There's no dairy in these vegan cheese recipes, but even your dairy-eating friends will be amazed by them! A good vegan cheese seems impossible, but certain ingredients lend a cheesy flavor. One of my favorites is nutritional yeast. It tastes good, and it's good for you. Cashews, which are delicious just plain by the handful, create a magical texture that is reminiscent of goat cheese. Make sure to scroll to the end to see each one of these 8 vegan cheeses, all of which will knock your socks off!
First up is Nava Atlas' Smoky Vegan Cheddar Cheez that's made from cashews, carrots, and spices. You can add the vegan gelling agent agar to get this to set up in a sliceable form, as shown in the first photo above, or just use it as a spread, as pictured just above.
Susan Voisin of FatFreeVegan.com shares this lovely Cheesy Cauliflower Sauce - a delicate sauce worthy of pouring over everything. The base? Cauliflower, nutritional yeast, and chickpea miso - yum!
Somer McCowan has some amazing cheese recipes on her blog VedgedOut.com. But I've chosen the one I love the most - her Kick Ace Extra Sharp Raw Vegan Holiday Cheddar Cheese Ball. It uses cashews and sun-dried tomatoes as its base. She kicks up the chez flavor with miso, apple cider vinegar and mustard powder. Best part of all is the coconut oil really firms this baby up and it will fool your friends into thinking it might be real cheese.
Angela McKee of Canned-Time.com has a spicy cashew cheeze to share with you. She coats the outside with Satan's Kiss peppers so she means business when she calls it spicy!
This Tofu Farmer Cheez is the work of Ann Oliviero of Anunrefinedvegan.com. It's full of tofu, cashews, lemon juice, miso, and herbs, making it a delicious part of your lunch or dinner. It's perfect for serving with crackers.
Cara Reed of ForkandBeans.com shares herRaw Vegan "Goat" Cheese Dip, inspired by those she was seeing on Pinterest. She stuffs this full of sun-dried tomatoes and pesto. And now you know why I love her so much.
Dianne Wenz of VeggieGirl.com is sharing her Green and White Pizza with cashew ricotta and spinach pesto. Look at all those veggies - pizza can be healthy!
The lovely gluten-free Allyson Kramer of Manifest Vegan shares her Pear and Ginger Ricotta Cheesecake with Salted Caramel Drizzle. She uses tofu and vegan cream cheese to create this stunning dessert.
So now, the next someone tells you they can't be vegan because they can't give up cheese, you have 8 wonderful recipes to share with them!
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Dawn Meisch says
Thanks for this list. We make Susan's Cheesy Cauliflower Sauce weekly. I love it. Sage does not. I am going to try Nava Atlas’ Smoky Vegan Cheddar Cheez to try to get her to consume some carrots.
Nava says
I hope she likes it, Dawn! Let us know …
sarah levine simon says
Which of these cheeses aren't made with soy. It's my No NO.
Anne Marie Jackson says
I've clicked about 10 times in various different hopefull spots but still havent found a recipe yet! Looking for the smoked cheddar.
Nava says
Hi Anne Marie — not sure why it eluded you, but here it is: http://www.vegkitchen.com/recipes/savor-and-flavor/hot-appetizers-savor-and-flavor/smoky-cheddar-cheez/
Joy says
i have made this appetizer for two occasIons. People are still talking about it!
Teri says
I shared this with a group called Deliciously Dairy Free - and fully expect you to be bombarded!! These recipes totally ROCK!
Nava says
Thank you so much for sharing with your dairy-free group, Teri! And so glad you like these recipes.
phoenix rose says
lovely site & recipes, thank you
Nava says
You're most welcome, Phoenix Rose!
Sandi Sunflower says
I've been looking for vegan cheese. I love my cheese, but I always wanted an alternative to dairy cheese. So thank you for these!!! I'm definitely going to try these.
DaisyMay says
This recipe looks fantastic and is sure to win over my daughter who is vegi / vegan. She has been looking for vegan cheese and this one not only looks great, I have all the ingredients other than cider vinegar and coconut oil.
Nava says
I hope she enjoys some of these! Let us know if you have a chance.
Mahamedha says
Thank you for these lovely recipes! Is there an alternative to agar? Thanks
Nava says
Agar gives a nice kind of gel-like texture associated with cheese; though I realize it may not be available everywhere (you can try ordering it thru amazon). However, if that doesn't work, here's a tutorial on how to replace it with cornstarch: https://www.leaf.tv/articles/how-to-substitute-agar-flakes-with-cornstarch/