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.
sheri frazin wrote on July 25, 2011
i tried it and it came out really grainy. i guess i didnt let the food processor run long enough. it tasted horrible and not like cheese at all. i will try it one more time and see if it is any better. sometimes it takes doing things a couple of times to see if it your palate vs. maybe really not doing it correctly.
Nerissa wrote on March 2, 2011
Would it be possible to make a cheese like these out of raw peanuts? I have a bunch so I thought I’d try it, but I’m not sure if it would work out the same.
Susan wrote on March 3, 2011
Personally, I would not make a raw cheese out of peanuts.
sarah wrote on January 28, 2011
Just put everything together tonight. I’m excited to see how it turns out! What are some herbs/spices you might suggest to put in the almond cheese? Thank you for your amazing website, and recipes.
Joy Verning wrote on January 28, 2011
By the way my 92 year old Aunt had some of the Cashew Cheese and she loved it. That is remarkable because she is an old time eater not wanting to try new things.
Joy Verning wrote on January 28, 2011
When you add the Rejuvelac to your receipe to make cashew cheese, do you just add the water or do you add the sprouted wheat berries also? And how long will the sprouted wheat berries last in the frig?
Susan wrote on January 28, 2011
Rejuvlac is the liquid only. The wheat berries last a few days in the fridge.
D. Zemira wrote on January 25, 2011
I’m whipping up another batch of this amazing, delicate “cheese,” which so far, in my experience, comes the closest to a ricotta. It’s marvelous, to say the least. My desire to procure a dehydrator is re-surfacing with a vengeance (but the real problem is WHERE to put it)! I’m so keen on pairing this with my own crackers. ❤
Laura wrote on January 14, 2011
I agree with D. Zemira, those crackers are gorgeous. Hope you post the recipe soon.
Thank you for all the wonderful recipes and most of all the photos. You inspire me!
Blessings, joy, love and peace.
Sylvia @ LifeIsGoodWithFood wrote on January 14, 2011
Hi, I was lurking around your blog and thought I should finally say hi. 🙂
I LOVE cheese, so this recipe is definitely something worth recreating in my kitchen this weekend. Thank you!
Laura wrote on January 13, 2011
Gosh I can’t wait to try this cheese. Your photos make all your recipes look to good for words. I look at your website everyday.