How to Make Vegan Parmesan “Cheese”
Learn How to Make Vegan Parmesan Cheese. Four ingredient vegan parmesan cheese made with raw cashews that is the perfect substitute for any recipe you would use Parmesan cheese for!
Dairy-free Parmesan cheese was one of those things I always wished for when I couldn’t eat dairy. I was so excited to find an easy alternative to Parmesan cheese that I can make in only 5 minutes. Let me show you How to Make Vegan Parmesan Cheese.
I had to go dairy free when my daughter was only 7 weeks old. The poor little thing was having irritation in her digestive tract and occult blood in her stool.
The most logical solution to help her to feel better since I was breastfeeding her was to take all dairy out of my diet. Yup, she had a dairy allergy.
It was pretty devastating at first because I had no idea what I was going to eat and how I was ever going to enjoy the foods I normally did. Luckily, we have Wegmans here in Rochester that has a whole section of dairy-free options.
I found the best alternatives for pretty much everything I could ever want: yogurt, milk, ice cream, breadcrumbs, chocolate and more. The only food I had a really hard time finding a good dairy-free substitute for was CHEESE. If you need any suggestions for the best of anything other than cheese, feel free to ask!
Periodically, I made vegan grilled cheese with “fake” cheese and it was, dare I say, disgusting. I couldn’t get over the texture or the weird taste. My decision was that I would rather just go without. It was that bad.
The other thing I could NOT live without was Parmesan cheese. It is in so many recipes that I make on a regular basis. How was I going to make my meatballs? Or my meatloaf? Or get that crunchy topping on my mac and cheese? The crunchy topping is a must.
I tried making my traditional meatballs or Mozzarella Stuffed Italian Meatballs with extra breadcrumbs instead of the Parmesan cheese. That was definitely a no-go! They came out way too dense and were just missing that certain “something”.
I was thrilled to have this option of How to Make Vegan Parmesan Cheese. The cashews give it that “nutty” flavor like cheese would have.
I use this vegan Parmesan cheese in meatballs, meatloaf, and more! Try it soon and you will be so happy to have something with such a close consistency to real cheese.
- ¾ cup raw, unsalted cashews
- 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- ¾ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- Add all ingredients to a food processor and mix/pulse until a fine meal is achieved.
- Store in a mason jar in the refrigerator to keep fresh.
- Use within 1 month.
I love this! I also had to give up dairy when one of my little guys was a baby and it wasn’t easy. I love this because it gives fellow cheese lovers hope! I also love nutritional yeast and all of the B vitamins!
I have so many dairy free family members so this is great!
so glad i have a recipe for dairy free cheese! multiple people in our family are dairy free 🙂
This is absolutely amazing! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Dare I say that you have made my entire week?
I can now make my own Parmesan cheese substitute with my favorite nut in the whole wide world. Can my cooking journey ever get more enjoyable than this?