How to Make Vegan Cheese for Toast and Pizzas

Ah, the distant 1980s.

How I miss you.

A wonderful era, where the music was dark,

the fashion was ridiculous,

and everyone loved melting yellow cheese over everything that moved.

And it had a name: "Hakrama" (au gratin/cheesy topping).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it was a national obsession:

They topped potatoes with cheese (which we devoured at Cafe Yehudit in Gan Ha'ir),

they topped salads with cheese (at Cafe Kapulsky on the ground floor of Dizengoff Center),

and they even topped soups with cheese at "Yotvata Ba'ir" on the boardwalk, or maybe it was Cafe Batya?

I don't remember, but fortunately for us all, that trend has mostly passed.

But if you still crave that kind of vegan cheese that you can use to top toasts or pizzas,

you can make it very easily.

The following recipe contains only 3 ingredients and is very simple to prepare.

Unfortunately, it doesn't have the stretchy "cheese pull" effect like commercial pizza cheese, but it's good enough to satisfy the craving.

A little about the recipe:

I used cashew nuts because of their high fat content and neutral taste. You cannot substitute other nuts in this specific recipe.

To give the cheese its characteristic flavor, I used one tablespoon of nutritional yeast flakes (powder works too). You can buy this at any health food store.

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

To thicken the cheese, I added one tablespoon of cornstarch. You can use any other starch like tapioca or even one tablespoon of white wheat flour.

The cheese can be frozen, and it will stay fresh in the refrigerator for about 2-3 days.

Did you make the cheese? Tag me on Instagram so I can share! 🙂

Nutritional values by clinical dietitian and fitness coach Noam Bachar:

One tablespoon of cashew cheese weighing 50g contains:

53 calories

2g protein

3.5g carbohydrates

3.7g fat

How to Make Vegan Cheese

Cook Time 15 minutes

Serving Size 30 Tablespoons

Calories 50 kcal

Ingredients

• 250 g natural cashews unroasted
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes 20g
• 1 tbsp cornstarch 10g

Instructions

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

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

3. Blend well until a smooth and homogeneous paste is formed.

4. Transfer the mixture to a pot.

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

6. Continue stirring constantly until the cheese thickens and pulls away from the sides of the pot.

7. Be patient, this takes a few minutes.

8. When the cheese is ready, it should be very viscous and elastic.