Vegan Cashew “Cheese” Recipe … Tastes Just Like Boursin
April 7, 2011 in Brunch, Lunch, Snack, Vegan
I know, I know. I’ve been stamping the word vegan on every blog post for the past few weeks. To anyone curious: I have not become vegan … Sherif wouldn’t be too excited about that. I am simply fasting from all animal products for Lent, in keeping with my Orthodox Christian tradition. Anyway, though I am enjoying the bout of creativity that this fast has spurred, as well as the discovery of raw and vegan recipes to fill an entire year’s calendar, I still crave the taste of high-quality grass-fed cheese from time of time … scratch that, almost every day. 
Funny thing is that ever since Sherif became sensitive to lactose recently, we haven’t been buying a whole lot of cheese … so the discovery of this recipe that I’m about to share is actually very liberating, and will likely make vegan cashew “cheese” a staple in our household.
Every time I’ve fasted for Lent in the past, I’ve had to deal with a ton of fake products that are brought to parties and get-togethers, such as processed soy cheeses and yogurts, seitan, margarine, etc. I had the impression there was no other healthy and tasty alternative, and was pretty frustrated by this. This is one of the reasons I didn’t really look forward to these fasts, and oftentimes did not participate. I didn’t feel that it was right to eat a bunch of fake junk … it was not spiritually enriching in the least to me. Anyway, recently, I started realizing that there was actually a lot of vegan stuff that I can make from scratch that is way healthier than the processed junk and actually tastes very good!
The other day I stumbled upon this recipe of vegan cashew “cheese” from the blog Chocolate & Zucchini and was really intrigued. I simply had to try it. I was curious if it would actually taste anything like real cheese. So, on my last trip to Whole Foods, I grabbed a bunch of raw cashews (unsalted and unroasted) as well as a cup or so of nutritional yeast (more on that below) – both from the bulk section there.
For some reason, I thought it would be a lot of work to make this “cheese”, but it was actually one of the easiest recipes I’ve made recently. It’s just mixing!
Vegan Cashew “Cheese” Recipe … Tastes Just Like Boursin
by
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients (1.5 cups)
- 1 and 1/2 cups raw cashew nuts (not roasted or salted), soaked overnight in filtered water with sea salt, then rinsed and drained before use
- 1/4 cup filtered water
- 2 tablespoons dry white wine (optional; substitute water or vinegar if preferred)
- 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons organic nutritional yeast
- 2 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
- 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt or other unrefined mineral salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
(1) Soak the raw cashews. Rinse the cashews and soak in warm filtered water (just enough to cover them) overnight with a dash of sea salt. Discard the retained water and rinse the cashews.
(2) Add the cashews and other ingredients to a blender. Add vinegar, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic, white wine (optional), salt, and pepper.
(3) Blend. As usual, I used my bullet blender, which worked well … but you can use something more powerful if you’d like.
(4) Cover and refrigerate overnight. Add to a glass container, cover, and keep in the fridge overnight for all the flavors to mingle. It should stay good for 5-6 days after that if refrigerated.
(5) Eat. Enjoy with homemade sprouted grain or gluten-free crackers and wine, as a dip accompanied by some raw veggies or right off the spoon. Your imagination’s the limit!
What is nutritional yeast?
If you’ve never heard of nutritional yeast before (I had only heard about it from my friend Siv, a holistic health counselor in Chicago), it’s basically a fungus … Yes, it sounds gross but it’s not! It’s deactivated yeast that is produced by culturing the yeast with a mixture of sugarcane and beet molasses for a period of 7 days, then harvesting, washing and drying it.
What is it good for?
It’s nutritionally healthy:
It is a source of protein and vitamins, especially the B-complex vitamins and is a complete protein. It is also naturally low in fat and sodium and it is free of sugar, dairy, and gluten. Some brands of nutritional yeast, though not all, are fortified with vitamin B12. The vitamin B12 is produced separately from bacteria and then added to the yeast (Wikipedia).
How does it taste?
Nutty, cheesy, creamy … hard to describe, but a great complement to many meals (especially this one). It’s definitely a major ingredient in this recipe, because it supplies a lot of the “cheesy” taste.
Where can I buy it?
Health food stores. I got some from the bulk section at Whole Foods.
Ever since I made this a couple of days ago, I have been addicted to this stuff … I may have almost finished the bowl over the past 2 days (with some help from Sherif) … To me, vegan cashew “cheese” tastes so much like Boursin, the creamy garlicky French cheese that is most commonly spread on crackers. I personally love the taste of garlic, but it’s not overpowering in this recipe if you only use two cloves. It’s the same intensity of garlicky flavor found in most Boursin cheeses. Next time, I’m adding herbs … kinda like this variation of the recipe that I found. Does that look delicious or what!?
Would you ever try this? It’s such a simple recipe so you really have nothing to lose. Okay, I won’t beg. How about this: do you have another equally awesome (or better) vegan cheese recipe to share with me?
I’ve been wanting to make cashew cheese for a while now but don’t exactly have a reliable food processor/blender, so unfortunately, it’ll have to wait a bit longer. Although when I do finally get a chance to make it, I’ll definitely use your recipe. I love the garlic.
But I must say, I also love nutritional yeast. It’s surprisingly good on plain popcorn with some salt and a bit of vegan butter.
It actually doesn’t need a really strong blender or anything. I used a smoothie blender (you know, those magic bullet-like ones but not even the magic bullet–> http://www.amazon.com/Sensio-10029-Cucina-Rocket-Blender/dp/B000HC9JP8 haha). You just need to soak the cashews for overnight and the rest is so easy.
Will have to try the nutritional yeast on popcorn
Wow! Thats the same blender I have!
I’ll definitely have to try this now. I have no more excuses!
I made this just this morning and it came out delicious! Thanks so much for this recipe! It’s going to be awesome on wraps, toast as a veggie dip and more! Excited I found this!
Awesome – so glad you tried it and liked it! It beats any non-dairy cheese I’ve tried, and it’s much healthier too
It worked really well for me on a socca pizza crust too. Here’s the recipe for that if you’d like to try it: http://mideats.com/2012/04/perfect-gluten-free-vegetarian-pizza-sumac-and-rosemary-karantita-socca-made-with-chickpea-flour/
[...] just succeeded in whipping up some vegan cheese made of raw cashews (which tasted amazing!), I was itching to use raw cashews yet again, this time to play up their [...]
[...] just keep collecting more everyday. The most recent recipe inspired by a fellow food blogger is the vegan cashew “cheese” I made a couple of weeks ago (and have been remaking in batches every 5-6 days … because [...]
[...] on January 7th). So, you’ll find me actively experimenting with vegan recipes such as vegan ‘cheese’ (made with raw cashews), homemade almond milk, and vegetarian chilli (to name a few) several times a year. Although I [...]
Just made a batch! I added dill and a lot more garlic. It is perfect, thanks so much for this ridiculously easy recipe! Xoxo.
Puanani Leal recently posted…So Quiet
Absolutely! Would have never thought to add dill – how brilliant! I’ll try that next time
Thanks for stopping by!
[...] we use almond milk, for butter I use coconut oil in the majority of baking, for cheese I have made homemade nut cheeses. And for everyone out, there eggs are not [...]
I’m going to try this one. Recently I made a cashew cheese called Lemon-Basil Cashew Cheese, made with fresh lemon juice, lots of fresh basil and dijon mustard. If you’re interested in the recipe, I can dig it up for you.
That sounds delicious! Yes, I’d love the recipe! I’m always eager to try new recipes, especially if they’re raw and I can’t burn them, hah! Thanks
Is it this one, by any chance? http://www.thecleaneatingmama.com/2010/05/basil-and-herb-cashew-cheese-spread.html
[...] period of time. My favorites are almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts pecans, macadamia nuts, pistachios and cashews. I eat them as is (as snacks), or I soak them and make nut milks, or use them in vegan (homemade) [...]
I will have to try this cause I love cheese and also sound like a healthy breakfast or snack during the lent
Oh you will love it Ghada. It’s so easy, and it’s yummy and quite filling as a snack! Of course it doesn’t replace cheese in my heart …
But it’s good for Lent and the fasts!
Heba @ My Life in a Pyramid recently posted…Raw Milk Orange Julius with Ginger & Chia Seeds (with Dairy-Free Option)
[...] be a good way to incorporate some veggies into the meal! Since I was making a vegan version, I used this recipe for homemade vegan cashew ‘cheese’ as a base to spread on the cooled socca before adding the sautéed veggie mix: onions, tomatoes, [...]
Sounds very similar as using almonds. which is pretty tasty. looking forward to trying it with cashews. i didn’t use nutritional yeast when i made almond cheese so i never used it before but it sounds good.
Hi Kat! I’d love to try making a vegan ‘cheese’ spread using almonds! Cashews are adaptable and versatile as they don’t have a strong taste and still have a super creamy texture, so that’s why a lot of spreads use cashews. If you’re going for a ‘cheesy’ taste, then nutritional yeast is truly your best friend … you’ll love that stuff! Let me know what you think if you do try it
[...] turned out REALLY good. I was basing my ‘cheese’ off of this recipe here –> <this blog>, but changed a few things around based on what I did have in the [...]
I’ve been making nut cheeses for a while now, alternating between almonds and cashews. As a recovering cheese addict, these certainly fill the bill. I’m going to try following this recipe however because I have a couple of extra steps in the one I’ve been using. After soaking the nuts, I whizz them in my Vita-Mix with some fresh filtered water. Then I strain it through a nut milk mesh bag, pour off the milk that drains off and use that in other things. I then tie a knot in the top of the bag and push a chopstick through the knot so I can suspend the bag in a deep enough container . My Oktoberfest beer stein works perfectly for that!
One alternate flavor you might like to try if you like the Boursin variety of cheeses, is my version of the Cranberry & Black Pepper kind. After adding the basics of brewers yeast, salt and lemon juice, add some chopped craisins – just a couple of tbsps will do– and then freshly ground coarse black pepper to taste.. That’s it! Now try NOT eating the whole thing in one sitting!
Hi Maggie, thanks for the great ideas for flavoring the nut cheese – I’ll definitely have to try the cranberry and black pepper combo this fall.
As for the extra steps, that sounds great, but I’m pretty lazy so I think I’ll just keep whirling everything together at one time after soaking the cashews.
I have now been making this without the step of draining off the nut milk and it’s great. I use this recipe interchangeably with almonds as well.
Nice! You know … I have never tried using almonds to make a cheese spread. Do you have to soak the almonds much longer than the cashews? Also, does it taste as good? better?
Hi Heba –
No, you don’t need to soak them any longer than cashews. Overnight or just for a few hours to soften them up is usually sufficient. I find I like the cashew cheese better just because it’s a little creamier and richer tasting, but the almond cheese is great too, and a bit cheaper to make because cashews are more expensive.
Good to know. I’ll try the almond dip next time. I like a little variety in life anyway
I forgot to add that it’s easiest to use blanched almonds for this so you don’t have to peel the skins off the almonds. That’s easy enough to do by just pinching the almonds between your fingers to slip the skins off, but it just cuts down the prep time if you don’t have to do that!
I have found an amazing book called Artisan Vegan Cheese in which the basic recipe uses rejuvalac made from soaking wheat – Amazon have a ‘look inside’ that allow you to read a good range of the recipes – they are absolutely delicious.
Hi there, thanks for stopping by and for your comment! I took a quick look through the book on Amazon, and there are some great ideas in there for adding different flavors etc, so I’ll have to try some of them and write about them if they’re successful. I don’t eat much grain and I avoid soy like the plague (for health reasons) but I don’t mind trying making rejuvalac from scratch if I can manage that. If you say it tastes delicious, then it’s worth a try
I would also avoid processed ingredients like carrageenan which I saw in a couple of the recipes. What are some of your favorite nut cheese recipes in that book?
[...] http://mylifeinapyramid.com/2011/04/vegan-cashew-cheese-recipe-tastes-just-like-boursin/ [...]
Why do you use filtered water? Is there a difference to just using tap water? Also, why use sea salt or unprocessed salt? Does it work with roasted and salted cashews (the snack type) too?
Hi Martin, thanks for your comment! Well, I try to use filtered water for all my cooking and drinking, but you can definitely use tap water if you don’t have a filter (Since moving, I don’t have a filter yet either!) Unprocessed salt is much healthier than processed, as with any other food. I have written a lengthy article about this in case you’re interested: Not All Salt is Created Equal. You can probably use roasted and salted cashews, but I would avoid the ones with added peanut oil (for health reasons), and I’d still rinse and soak the cashews to soften them for the spread. If they come pre-salted, I would add less salt in the mix. Hope this helps!
For the record, most wine is not vegan friendly, unless your buying unfined white wine. I’m not sure how strict you are with animal products during lent, but if that includes taking in anything that uses animal product/by production in production, you will need to be very what white wine to use.
Thanks for the tip, Anna! I actually didn’t know that most wine is not vegan. I’m actually not that strict during lent (I typically still have yogurt and sometimes cheese), but it’s good to know for the future, especially as I focus on creating recipes for others who more strictly observe vegan fasts or a vegan lifestyle. By the way, what exactly should I look for to make sure a wine is vegan? Thanks!
*you’re (sorry.. I type too fast for my own good!)
You can look for the label to say “unfined” (which means it still has sediment in it because it wasn’t filtered, basically). Most wines are filtered using casein or eggs (and lots of dark beers are filtered using fish bladder.. mmm tasty
).
Other than that word, you have to ask. It’s definitely a pain in the butt going in search of new wines! My local store is REALLY helpful and has a list if you ask for it, that shows what wines are vegan-friendly, fair trade, organic, etc; but I know not everyone is so lucky.
[...] Vegan Cheese, I found the recipe here [...]