Marinated Vegan Feta

Oh you guys, I am so excited! I made a Marinated Vegan Feta Cheese last weekend and it was such an easy DIY! I usually don’t make lots of cheese for a couple of reasons. It’s time-consuming and the homemade cheese usually doesn’t last very long which is a shame when you put so much of effort into your cheese. So cheesemaking is more of a special occasion thing for me. But this recipe is different, you can do a big batch of it in less than an hour. And it lasts several weeks in the fridge since the vinegar and oil in the marinade will preserve it nicely. Cool, huh?

I initially got really inspired to learn a bit more about vegan cheese when I got a Cheesemaking kit at the coolest organic supermarket in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. It had a recipe book and the vegan feta made from almonds seemed so easy that it was the first recipe I tried. Since then I have been tweaking it to my liking and the perfect consistency. Now that I feel it’s perfect, I would love to share it with you because I think that a lot of you will love it too. Plus, it’s such an amazing giveaway to people that miss their dairy feta.

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Marinated Vegan Feta

Course Side Dish

Keyword cheese, vegan

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups 160 g of almonds (without skin)
• 3 cups water
• 6 Tbsp agar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp citric acid
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 cups water
• 4 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 6 Tbsp herbs dried dill, oregano, rosemary, dried parsley, dried chives
• 2 tsp favorite spice mix I used a Mediterranean spice mix
• 2 tsp salt

Instructions

• Soak the almonds in water overnight. If you are using skinned almonds, remove the skin after soaking is complete. Drain the almonds and rinse totally customizable.
• Place almonds and remaining feta ingredients in a blender and blend at high speed until you get a smooth consistency.
• Pour mix into a pot ( a non-stick one is a good choice here) and slowly heat while stirring continuously to make sure the mixture doesn’t burn. Only work on medium heat here.
• When the feta mixture starts to thicken up, keep stirring on the heat for another minute to activate the agar and the cheese will set later on.
• Pour the mixture into a flat tray or a silicone mold. I used a silicone mould for chocolate bars which worked wonderfully. Transfer to the fridge for 2 hours until it sets.
• Whilst the cheese sets, whisk together the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl: Apple cider vinegar, olive oil, water, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, herbs, spice mix, and salt. 
  
• Remove the cheese from the fridge and cut into feta sized cubes. Add to a glass container and fill up with the marinade. Close and store the Marinated Vegan Feta in a cool and dark place for several weeks.

Additional notes:

Above all, the secret to the Marinated Vegan Feta is the marinade. It adds all the flavor to your feta. Here, I am going to give you my basic Mediterranean marinade recipe which is totally customizable. So I encourage you to go wild with herbs, spices, and ingredients like peppercorns and garlic.

Also, I highly recommend removing the skin from the almonds. Because I had a go at a batch with the skin on and I felt there was a pretty strong marzipan-like aftertaste. So, if you cannot be bothered to remove the skins just buy the de-skinned ones. Removing the skins form your almonds is actually super easy. Since you are soaking the almonds anyways to soften them, the skins will come off almost effortlessly after soaking them overnight. Just make sure you use hot water to soak them it! Ready to make some cheese? Let’s do it!

If you are interested in more vegan cheese recipes, check out my post on How to create 4 vegan cheeses with minimal effort!