A simple vegan cheddar cheese with jalapeño ball covered in slivered almonds; the perfect spread for your next party. Serve with fruit and crackers.
For many there is still a lot of mystery behind what vegans eat. I have been offered fish more than once yet asked, “can vegans eat peanut butter?” just as many times. There actually isn’t much secret behind what we eat, and preparing food is really quite easy – you just leave out the animals.
I’m using Vegan MoFo to take an A-Z trip through my pantry to bring you 26 easy recipes to show you that anyone can cook vegan. Eating vegan, well, it’s as easy as ABC.
“I could never go vegan. I just couldn’t give up cheese.”
I feel fairly certain that most of you have either said that or heard that more than once.
This used to be my response to the rare vegan I met back in the 90s or early 2000s. I honestly believed that vegans just didn’t get it. They obviously never had truly good cheese or they would understand; I felt sorry them – sorry that they were living their life abstaining from this glorious & wonderful food, and for what? To be a little more radical than their neighbor? To spark up interesting conversations at parties? Seriously, these were my thoughts.
By 2006 I was that radical, cheese-abstaining, tree-hugging, animal-loving vegan and it was me that was suddenly hearing, “I could never give up cheese.”
What had changed in me?
I guess I would say that when truly convicted to live a vegan lifestyle saying goodbye to even your most favorite foods is no longer an issue of desire or deprivation. It becomes quite irrelevant in face of the much bigger issues of life, death, respect, & suffering.
And so I accepted a life without cheese.
A lot has changed in the 8 years I’ve been vegan.
In 2006 there were a handful of not-so-good vegan cheeses on the market and, while I’m sure many people already were, the concept of making homemade nut-based cheeses were far from (vegan) mainstream and the technique was often complicated or unattainable. Now in 2014 there is a huge array of store-bought vegan cheeses, cookbooks dedicated to it & endless recipes found throughout the blogosphere for all kinds of creative, delicious, dairy-free cheeses. I’m pretty sure that the vegan world has made sure that no one can use the excuse, “I could never give up cheese.” again.
Ever since the cleanse I did a few months back, I’ve been unable to enjoy vegan cheddar cheese – too process-y.
Therefore I’ve been making more from home, which after many recipes, I’ve discovered does not have to be intimidating. For example, this vegan cheddar cheese with jalapeño, like my Buffalo Cheddar Cheese from earlier this year, is seriously a matter of blending, refrigerating, and eating. So easy and so satisfying.
And according to Jason, “this is some of the best cheese I have ever had.”
A simple vegan cheddar cheese with jalapeño ball covered in slivered almonds; the perfect spread for your next party. Serve with fruit and crackers.
- 1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked 4-6 hours
- 3 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes, soaked 30-60 min
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp tahini paste
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp spicy mustard
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 jalapeno, minced
- 1/3 cup almond slices, crushed
- Drain and rinse the cashews.
- Place them in a food processor along with tomatoes, nutritional yeast, tahini, vinegar, mustard, & spices and blend until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add coconut oil until completely incorporated.
- By hand stir in the minced jalepenos and transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until the cheese is firm enough to mold.
- Shape the cheese into a ball or rectangle, coat it in crushed almonds, and serve.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
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Eillea says
I decided to be a vegan about 2 and half months ago. But in my city, it is quite hard to find out the restaurant where the food is focusing on for vegan. I must browse and find out many recipes so that I could cook the menu for my food. I stumbled over your post. You made my day! Another recipe to practice and to eat. Thanks for sharing, Sarah.
Sarah says
Congrats on making the decision to go vegan Eillea. I’m sorry it’s not easier in your city. Please reach out to me if you every have any questions about how to make certain foods vegan or make the transition easier! I’ve had lots of practice 🙂
Valerie says
Did you use refined coconut oil or virgin coconut oil? Because, of what I can remember, non refined oil has a strong taste of coconut and I don’t want to miss the recipe!
Sarah says
refined is the best to use, because you’re right about the taste of coconut is strong in non-refined.
Kelly says
This looks so good! I want to make this for an upcoming birthday party but I do no have tahini paste…I have regular tahini with the natural oil. What can I do for a substitution?? TIA!!
Sarah says
Thanks. The regular tahini is what I meant…not sure why I called it paste.
Shannon says
I made this today and it is fabulous! I did make a couple of small changes due to needing to restock my space rack: a bit of chopped shallot for the onion powder (I was out) and liquid smoke + regular paprika (again, out). It tastes sooo good. It did take about 10 minutes of blending to achieve a smooth & silky texture but once it got there, it was great. I tend to be picky about nutritional yeast in cheeze but this was exactly the right amount for me. Thank you for a great recipe!
Laura Kiowski says
I’ve made this twice. We love the smoky flavor or this cheese. The second time I didn’t realize till the last minute at 9pm that I was completely out of coconut oil. I started smelling all the oils in my pantry and decided on sesame oil. It changed the texture to more of a cheese spread but didn’t affect the flavor at all. Now I have two great variations of your recipe. Thank you!
Sarah says
Cool. Thanks for sharing!
Jordan says
Just made this last night, it is so tasty! Its my first crack at making my own cheese and it was so easy and fast, can’t believe I have been buying my vegan cheese at the store all this time. It was a real hit with my non-vegan roommates too. I did have one problem when making it and was wondering if anyone has tips on how to correct this. The oil kept separating from the mixture now matter how well I blended it. I ended up with kind of a gooey layer of oil on the bottom. It was still yummy, but hoping to improve on my second go at it.
Sarah says
What kind of blender were you using? My best guess is that it wasn’t fully blending perhaps because of the power of your blender which might be hard to fix. I would suggest reducing the oil when you try it again. Let me know how it goes!
shaheen says
I love the simplicity of this recipe and I love jalapenos, I will so be making your recipe, it really is one to WOW about. Thank you.
Maggie says
I did a bit of improvising (white beans instead of tahini), but this is, hands down, the most cheese-like non-cheese I’ve ever had. I can’t stop snacking on it! Thank you for such a delicious recipe
Sarah says
I’m so glad you liked it! I’m going to try that white bean thing…I like the sound of it.
Johanna @ Green Gourmet Giraffe says
Actually I think that maybe we are creating a world where vegans will start saying they can never give up cheese because there are so many vegan cheeses about – your cheese ball looks amazing
Katie @ Produce on Parade says
This is gorgeous!! I love how you say it became “irrelevant”. That is so beautifully put! I often have a hard time explaining that to people. “But don’t you totally miss salmon?!!?” <—100% Alaskan girl here, haha. Now I have a great explanation! Thanks!!
Caeli @ Little Vegan Bear says
Delicious!
Stefany, The Beach Veg*n says
This looks delicious… and easy! I have been intimidated to make my own cheeses, but this just might be the one to start with!
Abby @ The Frosted Vegan says
I agree, I just can’t do processed cheeses, but this, whoa, looks amazing!!
Caitlin says
this looks phenomenal and better than any REAL cheese i’ve ever eaten. i can almost taste it.