This luxurious vegan hemp cheese is made from creamy blended hemp seeds and flavored with zippy garlic and fresh dill.
Here's something I never thought I'd say, and this is going to sound crazy, particularly in view of Monday's post, but here goes: my beloved cashew just might have met it's match.
I know, you're shocked. So was I. I never expected this. I was just messing around in the kitchen one afternoon when I'd finished up the day's lawyering activities a bit early. It kind of just...happened.
I had some leftover hemp seeds lying around, and since I did try making hemp milk once, and found it to be the most creamy, delightful non-dairy milk I'd ever tasted, I thought cheese was worth a shot. It was great!
So let's talk about hemp cheese versus cashew. They're both delicious, just...different. They both make for delicious spreadable vegan cheeses. One thing hemp cheese has over cashew is that the seeds do not require soaking. Instantaneous cheeze! Another thing - nutritionally, hemp seeds have more of what I'm looking for than cashews, namely protein and omega 3's.
There's definitely some difference in texture between blended cashews and hemp seeds. Where cashews blend up creamy, hemp seeds become more smooth and buttery. So if the texture of blended cashews is analogous to cream cheese, I'd say hemp seeds are more like brie or (sorry in advance) Velveeta.
Finally, there's flavor. Initially, the blended hemp seeds definitely took on an herby flavor, which I didn't mind, but I could see how some folks might not be into that. The addition of dill and garlic took care of most of that, and once I spread my hemp cheese on toast, it was pretty much eradicated (why toast would do that, I have no clue, but trust me).
This was all really exciting for me. I didn't have any bagels on hand when I whipped this up, otherwise you'd be looking at photos of one (or not, as I'd have devoured it). I'm still excited. I've got more work to do with hemp cheese. More hemp fun is on the way.
Garlic and Dill Hemp Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 cup hulled hemp seeds
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp. lemon juice about 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp. unflavored almond or soy milk
- 2 tbsp. chopped fresh dill
- ¼ tsp. salt
Instructions
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Place hemp seeds in food processor. Blend to a thick paste, stopping to scrape down the bowl as needed. Blending may take a few minutes.
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Add garlic and lemon juice. Blend some more. The seeds should form into a thick, glossy mass.
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Add milk, dill and salt. Blend to a smooth, creamy cheese.
Recipe Notes
Makes about ⅔ cup.
Yuuuummmy! This sounds to die for. I need to try... because I just recently fell in love with cashew basil cheese... time to experiment! xx
Absolutely! I've been obsessed with cashew cheese for a while - hemp cheese was a huge revelation!
I nominated you for Liebster Award! You can check out the rules and details on my recent post: http://one-sonic-bite.com/2014/09/liebster-award-the-vegan-edition/
That's so cool! This is the first I've heard of the Liebster Award, but I just gave your post a read and it sounds awesome! Thank you so much! :)
Dang, you really stepped up the non-dairy cheese game! I could totally get on board with hemp cheese. I like the grassy flavour and I imagine with dill and garlic it would be just right. Another amazing recipe!
Yeah, it was kind of crazy - I was just messing around and happened to have garlic and dill on hand, so that's what went into the cheese, and it worked out perfect! :)
I tried hemp milk recently and thought it was bitter. Does the lemon juice cut the bitterness in the cheese (or was my milk just weird)? ;)
Initially when I blended the seeds up they tasted bitter, but after adding all the flavorings and putting it on toast I didn't find it bitter at all. Funny that you mention it, because I tried hemp milk once and I didn't find it to be bitter, so I was surprised when my seeds blended up bitter. Maybe some milks/seeds are better than others.
I just bought all the ingredients to make this tonight...I'm so stoked! Going to pair it with these garlicky brown rice flour crackers I make...can't wait! Thanks for posting this. :)
Nice! Sounds like a perfect combo. I hope you enjoy it!
Hmmm......I am hooked on hemp milk (I add a bit of agave and vanilla to mine). I switched to hemp for the high protein content in comparison to almond milk. I will try this hemp cheese subbing oregano for dill (not my fave). Food for thought .... a combo of cashew and hemp might be perfection ? ...........
I was actually thinking the same thing! I might just try a blend of cashew and hemp next - I think the creaminess of the cashews and the butteriness of the hemp might be awesome together. I'll definitely share my results if I come up with something good. :)
Ozonizing the hulled hemp seeds for 15 seconds prior to blending at 400 mg/h of ozone cuts out the bitterness a lot
I just like it simple with only the hulled hemp seeds (hemp hearts) & water, then I add the herbs/salt/lemon juice/etc into the actual food (pizza, pasta, root veggies, etc)
How much does the hemp seeds weigh please as I have got hemp powder.
Also do you have a boursin ?
Hi Claudia! 1 cup of hemp seeds weighs about 5 ounces. I don't have a boursin recipe, but if you added some garlic and herbs to this cashew cream cheese I'm betting you'll end up with something that tastes a lot like boursin.
I can't have dairy, soy, or nuts. Could I use hemp milk instead?
Or coconut milk?
Hi Erica! Hemp milk should work. You could also go with rice milk, if that fits with your diet. I'm not so sure about coconut milk though, as it's much richer than all of the other options. I hope that helps! Enjoy!
I used unsweetened coconut milk yesterday and it was delicious. Thanks so much for the wonderful recipe!
Yay! Glad you liked it! And thank you for letting me know that coconut milk does work as an alternative. :)
This didn't taste good to me, the bitterness that was mentioned or grassy taste even with the garlic and dill. I really can't eat it as is but I give it 3 stars because I think I may like it mixed with something else like cashew cream. Thanks for the recipe, looking for ways to use hemp seeds. I think for me if it were half something else like sunflower seeds I might like it.
Sorry you're not a fan! I hope you like it better with some cashews mixed in!
Hi Alissa! I'd love to try your recipe but can i skip the dill?
Yup! You can leave it out or substitute with another fresh herb if you like - basil would probably be great!
How long do u think this would keep in the fridge for
Hemp tends to spoil pretty quickly, so I wouldn't plan on keeping it more than 2 days. You should be able to tell when it's gone bad by sniffing it - it'll be pretty funky. I think you could probably freeze it for 2-3 months.
Hi, can i use them with shell? the hulled ones are pretty expensive..
regards
Marina
I'm not sure if they would blend up completely with the shell.
Hey Alissa, not even sure what the hulled or shelled version is, only recently into Hemp seeds and sourcing decent usages, Australia's only recently got on board with this fabo ingredient. Ive just got hemp seeds, is this the same? They are lovely toasted with pine nuts and other seeds too. And, would preboiling remove bitterness perhaps?
I LOVE hemp seeds and eat them every day. This is a hemp seed spread....not a "cheese" of any kind....just sayon'