Easy Sliceable Vegan Mozzarella (That Melts Too!)

This sliceable, meltable vegan mozzarella is a satisfying and versatile cheese replacement for all your favourite dishes. With a base of cashews and coconut milk, this mozzarella is sooo creamy and has the perfect salty flavour you’ll want to use on everything.

Quick and Simple Vegan Mozzarella Cheese

Whether it’s been a long time that you’ve been vegan, or you recently decided to incorporate more plant-based alternatives into your diet, you’ve probably had that gooey cheesy pizza craving or missed the chunks of fresh mozzarella on top of your salad at a restaurant. It’s no secret that those flavours and textures we know and love are difficult to replicate – even for some of the top brands in the industry.

Don’t worry – this recipe is actually pretty hard to mess up. As long as you have the key binding ingredients, and follow the steps (that we perfected during our recipe testing) you’ll be slicing, dicing and melting your own homemade mozzarella before you know it.

The cool thing about making your own cheese is the ability to add flavours you can’t normally find in store-bought versions. During our recipe testing we added garlic, different spices, and herbs to make fun flavour combinations.

How to Make Vegan Mozzarella Cheese that Slices and Melts

Let me run you through some of the key steps. We begin by boiling cashews to soften them before blending them smooth with the other ingredients. This allows for a smooth and creamy mozzarella that mimics the real thing. Boiling is a necessary step – unless you have a high speed blender (a serious game changer).

I’m going to try and keep this short and sweet, but I won’t let my love for tahini go unnoticed! This is technically an optional ingredient, but really brings everything together and adds a rich, delicious, umami flavour. Don’t skip it, if you want my honest opinion!

The next important step is adding the binding ingredients in the right way. Heating the pectin and tapioca starch on the stovetop, instead of adding them into the blender with the other ingredients, allows the mixture to thicken. Then, it’s placed in the fridge to cool, firming up even more. Pectin is the fiber that’s used in jams and jellies to help thicken them up.

Tapioca starch, AKA tapioca flour, is a light, powdery ingredient made from cassava root. It’s got a nearly non-existent flavour that helps to thicken soups, sauces, and pie fillings without stealing the spotlight. It also adds a lovely chewiness to baked goods! I tested this recipe several times with different combinations of binding agents before I got the ideal sliceable cheese and these two were my top picks.

We use a wide mouth mason jar (you can also use a tall glass) to store the mozzarella while it firms up. This determines the shape of your mozzarella, which is important if you are planning on slicing it for something like caprese salad.

How to Store It

We store our vegan mozzarella right in the mason jar – simply screw on a lid and store it in the fridge. Alternatively, you can slice and transfer it to an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days. We have not attempted freezing this mozzarella, but if you do, leave a comment letting us know how it goes!

How to Use It

This recipe can be used cold or hot, melted on your favourite recipes. Here are some of our favourite recipes to substitute the store-bought mozzarella with your own homemade version.

Obviously in these photos we sliced it into large rounds of mozzarella to imitate a delectable caprese salad (one of Liv’s favourites)! We also recommend using this super meltable mozzarella for homemade vegan pizza, or if you’re in the mood for more of the same thing in a different font, try this bourbon BBQ calzone! The possibilities are truly endless when it comes to melty cheese alternatives so here are a few more ideas that are PERFECT for those salty, savoury flavours.

• Grilled Cheese
• Vegan Meatball Sub
• Sheet Pan Pizza Grilled Cheese
• Garlic Fingers
• Jalapeno Popper Toast

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