Do your next pasta night right, and whip up a batch of this homemade vegan Parmesan cheese. All you need are 5 ingredients and 5 minutes!
I've been making my own vegan Parmesan cheese forever! But it's one of those things where I always just threw a bunch of ingredients together and never actually measured, which is why I didn't have an actual recipe for vegan Parm until recently.
I decided to finally get to it and create a recipe already so I could share it with you guys!
In the past I've used different types of nuts and seeds, different spices and seasonings, and even baked my Parm. But this recipe is my favorite version, and it's pretty darn easy to make. No baking, just 5 required ingredients (and one optional ingredient), and it takes minutes to make.
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What You'll Need
- Raw Cashews. Super important: they must be raw. Roasted cashews won't have quite the right flavor and texture — your cheese will actually taste like nuts. Raw cashews have a very neutral flavor, so they work well as a vehicle for the other seasonings. Trader Joe's sells raw cashews, as do many supermarkets in the bulk foods section.
- Nutritional Yeast. Look for this in the natural foods section of your supermarket. It's the key ingredient for adding cheesy flavor to your vegan Parmesan.
- Spices. We're using garlic powder, onion powder, and (optionally) white pepper. This blend will add lots of savory flavor to your cheese, and I highly recommend including the white pepper if you can.
- Salt. Salt is important here. Cheese is salty, so omitting or cutting down on the salt will make your vegan Parmesan taste less cheesy. If you're watching your sodium intake I'd recommend going light when sprinkling your Parm rather than using less salt when you make it.
How to Make Vegan Parmesan Cheese
It's so easy. Ready for this: stick everything in a food processor bowl, and blend it to a powder.
Shelf Life & Storage
Vegan Parmesan cheese will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for at least two to three weeks.
You can also freeze it in a sealed container for 3 to 6 months. I highly recommend freezing it, as it takes virtually no time to thaw. I usually just scoop a little bit out of my container before dinner. By the time I'm done preparing the meal, my cheese is ready to use!
Frequently Asked Questions
Try macadamia nuts, almonds, hemp seeds or sesame seeds.
It is!
Sprinkle it over your favorite vegan Italian dishes. Try my vegan eggplant Parm, stuffed shells, or penne arrabbiata.
More Vegan Cheese Recipes
- Vegan Cream Cheese
- Vegan Mozzarella Cheese
- Nacho Sweet Potato Cheese
- Vegan Ricotta Cheese
- Vegan Cheese Ball
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Parmesan Cheese
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup raw cashews
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon white pepper (optional)
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor fitted with an s-blade.
- Blend for a few seconds, until the mixture resembles Parmesan cheese.
- Taste-test and adjust any seasonings to your liking.
- Serve immediately or store in sealed container in the refrigerator or freezer.
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Omg this tastes absolutely amazing! I will definitely be making this on a regular basis. Being gluten and dairy free, I really appreciate this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing this ❤️
We ran out of a commercial made vegan Parmesan cheese a few days ago. I'm so happy I found this recipe today. It was super easy to make and tastes absolutely delicious. I don't plan to buy it again. This homemade version is way less expensive and tastes better to me.
This is my go-to recipe, super flavor and texture!
Any substitute for nutritional yeast I don’t tolorate it or cashews either
I'm not sure of anything you could sub for the nutritional yeast - it's where most of the cheesy flavor comes from. Raw sunflower seeds might work in place of the cashews.
This is delicious. I buy cashew pieces at Trader Joe’s they are more affordable. Nutritional yeast is also much cheaper at Trader Joe’s than at Whole Foods.
Does this vegan Parmesan cheese melt? Can you use it to bake?
It doesn't melt - if you'd like to use it on a baked dish I recommend sprinkling it on after cooking.
I can't eat cashews or peanuts, can I substitute any other nut or seed?
Macadamia nuts might work - they often do in cashew cheese recipes! You might also be able to use sesame seeds.
Well finally I have come across vegan cheese. Thanks Alissa for this wonderful work.
Very welcome! I hope you enjoy it!
Just wondering it if is ok to use onion and garlic in their real form & not the powdered version. Garlic powder actually
hurts my stomach so I have aways avoided it. My question is 'why are these powdered versions used in recipes - I have noted that some very creative chefs use them though.
Thanks for reading this.
Veronica
In this recipe I used dried versions mainly to keep the mixture dry. You could try using fresh, but be careful to ensure that the added moisture doesn't cause the blended up cashews to start clumping together. If this does happen I'd try spreading it out on a baking sheet and baking at a very low temperature. You could also try just leaving the garlic and onion out - they add flavor but the recipe will still work without them. :)
Delish!! I also added a half a teaspoon of smoked praprik, as my daughter is not a fan of pepper & it gave the "cheese" an extra oomph of flavour. Thanks for sharing.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Smoked paprika sounds like a delicious addition!
I can't use onion powder. Will it still work?
I made it without the onion powder (allergic) and it's wonderfui! Much better than just using nooch! I put half in the freezer but the rest is going on my pasta and greens!
Yay! And sorry I didn't get to answer your question on time! I've made it without the onion powder and garlic powder in a pinch myself. I'm glad you like it!