Creamy, melty vegan mozzarella cheese made with just 8 simple ingredients and ready in under 15 minutes! Perfect for grilled cheese, pizza, lasagna, casseroles and more! (Gluten free + Oil free)
This. Vegan. Cheese. Oh gosh jolly– I’ve finally come down to the best vegan cheese that actually melts and browns. It’s gooey but not gluey, and just perfect over EVERYTHING.
The inspiration
I’ve just had too many bad experiences with store bought vegan cheese. And other recipes I’ve tried online just wasn’t for me– they kind of had this gluey texture that would coat the top of my mouth which I wasn’t a fan of.
This vegan mozzarella cheese was in the works for the past two months and I was desperate to perfect it for my yaki curry recipe because I wanted a good dairy free cheese that actually browns and melts. Tested over 12 times with different ingredients and ratios, I’m crazy excited to finally share this life-changing recipe. You ready?
Ingredients (+substitutions)
Most vegan cheese recipes call for tapioca starch, which thickens it and gives it a slighty stretchy texture. However, the base for this cheese recipe is rice! Specifically, both cooked rice and glutinous rice flour. Why rice? Glutinous rice is another starch, giving the ability to thicken and be stretchy, much like mochi (which is where I actually drew the inspiration from!). Mochi stretches and kind of droops and melts… like cheese.
A bit of cashews are added for a creamy texture without any added oil, although you could add about one tablespoon which I find helps the cheese get even gooey-er.
For flavour, some vinegar, nutritional yeast, mustard and salt is added. Some optional ingredients you can add to make it even more flavourful are garlic powder, onion powder, sugar and black pepper. If you wanted a spicy melty cheese, add a dash of cayenne!
How to make melty vegan cheese
Making homemade vegan cheese is incredibly easy. Simply just add all the ingredients to a high speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy. It takes about 3-5 minutes on high speed and you do want it to warm up just a bit because that will thicken up the mixture.
It can be used straight out of the blender (two top photos) for things like casseroles, lasagna, anything baked or to dip in. However, if you want to use it for something like pizza, toast or grilled cheese then I highly recommend heating it up over the stove to thicken it isn’t too loose (two photos on the bottom).
Transfer the cheese to a saucepan over medium low heat and just keep stirring with a whisk until thick. Never stop stirring or the bottom will clump relatively quickly. Once thickened, remove from the stove immediately and transfer to another bowl. Let it cool for 10-15 minutes and then scoop it onto pizza or spread it over bread for toast and grilled cheese.
Does this vegan cheese brown?
Yes! This cheese bakes and browns wonderfully. If you just toast or bake it in the oven, it will brown– but to get a rich deep golden brown I’ve found that a little oil and broiling does the trick.
After baking or toasting it until the cheese is slightly matte, spray with a little oil and then broil for 3-5 minutes. Keep on eye on it cause it can go from perfectly browned to burnt in minutes.
How to store vegan cheese
Once cooled, cover and then keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It also freezes really well! I like to pour it over a lined baking sheet, freeze and then cut them up into small chunks for easy and convenient usage. It will last for up to 2 months in the freezer.
What to use this melty vegan cheese for:
- Cauliflower Gnocchi Mac and Cheese
- Yaki Curry
- Japanese Macaroni Gratin
- Mexican Stuffed Pepper Casserole
- Instant Pot Burrito Bowls
- No Boil Baked Pasta
- Vegan Cheesy Cauliflower Casserole
SAVE IT FOR LATER! ↓
If you recreate this Melty Vegan Mozzarella Cheese recipe let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below or by tagging me on Instagram @Okonomikitchen, I love seeing all of your tasty recreations!
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Melty Vegan Cheese
- Total Time: 13 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups 1x
Description
Stretchy, melty vegan mozzarella cheese thats incredibly easy to make with just 8 simple ingredients! Perfect for pizza, pasta, grilled cheese, and more!
Ingredients
- 1/2 scant cup hot water (100ml)
- 1/2 cup oat milk (120ml // or soy milk)
- 2 tsp vinegar or lemon juice (10g)
- 1 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast (10g)
- 1 1/2 tsp mustard (7g)
- 1/3 cup cooked short grain rice (65g)
- 3/4 cup glutinous rice flour (100g)
- 1/3 cup cashews, soaked (45g)
- 1 tsp salt
Optional
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil (will help with a better browning and stretch)
Instructions
- Add everything to a high speed blender on high for about 3-5 minutes until smooth and creamy. There should be no visible cashew or rice bits.
- It’s ready as is and can be used as is over casseroles, mad and cheese, pasta bakes, pizza and anything you would top cheese with.
- For a firmer cheese, transfer the mixture to a saucepan over medium low heat. Use a whisk to stir continuously as it will thicken relatively quickly. Do not stop stirring once it is hot or it will burn at the bottom and leave clumps. Once thick, remove from the heat immediently and transfer to a storing container. Allow it to cool and then use it for grill cheese sandwiches, pizza and more.
Notes
- Helpful Equipment: high speed blender, oil spray, spatula, whisk
- Nutritional Information Disclaimer: Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated on an online tool (Cronometer).
- Prep Time: 8 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: homemade
- Method: blending
- Cuisine: vegan, gluten free, north american
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tbsp (30g)
- Calories: 55.6
- Sugar: 0.21g
- Sodium: 161mg
- Fat: 1.5g
- Saturated Fat: 0.29g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.98g
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 9g
- Fiber: 0.5g
- Protein: 1.6g
- Cholesterol: 0
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This is such an interesting recipe! I made it maybe 2-3 months ago and mine came out totally wrong. While it did thicken, it didn’t really seem usable right away as it was very grainy and more like soup. The taste was fine, but it didn’t feel like mozzarella to me. I was pretty desperate to save it though so I threw it in freezer. Today I was really craving cheese so I pulled it out in hopes that maybe it had transformed. It was pretty off putting as it was grainy again and as it was defrosting it was also melting and just falling apart. I was pretty sad and out of curiosity nuked it in the microwave for a min…….and it came out amazing! I don’t know what dark magic happened in there, but it was the perfect texture chewy and stretchy, I WAS FLOORED. Anyway hopes this helps anyone if there’s isn’t going well like mine did.
Hi I am going to try this today!! I was wondering does this freeze well? I would like to make a big batch because I know I’m going to love it