Homemade Vegan Parmesan Cheese

I enjoy playing around with vegan alternatives to foods that are traditionally vegetarian or meat-based. As a vegetarian, my avoidance of meat is understandable, and though I am not officially a "vegan," I often prefer a meal free of all dairy products.

Vegan cheese is something that I find rather intriguing — homemade that is, because most of the store-bought cheeses I have tried, usually sent to me from companies that want me to try their products, are nothing like real cheese. They lack flavor, are often rubbery in texture, and contain oils and soy proteins that I would ordinarily rather avoid. I've had great success making salad dressings that usually contain dairy, most notably a Caesar salad dressing that I must say I find even more enjoyable than my usual mayonnaise-based dressing.

And then there is this vegan Parmesan cheese which contains few ingredients and packs a lot of protein as it is based on nuts and nutritional yeast. The nutritional yeast also gives the Parmesan its cheesy flavor, and you can also control the amount of salt that you add as traditional Parmesan usually contains a lot of sodium. It is also easy to make and much cheaper than vegan Parmesan that you can buy from the grocery store.

It's so delicious, I could eat it by the spoonful, but it does keep well in a sealed container in the refrigerator for a good few months.

In the future, I plan on experimenting with other vegan cheeses because I like to come up with new creations in my kitchen.

Homemade Vegan Parmesan Cheese

Recipe by Lisa Turner Published on October 10, 2018 Delicious (and healthy!) vegan nut-based Parmesan cheese alternative Preparation: 5 minutes Print this recipe Ingredients: 3/4 cup raw cashews 1/4 cup raw almonds (or use another 1/4 cup cashews) 1 to 2 tablespoons hemp seeds (optional) 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional) 1 teaspoon sea salt Instructions: In a small food processor, grind all the of the ingredients together until you have a fine meal. If there are still small chunks of nuts, you can transfer the some of the mixture into a mortar and pestle and crush further. Seal in a covered jar in the refrigerator for up to two months. Makes about 1 1/4 cups

Other classics with a vegan twist:
Creamy Vegan Cashew Alfredo Sauce with Crispy Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Shell Pasta
Sun-Dried Tomato Pizza with Olives and Cashew Cheese
Shepherd's Pie with Portobello Mushroom Sauce
Scalloped Potatoes with Coconut Milk and Mushrooms