have yet to post a review over there, but this vegan moazrella is superb! While blending it I was suffering (I hate the scent of apple cider vinegar haha) but after it’s been stirred in a saucepan, it really is so similar to dairy mozarella. The gooiness is wonderful, the texture is spot on, the apple cider smell is pretty much all gone, and the taste is quite lovely as well. I normally hate cheese! I cannot believe how much I’m in love with this. Bless you for this wonderful recipe. I did see your note about using it for grilled cheese and pizza, but I was wondering if you have any other easy recipes that could help me make use of the remaining mozarella?
This is so great to hear, Minnie! You can use the leftover cheese in quesadillas, as a dipping sauce, melted on eggplant parmesan, or on skillet enchiladas. Hope this helps!
This was so easy to make, and very tasty as well! I was a bit unsure about how it would turn out, and I needed a small amount for a flatbread pizza, so I halved it! I was pleasamtly surprised at how quickly it came together and how wonderful it tasted! Thank you for sharing this recipe with us!
FYI for you and others. I purchase my tapioca starch at Asian stores. It is very inexpensive there. I use it to thicken pies.
Hi Lenore. Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback and ideas! I’m so glad that you loved the cheese!
Hi – I wanted to try to make your vegan lasagna while camping in a dutch oven – do you think I could blend this ahead of time and then cook it until it’s thickened there? Also do you think I could just cook your lasagna in a dutch oven over a fire?
I’ve never tried cooking the lasagna in a dutch oven over a fire, but I kinda think it would work! Yes, you can blend the cheese ahead of time, then warm up later. Hope that helps!