4 Vegan "Cheese" Recipes That Taste Like The Real Thing

We all love cheese. And if you don’t love cheese, well, you just haven’t found the right kind for you. If you’re unlucky like me, however, cheese does not like you. Thankfully, we live in 2020, where plant-based cheese recipes are alive and well.

I have been dairy-free for a few years, and cheese is truly the food group I miss the most. As much as we try, we sometimes just can’t get vegan cheese to taste like the real thing. So, I recruited my dairy-loving, cow-consuming friends to be my taste-testers. Their brutal honesty helped me create some “fake” cheese that can actually compete with the real stuff.

Plant-Based Mac + Cheese

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes

1 entire chopped onion

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup raw cashews

½ cup almond milk

½ cup nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary

2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 box of gluten-free pasta, my favorite is Banza

Directions

Boil water and cook sweet potatoes over the stove for about 10 minutes or until tender.

Blend the soft sweet potatoes with the entire onion.

Add enough of the milk to reach a creamy consistency. Slowly add in the nutritional yeast, garlic, and rosemary.

In a large pot, cook macaroni according to package directions; drain. Transfer macaroni to a large bowl and add that cheese!

Stir very well and add additional salt and pepper and serve.

"Cheese" Potato Fries

Ingredients

1 cup cooked cannellini beans

1/2 cup almond milk

5 tbsp nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

3 tsp olive oil (optional but makes it creamier)
2-3 russet potatoes

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp sea salt

Direction

Cheese
Drain and rinse beans if they are canned. Blend all ingredients for about 3 minutes.

Fries
Preheat oven to 400F.

Cut the potatoes into thick fries, then place them in a bowl with paprika, garlic powder, dried oregano, and sea salt. Toss to coat.

Arrange the potatoes on a baking tray covered with parchment paper so that there’s space between the fries.

Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until browned, flipping them halfway.

Nacho "Cheese" Sauce

Ingredients

2 cups gluten-free oats

1 tablespoon psyllium musk or 1/2 cup almond flour (this makes it thick!)

1/2 cup of nutritional yeast

2 teaspoons of onion powder

2 teaspoons salt

Entire jar of fire-roasted red peppers (in water)

2 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon of liquid smoke

3 1/3 warm water cups water

1/2 half jalapeño (optional if you want it 🌶 spicy)

Directions

Add all the ingredients to your Vitamix.

For 3 minutes (yes, 3 whole minutes), blend all ingredients. You’re going to hear your blender struggling. But, by the time 5 minutes is up, it will be so thick, hot, and steaming. Can you believe that!?

Once finished, layer over your favorite chips with all the essential nacho toppings.

Goat "Cheese" Ball

Ingredients

1 cup of macadamia nuts (soaked overnight)

1 1/2 lemon

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 garlic cloves

1/2 tsp raw virgin olive oil

¾ cup water

1 tbsp rosemary

1 tablespoon pink Himalayan salt

Directions

Place the macadamia nuts into a bowl and cover with water to soak for at least 7 hours.

Drain and wash macadamia nuts before placing it in a high-speed blender (I use my refurbished Vitamix).

Add lemon juice, garlic cloves, olive oil, water, and blend for about two minutes until extremely thick.

Slowly add in the lemon juice, followed by rosemary, salt, and any additional seasoning that you desire.

In a large bowl, lay out a cheesecloth that will hold the macadamia mixture. Make sure your cheesecloth is large enough to hold the entire mixture. It will be very thick, so scoop it from the blender into the cloth that is within the bowl.

Once in the cloth, in the bowl, wrap the mixture up in the cloth into a ball. With an elastic band, tie the top so the mixture is in a tight bowl. It should be a large softball size.

Squeeze out any extra liquid and place the cheese ball in the fridge for at least 14 hours—(I left mine for about 24 hours, and it was perfect).

When you are ready to bake this bad boy, preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F.

Grease a baking pan with olive oil, well. Don’t make my mistake—be sure to put enough oil!

Carefully unwrap the cheese ball from the cloth and shape into a perfect round ball.

Place on the very greased pan and bake for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown. However, check it about halfway. You may need to turn down the oven for the final 20 minutes. If your cheese is cracking while golden brown, that is perfect!

Once taken out of the oven, it’s ready to serve. It will be difficult to transfer – so if you can decorate the pan and serve directly on it with crackers and veggies that’s what I recommend.