I’ve yet to find a store-bought vegan mozzarella that I love – they often taste like chemicals, leave a weird coating in your mouth, and are packed with ingredients I can’t pronounce. This lovely, simple, homemade alternative is as easy as can be and so tasty. It’s the perfect recipe for pizza and lasagna, and once you get it down, I think you’ll be coming back to it time and time again! Please note, this does not taste exactly like traditional dairy mozzarella. It’s just a beautiful creamy, stretchy, neutral, and rich alternative that goes great with recipes where you traditionally be baking a dairy-based mozza.
Perfectly creamy & stretchy, this is my favorite mozzarella to use for both pizza and lasagna.
Long Soak (ideal): Soak your cashews for 4 hours by placing them in a bowl and pouring water over them until they're fully submerged. Strain and rinse before using.
Quick Soak: Soak your cashews for 15 minutes by placing them in a heat-resistant bowl and pouring boiling water over them until they're fully submerged. Strain and rinse before using.
Add your soaked cashews and remaining ingredients to a high-powered blender and purée until fully smooth throughout.
Pour into a sauce pan and heat over medium-high, whisking constantly. *Stirring constantly is very important, as this can burn easily on the bottom*
Your cheese will begin to thicken and transform into a smooth stretchy gooey mass. Continue to stir and cook down until it's thick and stretchy.
Remove from heat as soon as this happens.
Add to your pizza/lasagna/mozza recipe and bake accordingly.
If you want to get that nice caramelized finish on top, finish your recipe by simply brushing or spraying your mozza with light/neutral/high-heat cooking oil (like avocado oil) and place on the center rack under the broiler in your oven.
*For pizza, I skip the oil*
Your cheese should start to brown pretty quickly (will depend on your broiler, but ~2 min). KEEP YOUR EYE ON IT THE WHOLE TIME because you can go from brown to burned very very fast under such high heat!
1/2 c. tapioca starch will yield a nice soft, semi-stretchy end result. For extra stretchy/less soft cheese, you can increase the tapioca amount by 2 tbs increments until you reach your desired consistency.
Ingredients
Directions
Long Soak (ideal): Soak your cashews for 4 hours by placing them in a bowl and pouring water over them until they're fully submerged. Strain and rinse before using.
Quick Soak: Soak your cashews for 15 minutes by placing them in a heat-resistant bowl and pouring boiling water over them until they're fully submerged. Strain and rinse before using.
Add your soaked cashews and remaining ingredients to a high-powered blender and purée until fully smooth throughout.
Pour into a sauce pan and heat over medium-high, whisking constantly. *Stirring constantly is very important, as this can burn easily on the bottom*
Your cheese will begin to thicken and transform into a smooth stretchy gooey mass. Continue to stir and cook down until it's thick and stretchy.
Remove from heat as soon as this happens.
Add to your pizza/lasagna/mozza recipe and bake accordingly.
If you want to get that nice caramelized finish on top, finish your recipe by simply brushing or spraying your mozza with light/neutral/high-heat cooking oil (like avocado oil) and place on the center rack under the broiler in your oven.
*For pizza, I skip the oil*
Your cheese should start to brown pretty quickly (will depend on your broiler, but ~2 min). KEEP YOUR EYE ON IT THE WHOLE TIME because you can go from brown to burned very very fast under such high heat!
1/2 c. tapioca starch will yield a nice soft, semi-stretchy end result. For extra stretchy/less soft cheese, you can increase the tapioca amount by 2 tbs increments until you reach your desired consistency.