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This recipe for vegan cheese can be prepared in 5 minutes in a pot and with an amazing result. It's very similar to melted cheese. Creamy, spreadable, melty, light, cheesy, and with a slightly tangy flavor.
Perfect to grill on a slice of bread, to stuff a wrap, like in this piadina with stracchino and arugula, in our super thin and crisp melted cheese focaccia, or on top of our flatbread pizza.
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What is this vegan cheese?
We got the inspiration for this vegan cheese recipe from an Italian fresh cheese called stracchino, a fresh, white, and soft cheese, generally made with cow's milk.
Here we show you how to make a kind of stracchino with a soy base, therefore without milk and 100% plant-based.
vegan cheese in a cheese form
Our vegan cheese is a really good alternative to cheese spread for those who are intolerant to milk, but also for those who are curious to try something new.
Watch a quick video story on how to make this vegan cheese.
For other vegan Italian cheese-like recipes check out our vegan ricotta, vegan parmesan cheese, and vegan béchamel sauce.
How do I eat this vegan cheese?
Our vegan cheese recipe can be used instead of cheese that you usually melt, like mozzarella or other melty cheese.
You can use it in pasta-bakes, lasagne, melted on bread or pizza, or even better, as the filling for Italian piadina, a traditional Italian flat-bread usually filled with stracchino and arugula.
We even did vegan melted cheese focaccia with this stracchino and it turned out delicious.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Soy milk: pick an unsweetened soy milk. You can replace it with any other unsweetened plant-based milk, but we slightly prefer soy milk for our vegan cheese.
- Cornstarch and potato starch: both have a thickening function, but they produce a different kind of thickness and therefore are both necessary. If you really cannot find potato starch where you live, then you can replace it with tapioca starch.
- Olive oil: we have also tried other vegetable oils, but extra virgin olive oil produces a vegan cheese with more flavour.
- Lemon: to add acidity. Some people don't like the lemon flavour in it. So go easy with it if it's the first time you do it.
- Nutritional yeast: to add some cheese flavour.
- Soy yogurt: fundamental in this preparation, both to give consistency and the sourish note present in most real cheese. Use soy yogurt without flavouring and without sugar. You can replace with other plant-based yogurt, but we prefer to use a soy one.
- Salt: to add flavour.
Equipment
To make this homemade vegan cheese you'll only need a small saucepan that can fit all the ingredients and a hand whisk.
If you want to shape it like in our picture, then you also need a cheese form that you can purchase online.
How to make vegan cheese in 5 minutes
In a pot off of the heat, add soy milk, potato starch, corn starch, olive oil, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and salt. Stir with a whisk till there are no lumps.
On medium heat, bring the liquid to a boil while stirring continuously with a whisk. Keep stirring until the liquid becomes thick.
Take off the heat, keep stirring vigorously for another minute, then add the soy yogurt and stir very well.
You should see the ingredients relax and turn into a smooth, lightly stringy consistency. Your vegan cheese is ready.
Store in a bowl in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can prepare it in advance and store it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Yes, you can use any unsweetened, no-flavor plant milk. However, we find that soy milk produces the best result that is most similar to real cheese.
Yes, you can use any unsweetened, no-flavor yogurt. However, we find that soy yogurt produces the best result that is most similar to real cheese.
If you don't have potato starch, then try to replace it with tapioca starch. The texture will be more stringy this way, and less fluid. You might need to add a tablespoon of extra yogurt.
No, you should not use coconut oil in this recipe because it's saturated fat and it will become solid when you put it in the refrigerator compromising the texture of this cheese.
I would stick to vegetable oils that stay liquid at room temperature. Coconut oil is great for other cheese recipes.
Storage
Before storing, make sure your vegan cheese has cooled down to room temperature.
Then store in a bowl, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. We do not recommend freezing this vegan stracchino.
The stracchino will clump together when in the refrigerator. This is fine. It will still be perfectly spreadable and delicious.
You can also give it a more traditional cheese shape by putting it in a cheese mold. You can purchase those online for a few bucks.
Recipe
Vegan cheese recipe | It's melty + no nuts
Equipment
- Whisk
- Small pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup (230 grams) soy milk unsweetened
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) potato starch
- ⅔ tablespoon (10 grams) corn starch
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) olive oil
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons (10 grams) nutritional yeast
- 2 pinches salt
- ½ cup (120 grams) soy yogurt unsweetened
Instructions
- In a pot, add soy milk, potato starch, corn starch, olive oil, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and salt. Stir with a whisk till there are no lumps.
- On medium heat, bring the liquid to a boil while stirring continuously. Keep stirring until the liquid becomes thick.
- Take off the heat, keep stirring vigorously for another minute, then add the soy yogurt and stir very well.
- You should see the ingredients relax and turn into a smooth, lightly stringy consistency. Your vegan cheese is ready. Store in a bowl in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Nutritional Values
If you liked this recipe, you might also like:
- flatbread pizza with 3 toppings
- no-knead focaccia with rosemary or tomatoes
- vegan frittata without tofu and without nuts
Did you try this recipe at home? Let us know in the comments below 🙂
Buon appetito!
Nico
Beatrice
Since there are no reviews yet I'll post mine in both English and Italian, so both readers will know how great it is!
This recipe is truly amazing! I just finished making it and I can't stop eating it! The cheese is soft, velvety and stringy just like real stracchino. And the taste becomes even more like real cheese as it cools down. I have been looking for a simple and tasty cheese spread recipe ever since I went vegan, as I sometimes desperately miss cheese, and I think I found it!
Questa ricetta è fantastica! La ho appena preparata e non riesco a smettere di mangiare questo stracchino! È morbido, vellutato e filante proprio come lo stracchino originale. E il sapore diventa ancora più simile al formaggio man mano che si raffredda. È da quando sono diventata vegana che cerco una ricetta semplice e gustosa per un formaggio spalmabile, perché a volte il formaggio mi manca da matti, e penso proprio di averla trovata!
Nico e Louise, il sito e il canale YouTube sono entrambi di super qualità e un piacere da leggere e guardare. Complimenti davvero, mi è capitato raramente di trovare canali così ben fatti! Vi auguro di raggiungere tutto il successo che vi meritate!
Nico
Ciao Beatrice, your message makes us sooo happy! Thank you so much for the kind words 🙂
We are very happy you liked the stracchino, as we also sometimes desperately miss cheese.
Grazie di cuore ❤️
Nico e Louise
Samara Lynn
Absolutely amazong recipe. I made the piadina with this cheese with argula and with broccoli rabe. The ricotta recipie is also incredible. I'm going to try every single recipe on this site and will definitely be following your social media. Giving up dairy was the hardest thing about becoming vegan and these cheeses really satisfy, better than any store-bought vegan cheese I've ever had. Thank you for your work!
Nico
Thank you sooo much for your kind message Samara. We are so happy you like the cheeses and the recipes. ❤️🙏 And welcome to our little community 😄
Sian
The cheese tasted great, but I didn't manage to make it melt like in the photos above. I put it under the grill on some toast, and it sort of formed a skin rather than melting. I'm pretty sure it was something I did, rather than the recipe. Do have any idea what I might have done wrong?
Thanks!
Ann
This looks wonderful. Is it possible to omit the oil? We avoid due to health issues. Thank you!
Nico
Yes. You can omit the oil in this one 👍
Laura
My stracchino had a strong taste of flour even though I followed the recipe precisely. How long must the liquid boil before adding the yogurt? Probably I didn't boil it enough. Any suggestions before trying again?
Anyway, your recipes are fantastic and I love them all.
Laura
Nico
Hi Laura, thanks! Happy you liked the recipes. Do you mean taste of flour or cornstarch? Because there is no flour in this recipe 🙂