How to Create 4 Vegan Cheeses Overnight with Minimal Effort

Cheese seems to be one of the massive hold-backs for a lot of people when adapting to a plant based diet. And of course how couldn’t it be difficult if you have been eating cheese all your life and now you are suddenly supposed to stop? So it felt almost natural to me to write a post about How to Create 4 Vegan Cheeses Overnight with Minimal Effort to help all of you cheese loving people out there! And believe me cheese was something that I didn’t let go off for a while.

So what are the options if you are wanting to go off cheese?

1. Going for vegan supermarket cheese:

The thing with vegan supermarket cheeses is the same with dairy cheeses: it’s filled with additives and preservatives often based on oil or starches – things I don’t want my body to absorb in any shape of form. In no way they add any nutritional value to your diet.

2. Not having cheese at all (is that even an option?):

I know how crazy this sounds but after being on a plantbased diet for more than 3 years I am not really craving cheese anymore, at least not as much as in the beginning of my vegan journey. There are so many amazing vegan spreads or other dishes that don’t really leave room for any desperate cheese cravings. But I hear you, cheesy friends, not having cheese is not an option for some of you. And understandably this blog post is for you lovely people out there.

3. Making you own vegan cheese:

Vegan cheese recipes can be pretty complex. I love all sorts of DIY recipes but starting to experiment with a cheese recipe really took a while. I guess that’s because I wanted my cheeses to be easy with no fuss ingredients and equipment. And I wanted to be able to create 4 different ones from 2 basic recipes. Now, believe me when I say this, the cheeses I am going to show you today are off-the-hook amazing, especially the soft ones.

By the way, what do you think about my claim of creating cheeses overnight? To be honest, I was even more ambitious in the beginning as my initial idea was to create 4 cheeses in under an hour. Friends, it didn’t happen in under an hour, I am sorry. You could manage with 2 people I guess but but you just need a bit of time to let the cheese set. but I will tell you these cheeses require minimal effort and by letting them set overnight you don’t have spent time waiting for the cheese to set in the fridge.

With my 2 basic cheese recipes you will be able to create a selection of 4 cheeses which will allow you to put together a reasonable cheese board. 2 cheeses are sliceable featuring a pink pepper and a herb cheese. They are perfect for sandwiches, caprese salad, oven bakes or your antipasti platter. The other 2 were soft cheeses – one featuring flavors of chopped walnuts and figs, the other being an olive, dried tomato and dill cheese. They are great for sandwiches, to dip with veggies but also for pasta or baked potatoes.

Sidenote: the salami pictured above is a smoked fig salami from Greece. It is absolutely amazing with the vegan cheese adding sweet and smoked flavors. No kidding this is the bomb for vegan cheeses platters. I get mine from the lovely people of the Wholefood Box. 

Almond Pink Pepper Gouda (makes 2 cheeses with a 10cm diameter)

• 5 tbsp agar agar powder
• 5 cups water
• 1 cup almond flour
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/8 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp smoky salt
• 1 .5 tsp garlic powder (or 1 fresh garlic pod)
• ¼ tsp turmeric (optional)
• 2 tsp pink pepper corns slightly cracked

In a bowl whisk together the almond flour, lemon juice, olive oil, nutritional yeast, salt, garlic, turmeric, apple cider vinegar and set aside. In a pan whisk together the agar agar powder and water. Bring to a boil for at least five minutes. Add the ingredients of your bowl into the pan while stirring constantly, this should become quite thickish quickly. Let cool for at least 15 minutes then stir in the pink peppercorns. Don’t boil them as they will lose taste and texture. Pour into your heatproof moulds ( I have used a lined ramekin), set in the fridge overnight to set.

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Almond Pesto Gouda  (makes 2 cheeses with a 10cm diameter)

• 5 tbsp agar agar powder
• 5 cups water
• 1 cup almond flour
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/8 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp smoky salt
• 1 .5 tsp garlic powder (or 1 fresh garlic pod)
• ¼ tsp turmeric (optional)
• 2 tsp seaweed pesto powder or any dried herbs mix

In a bowl whisk together the almond flour, lemon juice, olive oil, nutritional yeast, salt, garlic, turmeric, apple cider vinegar and set aside. In a pan whisk together the agar agar powder and water. Bring to a boil for at least five minutes. Add the ingredients of your bowl into the pan while stirring constantly, this should become quite thickish quickly. Let cool for at least 15 minutes then stir in the pesto powder or dried herbs. Pour into your heatproof moulds ( I have used a lined ramekin), set in the fridge overnight to set.

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Mediterranean Macadamia Olive Soft Cheese (makes 1 soft cheese with 10 cm diameter)

• 100g cashews
• 50g macadamias
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 tsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 3 tsp pineapple juice
• 1 tsp garlic powder (or 1 fresh clove)
• 1 tsp smoky salt
• 1 handful dried olives + tbsp rosmary
• Rolled in a handful chopped dried tomatoes and dried pesto mix

Pre-soak the cashews for at least an hour in warm water before you start. Add all ingredients into your high speed blender or food processor. Once creamy remove from the blender and fold in the dried olives and rosemary. Line a ramekin with parchment paper and fill in the cheese. Let set in the fridge overnight. The next day grab a board and sprinkle with a mix of dried chopped tomatoes and dried herbs. This way when removing the cheese you turn the ramekin upside down into the herbs. Now carefully roll the cheese into the herbs and tomatoes and try to fully cover it. It is a bit like coating an iced cake with sprinkles. A palette knife can help here as well to transfer the cheese on to the cheeseboard for example.

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Walnut Fig Soft Cheese (makes 1 soft cheese with 10 cm diameter)

• 100g cashews
• 50g macadamias
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 tsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp smoky salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder (or 1 fresh clove)
• 1 handful chopped walnuts
• 1 handful dried chopped figs
• 3 tsp pineapple juice
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• Rolled in a handful chopped walnuts

Pre-soak the cashews for at least an hour in warm water before you start. Add all ingredients into your high speed blender or food processor. Once creamy remove from the blender and fold in the dried olives and rosemary. Line a ramekin with parchment paper and fill in the cheese. Let  et in the fridge overnight. The next day grab a board and sprinkle with a mix of dried chopped tomatoes and dried herbs. This way when removing the cheese you turn the ramekin upside down into the herbs. Now carefully roll the cheese into the herbs and tomatoes and try to fully cover it. It is a bit like coating an iced cake with sprinkles. A palette knife can help here as well to transfer the cheese on to the cheeseboard for example.