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.
Ohhh my God this is the best Mozarella cheese,,,,I love it !,, I have no words to express you Nora for sharing this excellent recipe……believe nothing to miss the other Moza cheese (animal) this vegan cheese it taste much better that the other one.fantastic!!!
Thank you, thank you ,thank you .
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I’m so glad that you love the cheese! Thank you for taking time to share your kind review!
How long does this last in the fridge?
Can you freeze it? thanks
I have frozen this and while it is still edible, it definitely tastes best fresh. Make sure you cool it completely before freezing. It will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. It will be the most stretchy and easy to work with when used immediately.
Hi. Can I just check if tapioca flour is the same as tapioca starch? Thanks.
Hi Louise. Yes, tapioca starch is also sometimes called tapioca flour.
Thanks again Nora, have tried a few dif recipes for mozza, yours was best so far. Ever think of writing a cookbook? Im sure you have, Id buy it .Just letting you know.bye now
i forgot to rate this, also yes, I used arrowroot starch in place of tapioca also, was fine
Thank you so much Kaye! I really want to write a cookbook, and I hope to some day soon! I’m glad you enjoyed the cheese, thanks!
Thanks for the recipe! I used arrowroot starch because I didnt have tapioca and it worked just fine!
Glad to hear that, thanks!
Made this amazing cheese this morning, spread it on sliced bread, topped it with fresh tomatoes and grilled in the oven. Yum! Thank you Nora!
That sounds so delicious, grilled in the oven with fresh tomatoes! Thank you for sharing your review, and I’m glad you love the cheese!
I loved super easy and healthy food
Thanks a lot for sharing your review! I’m glad you love the cheese!
Just too Good
Thanks Ketan!
This was pretty good, so much like real mozzarella and it made a lot of cheese! I think I’m going to try adding nutritional yeast next time or other flavor enhancers.
Thank you for sharing your review, Amber! I’m glad you liked the cheese!
Made vegan lasagna and put this on it without telling my wife and she loved it. This is the best cheese replacement for melted cheese flavor I have tried. I cant wait to try it on pizza.
Thank you for sharing your review, Scott! I’m glad you love the cheese. I love it on pizza! Happy cooking!
Used this Vegan Mozzarella to top the Best Vegan Lasagne recipe. It was so quick and easy. I can see myself using this recipe for so many things. Tasted and melted like real cheese. Definitely a great addition to the lasagne. I usually buy Dayia cheese as my cheese substitute. Now that I have this I will be a buying a lot less of that!
Hi Denise! I”m so glad that you love the cheese! Thank you for taking time to share your review!
oh my Goodness , I am so happy to bump onto your sight. My daughter has gone from vegetarian to vegan, and loves italian food. so this is great!!
Welcome to my site, Zehra! I’m glad you love the cheese, and I thank you for sharing your comments! Happy cooking!
Wow…..made this for two non vegans and it was love at first bite.
I have made this recipe several times for your wonderful Lasagna but this last time, I doubled the recipe since it was the first time I noticed that that’s what you recommended in the lasagna recipe. For some reason though, it had a very strong Apple Cider Vinegar taste when doubling it. I’m not sure where I went wrong. Any suggestions?
That’s interesting, I haven’t found that to be the case. Did you use a new apple cider vinegar, maybe a different brand that had a stronger flavor? Next time just cut the vinegar in half for a less strong taste if you want.
I love this cheese!! My son has a severe dairy allergy so this has been amazing. I used it to make lasagna and it melted beautifully and tasted really nice and mild just like you’d expect.
I doubled the recipe and had some leftover so I froze it. I’m not sure how it would melt for lasagna or pizza again but I used it as the base for a creamy pasta dish. Defrosted and melted chunks into oat milk – it was wonderful!
Thank you for sharing your great review, Amanda! I’m glad you love the cheese! Happy cooking!
This was so easy to make, and I love the texture on pizza – reminds me of buffalo mozz. Thanks for the fab recipe!
I’m so glad you love the cheese Alanna! Thank you for sharing your review!
How much does this make?
It makes a few cups of melty cheese, about 2 cups.
Worked perfectly thankyou.
I made extra and put in Ramekins. Will try to grate once set, like shreds..
I’m glad you enjoyed it! It doesn’t grate well, I’ve even tried freezing and then grating, with little luck. But I have a recipe for Shreddable Vegan Mozzarella you might be interested in.
Is it possible to substitute the lemon juice with more vinegar? I have a citrus allergy. Thanks!
Yes, you could! Or just leave it out, it may get too vinegary tasting.
I just went dairy free and used this recipe for a gf df video on my channel. It was so good and I didn’t miss ‘real’ cheese at all. Awesome recipe!!
I’m so glad you loved the cheese, JD! Thank you for sharing!
By trial and error, I figured out how to avoid clumps in the cheese (as many people have reported). The first time I made this, I too had clumps in the cheese and found that it was because the cashews were not blended enough, based upon the recipe’s recommendations. I tried it again. This time, I blended the cashews first in only 1/2 cup of water in order to blend them completely. Also, the first time I made the recipe, I used too-measured tablespoons for the tapioca starch. The second time, I used more heaping tablespoons. With these two alterations, my second batch matched the pictures.
Great easy recipe. We always use blanched almond flour successfully for all cheese recipes calling for cashews. Cheaper, and no soaking required. Also great for instant almond milk!
That’s great to know, thanks for the tip!
Mine wouldn’t get lumpy or gooey. It just kept cooking and cooking forever. What could be wrong?? I did no substitutions.?
That’s so odd! Did you use tapioca starch or flour? That is the ingredient that will make it stretchy and gooey.
Delicious exactly as it is written!!
Thank you, Annie!
I’m really excited to try this recipe when making vegan pizza in a few days! Do you think this would do well being seasoned while cooking, for example with garlic powder and some nutritional yeast? Like would it change anything or inhibit the cheese from forming properly? Thanks so much!
Sure! Adding some spices or nutritional yeast won’t affect the cheese texture. Hope you enjoy it!