How to Make Vegan Cheese for Toast and Pizza

Ah, the '80s.

How I miss you.

What a time. The music was dark,

the fashion was ridiculous,

and everyone wanted to melt cheese over anything that wasn't nailed down.

We even had a name for it: au gratin.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this was a national obsession in Israel:

We covered potatoes in melted cheese (and devoured them at Cafe Yehudit, a cafe in Tel Aviv's Gan Ha'ir shopping center).

We covered salads in melted cheese (at Kapulsky, an Israeli cafe chain, on the ground floor of Dizengoff Center, a Tel Aviv shopping mall).

We even covered soups in melted cheese at "Yotvata in the City" (an Israeli dairy restaurant) on the waterfront promenade. Or was that at Cafe Batya (a Tel Aviv restaurant)?

I can't remember. But thankfully, that phase is behind us.

Still, if you're craving a vegan cheese you can spread over toast or pizza,

it's surprisingly easy to make your own.

This recipe has just 3 ingredients, and it couldn't be much simpler.

Sadly, it won't give you that stretchy pizza-cheese pull. But it absolutely gets the job done when a cheese craving hits.

A Few Notes About the Recipe

I use cashews for their high fat content and neutral flavor. Other nuts won't work as a substitute in this recipe.

For that signature cheesy flavor, I add 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast flakes (powder works, too). You'll find it at health food stores.

If you don't have nutritional yeast, you can use the same amount of white miso.

To thicken the cheese, I add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. You can use another starch, such as tapioca starch, or even 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour.

You can freeze this cheese. In the refrigerator, it keeps for about 2–3 days.

Made it? Tag me on Instagram so I can share your creation 🙂

Nutrition Information from Noam Bachar (an Israeli Clinical Dietitian and Fitness Coach):

One spoonful of cashew cheese weighing 50 g (1.8 oz) contains:

53 calories

2 g protein

3.5 g carbohydrates

3.7 g fat

How to Make Vegan Cheese

Cook Time 15 minutes

Yield 30 tablespoons

Calories 50 kcal

Ingredients

• 250 g (8.8 oz) raw cashews unroasted
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes 20 g (0.7 oz)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch 10 g (0.35 oz)

Instructions

1. Soak the cashews in 2 cups of water overnight, or for at least 3 hours. 

2. Pour the cashews and their soaking water into a blender. Add the tablespoon of nutritional yeast. 

3. Blend thoroughly until completely smooth and uniform. 

4. Transfer to a saucepan. 

5. Add the tablespoon of cornstarch and stir over low heat. 

6. Keep stirring constantly until the cheese thickens and pulls away from the sides of the pan. 

7. Be patient—this takes a few minutes. 

8. When it's ready, the cheese should be very thick and elastic.