I love the flavour of this vegan cashew cheese with jalapeños, but I tend to forget in between making it, just how much tastier it gets when matured!
It starts off with a cheese-spread consistency and can be used immediately, spread on crackers or gluten free toast, but the real flavour and character comes through after 2-3 days in the fridge.
Just put the vegan cashew cheese onto a dish in the fridge and leave it alone. After a couple of days, turn it over so that the bottom side also matures.
It then has a lovely firm texture, gooey and soft, but firm enough to hold its form.
3 day mature cashew cheese with jalapeños
Everyone I know who’s tried this, loves it.
I should point out that it doesn’t taste anything like dairy cheese though. So let’s be clear from the outset: this isn’t a chunk of cheddar!
When you go vegan, you may find yourself craving cheese and the logical reaction is to discover things to use as substitutes to things you used to eat.
But in reality the flavour will always be different when you make plant based versus animal based. Like this vegan mayonnaise or these other types of vegan cheeses – all delicious but unique.
And the number one secret killer food in a vegan kitchen has to be the amazing cashew sauce, which I used on and with everything, in its various different forms.
One of the easiest vegan cheeses to make is vegan parmesan, followed closely by vegan mozzarella, which can be used in pizzas, dips, cooking and more.
Don’t worry, if you’re anything like me, you’ll end up preferring the plant based flavours any day.
How to Make Vegan Cashew Cheese
This cashew cheese is soft like a cheese spread when it’s first made.
Once you’ve got the hang of making a basic vegan cheese, you can play around the flavours.
The essential ingredients are cashew nuts (or another nut), some form of thickener (like the agar agar or tapioca), some form of acid, like lemon juice or vinegar, a liquid such as plant milk or coconut milk – plus flavourings.
You could make a simple cashew nut cheese using cashews, agar agar, coconut milk, apple cider vinegar and salt. You can also replace the coconut milk with another type of plant milk, like unsweetened almond milk, for example.
Vegan cashew jalapeño cheese
This cheese has added flavour from garlic, sweet paprika, turmeric, sweet potato, dijon mustard and roasted red peppers, as well as the jalapeños.
Recipe by Love Vegan LivingCourse: Vegan CheeseCuisine: Cashew CheeseDifficulty: Moderate
Cheeses
1
Prep time
15
minutes
Cooking time
15
minutes
Every time I make this cheese it varies a bit in flavour and texture (probably because I usually don’t measure the ingredients), but I’ve come to the conclusion that the consistently-good flavour warrants writing up the recipe.
If you aren’t happy with the taste the first time you make it, add extra ingredients to tweak the flavour, like extra herbs, soy sauce, or more chilli.
Ingredients
150 gr cashew nuts
1 cup of nutritional yeast, or to taste
3/4 tin coconut milk
1/2 cooked sweet potato (or 1 small)
3 roasted red peppers from a jar
1 small teaspoon dijon mustard
1 clove garlic
1-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 heaped teaspoons agar agar
1 heaped teaspoon tapioca flour
Salt to taste
Sweet paprika
Turmeric
After Blending
Chopped Jalapeños
Directions
Add the ingredients to the blender and blend, reserving the coconut milk and adding it gradually once the basic mix is blended.
Taste the mixture. It won’t taste like delicious cheese at this point, but it should have flavour and character.
Pour the mixture (with the help of a spatula!) into a saucepan and add the chopped jalapeño peppers. Stir to mix well.
Heat the mixture and keep stirring as it thickens. When it’s coming away from the sides of the pan, keep cooking and stirring for another 5 minutes.
Pour the thickened mixture into a cheese mould or a glass dish and leave to cool. Transfer to the fridge overnight. Remove from the fridge and turn the cheese out onto a small dish. Be careful as at this stage the cheese will be soft.
Return the cheese to the fridge and leave to mature for a few days. The minimum for this to set is 3 days, but you can eat it at any time. Softer or more mature, it’s your choice.
Delicious served on gluten free crackers with jalapeño peppers on top
I hope you like this cashew cheese with Jalapeños. . .
Hi, I buy the jalapeños in a jar. In Spain we can get them in the supermarkets – Mercadona sell them for example. You can also get them from Amazon and Old El Paso do jalapeños. They last a long time and are really handy to have in the cupboard. Especially if you like spice and people around you don’t!
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It looks fantastic. I shall certainly have a go, just one thing. are the jalapeños fresh or bottled? Can we buy them in a supermarket?
Hi, I buy the jalapeños in a jar. In Spain we can get them in the supermarkets – Mercadona sell them for example. You can also get them from Amazon and Old El Paso do jalapeños. They last a long time and are really handy to have in the cupboard. Especially if you like spice and people around you don’t!