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.
Laurence wrote on January 3, 2016
Your simple almond cheese is a wonderful basis for any variation. I just tried it with pink pepper and just a little bit of maple sirup. I was afraid that it would be too soft since I do not own a dehydrator, but it turned out just perfect. Thank you!
Norvie Bullock wrote on April 11, 2016
T/Y !!!
Sheri Olsen wrote on September 7, 2015
Hi I’m allergic to citrus do I have to put lemon juice in the almond cheese?
Susan wrote on September 7, 2015
Hi, Sheri, No, you don’t. It is in there for flavor. You can substitute a little apple cider vinegar instead. Cheers!
Jackson wrote on August 13, 2015
This is awesome recipe thanks!
I’m supposedly raw vegan but am so addicted to cheese I will eat a little block for lunch
How do you make danish blue cheese with blue things or drippy goat cheese or gorgonzola raw vegan! Must be a way to mimic the real deal. I think there’s something very addicting in real cheese, some sort of chemical.
Thanks for the recipe and thanks for spreading vegan food!!
Susan wrote on August 14, 2015
Hi, Jackson, There are some great cookbooks out there that have recipes for cheese. Cheers!
Susan wrote on July 19, 2015
What kind of probiotic is good to use in vegan cheese? Thanks
Michelle wrote on July 6, 2015
What kind of oil do you use? EVOO? Avocado?