This almond cheese recipe is the easiest vegan cheese recipe that you can make! With only a few simple ingredients and just minutes of your time, you will have a cheese perfect for slicing, grating, or spreading on crackers.
This almond cheese is made from almond flour, so there is no soaking or grinding needed. You don't even need a blender or food processor to make this cheese, just dump everything in a saucepan and stir!
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- It's made with ingredients that are fairly inexpensive and easy to source.
- This can be made in less than 5 minutes with no fancy kitchen gadgets. No need to blend this mixture in a high-speed blender or food processor.
- It's a delicious dairy-free cheese alternative for soft spreadable cheese or can be made firm into a parmesan that you can grate.
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Almond Flour - use the blanched almond flour that you can find in the gluten-free baking section of most grocery stores. The finer the grind of the flour the smoother the cheese will be. You can blanch your own almonds and grind them into almond flour if you wish. You can also swap out cashew flour instead of almond flour if you choose.
- Water - this is to moisten the almond flour and achieve the correct consistency. Slight changes in the amount of water you add can change the consistency significantly.
- Lemon Juice - for a little acidity and tang that you would find in dairy cheese. You can also use apple cider vinegar instead or omit it completely if you want a more mild-tasting cheese.
- Refined Coconut Oil - Be sure to use refined coconut oil so it won't have a coconut flavor. You have to use coconut oil since it becomes solid in the refrigerator - it's like glue to hold the cheese together. I don't recommend swapping out this oil for olive oil or any other cooking oil. If you want it oil-free, you can swap it out for 1 tsp of water instead, but it won't hold together as well.
- Nutritional Yeast - for a cheesy flavor. (This is a yellow flaky powder that you find at most large grocery stores or natural foods stores.) Make sure you use nutritional yeast and not brewer's yeast.
- Salt - for flavor.
- Herbs - (optional) for added flavor. Any dried herb mix like Italian herbs, dill, rosemary, thyme, oregano, or Herbes de Provence gives the cheese a nice flavor.
- Crushed Nuts- (optional) for coating the outside of your cheese ball.
🥄 How to make almond cheese
Step 1 - Heat 2 1/2 tbsp of water, 1 tbsp of coconut oil, 1/2 tsp lemon juice, 3 tbsp nutritional yeast, 3/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and (2 tsp dried herbs if desired) in a saucepan until it just begins to boil.
Step 2 - Turn off the heat and add 1 cup of almond flour.
Step 3 - Stir well until all of the dry ingredients are moist and it has formed a stiff dough.
Step 4 - Place in a small bowl or form into a ball and wrap in parchment paper and put it in the fridge for at least 3 hours to set. (You can use it hot as a cheese spread if you wish.)
Step 5 - After your cheese ball has been set, you may roll it in crushed nuts if desired. Simply crush the nuts of choice, (I like pistachios) take the cheeseball out of the refrigerator, roll it into a more perfect ball with your hands (this will warm up the cheese and make it a little sticky), and roll it in crushed nuts.
🧀 Almond cheese texture
You can simply adjust the amount of water that you add to this cheese to adjust the firmness and make it either a hard cheese that can be sliced or grated or a softer vegan cheese to spread on bread or crackers.
A few more drops of water will make it softer and a few less will make it firmer. Either way, this cheese is delicious and super quick, and easy to make!
🥣 Oil-free instructions
The coconut oil in this recipe is used to help it hold together and be firm when cold. If you don't want to use oil, you can add an additional 1 tsp of water instead, but the consistency will be a little different.
🌟 Variations
Garlic Herb Cheese Ball
Add a clove of fresh minced garlic and 2 teaspoons of dry herbs of your choice. You can also add 1 -2 tablespoons of fresh herbs. After the cheese has cooled off, you can roll it in crushed nuts.
To make a firm cheese to grate
Use this recipe to make a hard vegan parmesan cheese that you can grate over vegan soups, spaghetti, vegan meatballs, tofu stuffed shells, or vegan risotto!
Simply reduce the water to 1 1/2 tablespoons and follow the rest of the directions the same. Wrap it in parchment paper and let some air get to it while it sits overnight in the refrigerator.
🥡 Storing and freezing
Your almond cheese will stay good in the fridge for 5-7 days. Wrap it loosely for the first 24 hours to let some air get to it and dry it out a little, then keep it in an airtight container.
Freezing your almond cheese: Place in an airtight container or freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Remove from the freezer about 6 hours before you want to eat it or put it in the refrigerator overnight to thaw.
🧀 More vegan cheese recipes
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
📋 Almond cheese recipe
Almond Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon refined coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup almond flour
Optional Ingredients:
- 2 teaspoons dry herbs like Herbs de Provance or Italian seasoning
- 1/4 cup crushed pistachio nuts or other nuts of choice
Instructions
- Heat 2 1/2 tbsp of water, 1 tbsp of coconut oil, 1/2 tsp lemon juice, 3 tbsp nutritional yeast, 3/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, and (2 tsp dried herbs if desired) in a saucepan until it just begins to boil.
- Turn off heat and add 1 cup of almond flour.
- Stir well until all of the dry ingredients are moist and it has formed a stiff dough.
- Place in a small bowl or form into a ball and wrap in parchment paper and put it in the fridge for at least 3 hours to set. (You can use it hot as a cheese spread if you wish.)
- After your cheese ball has set, you may roll it in crushed nuts if desired. Simply crush nuts of choice, (I like pistachios) take the cheeseball out of the refrigerator, and roll into a more perfect ball with your hands (This will warm up the cheese and make it a little sticky.) and roll it in crushed nuts.
Notes
To make a firm almond cheese to use as a grated parmesan:
- Simply reduce the water to 1 1/2 tablespoons and follow the rest of the directions the same. Wrap it in parchment paper and let some air get to it while it sits overnight in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Click the stars above or leave a comment! I'd love to hear from you!
Just made it, as written, except I subbed the coconut oil for sunflower oil, as I didn't have any coconut oil on-hand. I know this will make it a tad softer, but that works for me. I also added a few more drops of water and a sprinking of herbs de Provence. It is a little bit salty, but most good cheeses are.
Thanks so much for the recipe! I sampled it before I popped it into the fridge. The taste is heavenly!
This recipe sounds so yummy. I love parmesan cheese, but it is not a healthy food for me. I have a lot of almond meal left after making almond milk and going to use it to make this recipe to try to dehydrate. For extended shelf life (properly stored), I think/hope water soaked sesame seeds and/or chia seeds would be a suitable replacement for the coconut oil. Initially, I was looking for variations for a dehydrated cracker recipe and your recipe for almond cheese caught my eye. Thank you for sharing..💖
You're welcome, Lisa. The coconut oil acts as a glue in the cheese holding it together. You may be able to swap soaked chia seeds, but it will change the texture for sure. Hope that you enjoy the cheese. 🙂
Kinda' late to the party, but for anyone who's wondering, soaked chia might work okay, but even better, in my opinion, will be ground flaxseed. It has a binding power similar to egg, and is a key component in many a vegan scramble.
However, if you're making a spreadable soft "cheese", just add a little more water, as Monica has instructed, and forgo any ground seeds. You can omit the oil if your almond flour isn't defatted, although keeping in the oil regardless will give it a silkier mouthfeel more reminiscent of dairy cheese.
How much flax seed would you add and should it be premixed with water?
I just made it. Looks really good. Cannot wait to try it. THanks!
I hope that you enjoy it, June. 🙂
Looks delicious - how long does it last in the fridge?
It will stay good in the fridge for 5-7 days. Enjoy! 🙂
Wow! I can't believe how easy this is to make. I've made vegan cheese before with soaking and blending nuts, but I love that this can be made with almond flour and take out that step! Thanks for this creative recipe!
I'm so happy that the recipe works well for you, Meg!
I would be hard pressed to call it cheese... But this was so weirdly delicious, I just kept snacking on it and ate it over 2 days. It was not much - I made it as written and the mixture nicely filled a 1 cup glass container. It was hard enough to slice but I think it would still be spreadable if I wanted to do so.
For reference, I still eat cheese so I know what cheese tastes like - this is not cheese but who cares what the name is? I will definitely make it again (the only thing I would change is to add less salt, as it was quite salty to me, personally) and at least double the recipe so I have more to snack on. 😎
Loved how easy this recipe was and how little cleanup there was afterwards. Who would have thought? Thank you for your creativity!!!
Yea, it's not a cheese replacement but is a yummy cheese-like spread. It is one of my kids' favorite snacks when served on crackers. They usually end up eating the whole thing pretty quickly too. I'm glad that you enjoyed it! 🙂
Hi Monica,
Can the coconut oil be substituted? (allergies)
You can simply leave it out or replace it with a little water (1 tsp). It changes the consistency a little but is still good without it. It will still make a nice soft cheese this way. Enjoy! 🙂
I’m going to try to make it this weekend! Thanks for the variations- looks super tasty!
Great! I hope that you enjoy it! 🙂