Raw Recipe: Simple Almond Cheese
Nut cheeses are a great item to have in your raw food recipe collection. They are tasty, easily support the addition of many herbs and spices, and will impress your raw and non-raw friends a like! There are a couple of different ways to make nut cheeses.
You can make delicious nut cheeses with macadamia nuts, cashew nuts and many other nuts and seeds.
Macadamia Nut Cheese made with probiotics.
(From the Rawmazing Holiday Book)
Probiotics: Probably the easiest, but most expensive way to make the “cheese” is to use probiotics. I love how this “cheese” tastes and the texture is wonderful and it is quite fail-proof. The only drawback is the cost of the probiotics. Most recipes require at least a teaspoon, which can be more than half a bottle of capsules. On the plus side, the cheeses are wonderful, the probiotics don’t require advanced preparation.
Cashew Cheese made with Rejuvelac
(recipe here: Cheese)
Rejuvelac: Raw Cheeses made with rejuvilac also have great taste and texture but can be a little more temperamental. Plus, you need to add a couple of days to your process to make the rejuvelac. The grain needs to be sprouted first and then made into rejuvelac. It can be a bit time consuming. That said, it makes a great cheese with wonderful, tangy taste and good texture.
Simple Almond Cheese (recipe follows)
Simple Cheese: Simple cheese spreads and simple cheeses can be made with just nuts and no fermentation process. I usually prefer these cheeses for spreads, but they can also be firmed up and dehydrated to form the rind.
Different nuts not only taste different, but also will give different textures. Almonds make a clean tasting cheese that is a little grainy. Macadamias make a beautiful, creamy cheese that develops good firm texture. Cashews make a smooth, easy to flavor cheese that has a bit of a softer texture.
Today’s recipe is pretty simple. I started my “cheese” when I got up. I threw the ingredients in the food processor, spooned it into a nut-milk bad and tossed it in the refrigerator. The next morning, I took it out, patted it into a round and tossed it in the dehydrator (to form a “rind”). By the evening, it was ready to go!
I hope I have inspired you to try your hand at nut cheese making. It is fun and tasty!
Soaked almonds with skins removed. It takes a little time but is very easy. They just pop right off.
The almonds should be well blended and smooth.
The mixture in the nut-milk bag, before putting it in the refrigerator.
Simple Almond Cheese
Simple Almond Cheese
- 1 cup almonds, soaked, drained and skins removed
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic
- pinch Himalayan Salt
- Soak almonds overnight in water. Drain and pop off skins.
Place all ingredients in food processor. Process until smooth. This will take a bit of time, don’t rush.
Place nut mixture in nut-milk bag or colander lined with cheese cloth.
Give a light squeeze and place in refrigerator over-night to set up.
You can use the cheese at this point or if you want it more firm, place it in the dehydrator for 6+ hours (at 115 degrees) to form a rind.
Spirit Wolf wrote on August 1, 2013
I don’t have a dehydrator and hesitate to buy one because our place is really tiny and I hesitate to buy something that will take up that much room and only be used very occasionally. Can anyone tell me what power setting to use in my 1200 watt microwave to try dehydrating it that way? Thank you in advance. This is my first time making any kind of cheese at all; and if it is as good as the residue in the food processor, I’m going to *really* love it! 🙂
Susan wrote on August 1, 2013
Spirit Wolf: Because you are depending on heat AND air with a dehydrator, I honestly don’t think this will work in a microwave. Sorry…
Barbara wrote on July 21, 2013
I don’t have a food processor, but I do have a VitaMix, could I make it that? I’d probably have to double the recipe in a VM, but that’s okay. And thanks for your recipe.
Megan wrote on July 14, 2013
Wow is all I can say! I made this (without a dehydrator), and it took about two days but it’s totally worth it! I followed the recipe for the most part, left it in the fridge overnight, then took it out, rolled it in Italian herbs and dried dill, then popped it in the toaster oven with the door open at the lowest setting with a fan pointed at it for about 2 hours, on and off. It’s firm on the outside but like a soft, ricotta texture on the inside. It tastes amazing. Even my pizza and mozzarella stick eating roommate said it was good! New found love for nut cheese!
Susan wrote on July 14, 2013
Megan…wonderful!!!!!
Amt wrote on July 12, 2013
Can I leave out the oil?
Susan wrote on July 12, 2013
Please feel free to experiment. I haven’t done it that way so can’t give you any advice as to how it will turn out. Cheers!
Abell wrote on June 11, 2013
Can I use left over nut rind fro my almond milk I made?
Susan wrote on June 12, 2013
I do not believe that nut milk pulp will work in this recipe.
jenny cestero wrote on May 26, 2013
I am so happy to find these wonderful, life giving recipes online! I used this recipe last night… I altered it a bit… removed 3 tablespoons of water from the recipe but added 3 large sundried tomato. I have a gas oven with a live pilot always on, so while oven was off, I let the mix sit there 4 hours to dehydrate it covered with paper towel I padded the mix with. this morning, I made 1 inch balls out of it, gently rolled it in Italian fresh finely chopped herbs from my garden and a sprinkle of sea salt. the meat eaters in my home almost didn’t leave me any LOL Thank you for sharing your expertise with us!!! btw I left the skins on the almonds… Im lazy LOL
Christopher Michaels wrote on May 8, 2013
I have found Chux Paper wipes (clean and unused of course) are a good alternative for cheese clothe if you don’t have other options.
Susan wrote on May 9, 2013
I would be careful to make sure there aren’t any bleaches, etc., that could be left in the paper from manufacturing.
Susan wrote on May 7, 2013
https://rawmazing.com/bbq-brown-rice-crackers/
Jacqueline wrote on May 7, 2013
I thought you can age the cheeses for a couple of months? Also muslin works great for draining the cheeses.
Susan wrote on May 7, 2013
You can age cheeses. But this recipe is made to be a quick one. Cheers!