How to Make Vegan Parmesan Cheese

You have got to try this super easy Vegan Parmesan Cheese recipe! It uses only 6 ingredients and will take you less than 5 minutes to make! It’s so flavorful and no one will guess what the main ingredient is!

Due to their neutral taste, cashews are my personal favorite for this recipe. However, if you don’t have raw cashews on hand, don’t worry! This recipe will also work great with almost any other raw nut or seed.

What is Nutritional Yeast?

Nutritional yeast can be bought in either a fortified or unfortified form. Stores most often sell a fortified variety, containing a higher amount of B vitamins. Along with the many B vitamins it contains, nutritional yeast is also a great way to add a little more protein to a meal. It is low in sodium, but still has a savory, cheesy, and nutty flavor.

Vegan Parmesan Cheese Ingredients

• Raw Cashews : Can be substituted with almost any other nut or seed.
• Nutritional Yeast
• Salt
• Garlic Powder
• Lemon Zest
• Onion Powder

Feel free to adjust any of the seasonings to taste. Adding more salt and lemon zest will help create a more tangy vegan parmesan, while increasing the amount of nutritional yeast will give you a cheesier taste. The garlic and onion powder are there to add more flavor, so you can adjust them to your preference.

How to make Vegan Parmesan Cheese

All you need to do is add all the ingredients (raw cashews, nutritional yeast, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and lemon zest) to your food processor and pulse the mixture together. Once the mixture reaches a coarse and gritty texture, looking similar to Parmesan Cheese, you know you’re done!

You’ll need to scrape the sides and bottom of the food processor if the cashews begin to stick together.

Some Helpful Tips

• Be careful not to over-blend the ingredients. The mixture will end up clumping and sticking together, instead of looking like parmesan. If you blend for too long, you’ll end up with something resembling a nut butter!
• I recommend using a mini food processor because a larger one may not be able to blend the small amount of ingredients. If you have only a larger food processor, double the recipe in order to make sure the blades can reach all the cashews. Another alternative is to use a blender, but be careful because it becomes easier to blend too much!
• Experiment with the seasonings! After you make the recipe, try adjusting the seasonings to create your perfect vegan parmesan. Feel free to add other spices, such as smoked paprika or cumin!

Substitutions

If you don’t have raw cashews on hand, you can substitute them with almost any other nut or seed of choice. Walnuts, almonds, pistachios, sunflower seeds, and pine nuts are some of my top choices. However, keep in mind that the taste will differ slightly depending on which ingredient you use.

Storage

This recipe is great because of how long it stays good! You can keep your vegan parmesan in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for around 3 to 4 weeks, or in the freezer for around 3 to 4 months.

Using this Vegan Parmesan

My favorite way to use this Parmesan is to sprinkle it all over salads! It can add a great savory taste to almost anything! Some other ways you can use this include:

• On top of a vegan pizza
• Sprinkled inside or on top of a vegan omelette
• On any pasta dish (tastes great on vegan mac and cheese!)
• On some steamed or roasted veggies
• Over baked potatoes or potato wedges
• Sprinkled over plain popcorn

Let me know if you enjoy this recipe, I’d love to hear what you think!

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• Frozen Stuffed Dates
• Chocolate Nice Cream (just 4 ingredients!)
• Mango Peach Jam
• Cherry Berry Jam
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