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.
Mary Crum wrote on January 19, 2013
Greetings! This was at the top of my search for nut cheeses after I became curious when a newly-vegan friend posted a photo of her first try at nut cheese. I, myself, have not made this attempt, but have recently begun hearing about this after the discovery of a raw food restaurant in Chicagoland. Though I do not eat sugars, I will admit vegan cheesecake sounds very tempting! After reading through the recipes and comments, I clicked on other recipe links and happened upon one that uses yeast flakes as the probiotic. After yet another search, I found these are inexpensive, vegan, gluten-free, soy free, etc., and readily available. NOW brand is probably the least expensive. I hope this suggestion helps out!
Idgie wrote on January 18, 2013
Hi Susan! I am really excited about trying this recipe and I am in the midst of it at the moment. When you say “a light squeeze” you mean I am not attempting to remove all liquid? The mixture goes immediately into the fridge in the nut milk bag? Thank you so much! xoxo
Carol wrote on December 16, 2012
Susan, Thank you so—— much for your recipes and your endless patience in answering all the questions for people! I am learning so much from you and since I am new to all this, I desperately need this information. I really don’t have the money to order all the books so I depend on the internet for my information. I do order food and other raw food products from the internet and slowly but surely I am learning and getting my health back. Unless you have been ill, you have no idea how much that means. This diet helps so much more than any medicine you could take to recover health and vitality. God Bless You!
Susan wrote on December 16, 2012
Carol, thank you! Your words are an inspiration to me. 🙂
Susan wrote on November 13, 2012
This cheese wasn’t created for the addition of nutritional yeast. That said, you could try adding it to taste. I am not sure what you are asking for your second question…eat it? Spread it on crackers? Top a raw pizza with it? There are many ways you could use the cheese. Cheers!
Sarah wrote on November 13, 2012
Also what would you use this cheese for?
Sarah wrote on November 12, 2012
How would you incorporate nutritional yeast into a recipe like this? I know alot of the cashew cheese recipes have that.
Arlene wrote on November 6, 2012
Hi Susan,
Am so happy to find your easy nut cheese recipe. How many tablets of probiotic do you suggest for your recipe. So excited to make it. I’m a cheese lover!
Thanks,
Arlene
Andrew K Kirk wrote on October 9, 2012
This looks awesome! I can’t wait to try it right away.
san wrote on October 5, 2012
leftover almond meal* (from almond milk)