If you’ve been eating animal cheese all your life, switching to plant-based alternatives can be tricky. However, the longer you go off dairy cheese, the more receptive your taste buds become to vegan cheese.

It is important to understand that vegan cheese is not the same as milk cheese. If you try to accurately recreate the taste of milk cheese, you will instantly fail. See vegan cheese as a tasty addition to your diet, not as a direct replacement for what you once ate. In this article, you will find basic information about making homemade vegan cheese, as well as some interesting recipes.

Texture

First of all, you need to think about the texture of your cheese. Do you want your cheese to be soft and spreadable, or firm, suitable for a sandwich? It takes a lot of experimentation to get the texture you want.

Equipment

The most important piece of cheese making equipment is a quality food processor or blender. However, there are other useful things that are useful to have in the kitchen. For soft cheeses, you will need a thin cheesecloth to remove excess water from the cheese. For shaping cheese, it is useful to have a special cheese mold, which is especially useful when making harder cheeses. If you don’t want to buy a cheese mold, you can use a muffin pan instead.

Composition

Nuts are a healthy and nutritious food that is often used in the preparation of vegan cheese. Cashew-based non-dairy cheese is especially common, but almonds, macadamia nuts, pine nuts, and other nuts can also be used. Cheese can also be made from tofu or chickpeas. 

Tapioca starch is also an important ingredient as it helps thicken the cheese. Some recipes call for the use of pectin for gelling, while others recommend using agar agar. 

The addition of nutritional yeast helps to add flavor to vegan cheese. Garlic, onion, mustard, lemon juice, herbs and spices can also be used for an interesting flavor.

Recipes

Here are just a few vegan cheese recipes: