A delicately tangy vegan “parmesan” cheese, which is simple and easy to make. Raw cashews and blanched almonds are ground down to the grainy consistency of Parmesan cheese and flavoured with nutritional yeast and unrefined sea salt. No garlic powder or overpowering flavours.

A tasty and satisfying alternative to the real thing that has the benefits of being both healthy and cruelty free. No baby calves have been separated from their mothers and no beautiful cows have been exploited for their milk.

It’s not the real thing but it does come close in terms of texture and flavour. Most importantly, it does enhance dishes where real Parmesan can’t be used due to dietary restrictions or choices. It’s excellent for gratins, lasagne, cannelloni, moussaka and roasted stuffed vegetables. It can also be sprinkled on pasta and gnocchi etc. I prefer my pasta sauces without – the only exception being pasta with pesto. In my humble opinion, pasta sauces should be delicious without the addition of cheese, real or fake.

Vegan parmesan cheese in a plastic container with a spoon and a sieve on a kitchen worktop.

About this recipe

This was one of my first attempts at making vegan cheese. It all started with an ingredient list on the back of a jar of store-bought vegan parmesan cheese. I really liked it, and I was able to figure out the approximate percentage of each ingredient from the information on the label. I dropped the garlic powder because I’m not a fan – real Parmesan doesn’t taste of garlic. Blanched almonds make for a lighter, more authentic colour than whole unblanched almonds. Because of their brown skin, unblanched almonds will yield a slightly darker “parmesan” but the taste is equally as nice. I use a 50/50 ratio of cashews and almonds. Nutritional yeast and unrefined sea salt provide the right amount of cheesy flavour and tang.

Important tips

Use store-bought blanched almonds for this recipe. Don’t blanch your own because it involves soaking them. Using damp ingredients may result in mould forming.
Only use raw almonds and cashews.
Be careful not to over blend/grind the mixture. It only takes a few seconds to get the grainy texture of real Parmesan cheese. However, it’s practically impossible to grind the nuts homogeneously – some of the mixture will be of the right consistency, while the rest will be chunks of partially ground almonds and cashews. When you get to that stage, stop the machine. Tip the mixture into a coarse sieve and sift it into a bowl. Put the chunks back into the machine and then grind and sift again.
Don’t be tempted to double the quantities. Experience has taught me that doubling the quantities makes it ten times more difficult for the blender/grinder to cope, and you end up with the mass near the blades clumping and turning to nut butter while the nuts at the top remain whole. If you need double quantities, make two separate batches.
Sifting the mixture through a coarse sieve will give you a perfectly homogeneous grainy texture reminiscent of real Parmesan cheese.

You’ll find the exact quantities, as well as step-by-step instructions with photos, in the recipe card below.

Vegan parmesan cheese in a plastic container with a lid on a kitchen worktop.

How to use vegan parmesan cheese

This vegan parmesan cheese is ideal for lasagna, cannelloni, moussaka, aubergine parmigiana, gratinated dishes and roasted stuffed vegetables. Sprinkle it on pasta, gnocchi and whatever else takes your fancy. However, it does not melt, so it’s not suitable for use in recipes that require melted cheese.

Spaghetti with wild garlic pesto and vegan parmesan cheese.

The dishes in the photos aren’t up on my blog yet. It’s just to give you an idea of what you can do with this vegan parmesan cheese. If you like the look of them, keep watching this space – I’ll do my best to publish them as soon as possible! If you like, you can subscribe. That way, you’ll receive my recipes as soon as I publish them. Or, you could drop me a line and tell me what you’d like to see next here on Vegan Hot Stuff!

How to store your vegan parmesan cheese

Store your vegan parmesan cheese in an airtight container in the fridge. It will keep for a couple of months. It also freezes well, but you will need to use it up quickly once defrosted.

Vegan Parmesan cheese

Recipe by Deborah

5.0 from 3 votes

Course: CheeseCuisine: VeganDifficulty: Super easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

This vegan parmesan cheese is perfect for lasagna, moussaka, stuffed vegetables, and gratinated dishes, as well as for sprinkling on pasta etc.
Recipe by Deborah, veganhotstuff.com
Quantities for 100 g of vegan parmesan cheese

Ingredients

46 g raw cashews
46 g blanched (peeled) almonds
4 g unrefined sea salt
4 g nutritional yeast

Directions

Put all the ingredients into a grinder or blender. Use the grinding/milling blade, aka flat blade (the one composed of a single two-pronged blade). Grind the mixture until it has a grainy consistency similar to that of parmesan cheese. Don’t overgrind because it will start to clump and eventually become nut butter. Even if there are still some chunks of almonds, stop the blender when the mixture is grainy.
Tip the mixture into a coarse-meshed sieve and gently shake it to sift out the chunks. Collect the “parmesan” as it passes through the sieve. Put the chunks back into the blender and grind until grainy. Pass through the sieve again and add to the rest.
Put the vegan parmesan cheese in an airtight container and store it in the fridge. It will keep for a couple of months.

Notes

Don’t blanch your own almonds because you need to soak them to remove the skins. For this recipe, you must use dry almonds. Using damp ingredients may result in mould forming.
Only use raw almonds and cashews.
Be careful not to over blend/grind the mixture. It only takes a few seconds to get the grainy texture of real Parmesan cheese. However, it’s practically impossible to grind the nuts homogeneously – some of the mixture will be of the right consistency, while the rest will be chunks of partially ground almonds and cashews. When you get to that stage, stop the machine. Tip the mixture into a coarse sieve and sift it into a bowl. Put the chunks back into the machine and then grind and sift again.
Don’t be tempted to double the quantities. Experience has taught me that doubling the quantities makes it ten times more difficult for the blender/grinder to cope, and you end up with the mass near the blades clumping and turning to nut butter while the nuts at the top remain whole. If you need double quantities, make two separate batches.
Sifting the mixture through a coarse sieve will give you a perfectly homogeneous grainy texture reminiscent of real Parmesan cheese.

I hope you like this vegan parmesan cheese! If you do, maybe you’d like to rate it and leave a comment below. I’d really appreciate the feedback and it also helps others find my blog and recipes!

While you’re here on Vegan Hot Stuff, maybe you’d also like to take a look at some other popular recipes!

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Vegan celeriac mash in a serving bowl with a spoon. — Mushroom Bourguignon

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