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Do you love cheese? Well, look what we have here – this wonderful walnut and herb cheese! Yes, walnut and herb VEGAN cheese! Yes, it’s plant-based, delicious and so satisfying! Also super easy to make and it only requires a few simple ingredients. This recipe is all you need to set up the perfect cheese platter.
Doesn’t this just look fantastic? And just like real cheese? It definitely tastes like one! The cheese itself has a very cheesy consistency (thanks to the tapioca and the agar agar) and a very neutral taste, which works perfectly with the walnut pieces and the herb coat. But you can make it cheesier too, just add more nutritional yeast. So simple.
The idea of this cheese comes from my beloved Artisan Vegan Cheese book. I’ve talked about this book before and I surely will again, because it’s just the best thing that could happen to a cheese lover, like I am. Miyoko Schinner is often using agar agar and tapioca flour in her recipes achieving the perfect cheese consistency. Her recipes are all amazing, the only problem she uses rejuvelac in her recipes. Which takes a few days to make. But when I’m craving cheese I can’t wait days to make it. I need a recipe just like this one. Lifesaver with its deliciousness! I have to admit I usually eat it just as a snack, but you can also grate and melt the cheese, it works just like the real deal. So good!!!!
And if you want more vegan cheese recipes, check out my Tofu Feta Cheese and my Basic Cashew Cheese recipes!
Walnut and Black Pepper Vegan Cheese
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 2 round cheeses 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup of soaked cashews
- 3 tsp agar agar powder
- 2 tbsp tapioca flour
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 cup of water
- 1 cup of unsweetened plant milk of your choice (I used almond milk)
- 1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1–2 tsp salt
- lots of black pepper
- 1/2 cup of walnuts
- 2–3 tbsp mixed dried herbs*
Instructions
- Start by toasting walnuts, then chopping them roughly.
- Add soaked cashews, agar agar, tapioca flour, nutritional yeast, water, milk, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper to a blender and blend until completely smooth.
- Transfer to a sauce pan and heat over medium heat. Stir constantly until it will start to form a gooey cheese sauce. It takes 3-5 minutes.
- Cook and stir on for an other 2-5 minutes until it firms up completely.
- Add walnuts to the cheesy mixture and mix in roughly.
- Pour mixture into molds. Place them in fridge to set for about 2 hours.
- Once it set remove cheese from molds and roll in the herbs. Enjoy!
Notes
*You can also use nuts or black pepper to coat the cheese if you don’t want to use the herbs.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Cheese
Lovely recipe! I love Miyoko but I agree with you on the rejuvelac, I just can’t find the patience! Looks like you’ve developed a great work-around here.
Thanks, Michelle! 🙂
I do love cheese! But I’m trying to cut way back on eating dairy cheese. I love this simple walnut and herb vegan cheese, Evi. Perfect for a gal who is working on cutting back on dairy. 🙂
Thank you, Julie 🙂
Holy cow! This cheese really is deceiving! I mean it looks like Real Cheese (yup, I read the caption, but I still didn’t anticipate such a list of ingredients). OK I won’t lie saying I would definitely make this on my own, but I’m ready to try it if you send me some samples, haha,:) Good job, indeed!
Deal! Send me some of your coffee-cardamom ice cream and I send you a cheese 😉
Um… mind blown. Just a little. this looks so easy to make and the result is so… CHEESY!?
?
Thank you so much for this recipe, Evi!
I used to love cheese, but since I am vegan I had to give up cheese.
The vegan options in stores are too pricey for me.
But we made this recipe last night and tried this morning and I just couldn’t be happier!
Very delicious!
My husband said it didn’t taste that cheesy for him, but I think it was the best ever! Thank you so much!
One more thing:
How long can you store it?
I expected two tiny cheeses, but it is a very large portion.
Can you also freeze it?
Hi Kati,
so happy to hear you liked it!
I guess the cheese can’t fool anybody, but for me it also tastes cheezy enough!
This is definitely a large portion, but I find it easier to make a big batch, then keep in the fridge for the next days/weeks. I am not sure about freezing, but you can store it in the fridge for at least 2 weeks.
In the process of making this but not quite clear from the instructions as to when to add the walnuts to the mixture.
I’d appreciate if you can advise
Thanks
Dave
Hi Dave,
sorry, you are right, just correcting the recipe.
I added the walnuts at the very end, when the cheese is already firmed up. Just roughly stirred in the walnut pieces and then poured the mixture into the molds.
But you can also add the walnuts when the cheese is already in the molds, so you get a walnutty bottom. But this case you have to work quick, because the cheese sets very fast.
Let me know if you liked the cheese 🙂
Thanks Evi,
I have 10 people coming over this evening for a wine tasting so hope to have this ready by then.
I’ll let you know what they say!
Hi Evi,
Further to my previous post I made a double batch as I had 10 people coming over for a wine tasting evening. Mistakenly, I used tablespoons instead of teaspoons for the Agar Agar, but realised this straight way and tried to remove as much as possible, and retrieved about a tablespoons worth that hadn’t mixed with the other ingredients.
I had misgivings that the outcome would be hard and rubbery as I’d used too much but in fact it was quite soft and smooth. It was a big hit with the winos, who were all mainstream eaters and not on any “special” diets, and they all complemented it and want to get the recipe.
I’ve tried many of the recipes in Myoko’s book and struggle with the ones using rejuvelic as it is so time consuming. This is a great alternative
I am so happy to hear this, I hope you had a great evening! Thank you so much for sharing your experiences.
BTW I heard you can buy rejuvelac in stores too, that way the process could be so much more faster. Unfortunately I have no idea where to buy, I haven’t seen any yet.
Hi Evi,
Can you please clarify if the Agar Agar is flakes or powder as this can make a big difference to the final outcome as the powder is more contentrated.
Many thanks
Dave
Hi Dave,
I used agar agar powder here.
Thanks for noticing it, I’ve just corrected the recipe.
Have a nice day 🙂
Vegan cheese is on my to-do list, and this will have to be a part of it… looks and sounds so decadent. I love the combo. Beautiful, EVI!
Thanks, Alison!
This looks delicious! Totally keen to try. Bec x
Thank you! 🙂
Szia Évi!
Remélem nem baj, hogy magyarul írok. Sajnos az angolom nem túl jó.
Egy barátnőm mutatta nem rég a blogodat és azóta teljesen odavagyok érte. Kár, hogy nem magyarul írod. Nem akarod magyarul írni? 🙂
Azt szeretném megkérdezni amúgy, hogy mi az az agar? Tudod-e esetleg, hogy hol lehet kapni vagy mivel helyettesithető?
Én nem vagyok vegetáriánus, de a kisebbik lányom próbálkozik a dologgal, viszont nagyon szereti a sajtokat. Ezt néztük ki első próbálkozásnak.
Köszönöm a választ előre is, további sok sikert kívánok!
Anna
Szia Anna,
köszönöm a kedves szavakat!
Már gondolkoztam a magyar nyelvű változaton, majd meglátjuk még 😉
Az agar agar egy növényi zselésítő anyag, én porként szoktam vásárolni. Tengeri moszatokból vonják ki és hasonlóan viselkedik a zselatinhoz. Általában ázsiai boltokban vagy bio üzletekben lehet kapni, esetleg internetről is rendelhető.
Én sajnos még nem találkoztam semmivel, amivel helyettesíthető lenne. Viszont ha nem kapsz, ki is hagyhatod a receptből, csak használj kevesebb folyadékot. Így nem fog teljesen összeállni a sajt, de finom kenhető krémként is (hasonlóan ehhez: https://greenevi.com/basic-cashew-cheese-with-herbs/).
Remélem ízleni fog 🙂
I tried making this the other evening and followed it exactly but it didn’t set firm, even the day after it is more like a cream cheese consistency. When I cooked it until it was ‘firmed up completely’ I could see that it was starting to come away from the pan when stirred. Maybe this wasn’t set enough?
Hi Chookie,
I am so sorry it didn’t firm up for you.
I have made this recipe a few times, and I never had this problem.
When the cheese ‘firmed up completely’, it was hard to stir and it was already in one large piece basically. After pouring into the molds the cheese was hard in a few seconds. Maybe you could try to cook it a little bit longer, until the mixture is extra hard.
The other thing I can think of is the agar agar. Sometimes I get different results with cheap agar agar from Asian shops and with the more expensive types from organic shops. The cheap one often takes longer to firm up, but then when overcooked has a weird aftertaste, so it’s very tricky to use. Also there can be a big difference between agar agar powder and flakes (you need about the double amount of the flakes).
I really hope next time you will have more success! 🙂
Hi Evi,
I am a big cheese lover and it’s hard for me to give up them..so i try out a lot of vegan cheese recipes and i love them all ???? Today i made your cheese recipe during our son slept…but i slept too ???? I put the herbs in the high-speed blender, too instead of the rolling part…but it tastes very good!! Just the cheese is in the fridge and i’m so happy to try the ready herb cheese! So i will roll the ready cheese in the roasted walnuts ????
Great blog, super recipes and tasty choose of recipes!! ????????????
Hi Antonia!
I’m so happy you liked the recipe 🙂
Your version sounds great too, next time I have to try to roll mine in walnuts too!
Hi! Please help me hahaha I’m looking for a good and cheap vegan cheese recipe to make and I can’t find. Actually my problems is being the agar agar, her ein Philippines is really really expensive, I can’t haha. Do you think if I only put tapioca flour would be ok? Even nutritional yeast I never saw here …. that’s the problem to become a truly and real vegan sometimes hahaha. Thank you so much!!!!
Hi Lorena,
Unfortunately this cheese won’t work without agar agar. You can use tapioca, but then you don’t get a firm, sliceable cheese. Sadly I also don’t know about anything else that could work instead of agar agar.
However I have a few cheese recipes on the blog, that don’t use agar agar, maybe you find some that you like. I really like cashew based cheeses, this and this would also work without nutritional yeast (though they won’t be that cheesy). There is also my baked almond feta and my tofu feta recipe, plus a few cheese sauces (1, 2, 3). Still in the testing phase, but in the next weeks I’ll have a new, sliceable cashew mozzarella recipe that doesn’t use agar agar 🙂
Oh, and I have a Pinterest board that’s full with vegan cheese recipes, you might find some interesting agar agar free recipes there too.
I hope I could help a bit, have a great day!
Mine turned out more like a melted blob of brie. The consistency was not hard. It tastes wonderful but is nothing like your photo. I used soy milk and kept exactly to the recipe and waited three hours in the frig. I split the batch in two so I’m leaving the second in there overnight to see what happens with the consistency. Next time I will try almond milk and cut the salt in half. I used the full two tsp.
Hi Allie,
I’m so sorry to hear that the cheese didn’t firm up.
Unfortunately working with agar agar can be very tricky sometimes and I’ve noticed that different brands occasionally result different consistency. It can be a matter of seconds to find the perfect cooking time for agar agar (suuuuuper annoying!!!).
Did the second batch turned out better?
BTW I also prefer using only 1 teaspoon of salt, but I know that some prefer a saltier finish 😉
We loved it! Me and my children are vegans and we already tried tons of vegan cheese recipes, but this one is a win. Thank you!
Hi Katinka!
I’m so glad you liked it 🙂
Kisses to your awesome vegan family!
i would lo e to try the herbb and walnut vegan cheese. however i am having a hae
rd time finding agar powder is there something else i can use
Hi! Unfortunately I don’t think that there’s anything else you could use instead of the agar agar, since that’s what holds the cheese together and makes it sliceable.
I have a few other cheese recipes though, that don’t require agar agar, maybe you find one you like:
Simple Raw Cultured Cashew Cheese
Vegan Tofu Feta Cheese
Baked Almond Feta
Basic Cashew Cheese
Vegan Fondue
Hi, can I substitute tapioca flour with corn starch? Thanks
Hi Eva! I’ve never tried using corn starch here, so I’m not sure. But if you decide to experiment, let me know! I’m interested if it would work. 😉
Hi there, Can this recipe be made without cashews?
Thank you! Shawn
Hi Shawn,
I only ever tried this recipe using cashews, but I’m sure you could substitute it with other nuts or seeds here. The taste might get a bit different though…
Let me know if you experiment with the recipe and how it goes 🙂
Wow, this looks yummy! I’m going to make this using sweet chestnut flour instead of the cashews, millet flour instead of the tapioca flour (millet has iron in it and has a lovely nutty taste), oat milk, yellow American mustard instead of the vinegar ( as I love this mustard and it will give it a nice colour) and add some paprika instead of garlic.
Hi Matilda,
Your version sounds super interesting, I’ve never used chestnut flour before. Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Please only buy fairtrade cashews folks:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/11577928/Blood-cashews-the-toxic-truth-about-your-favourite-nut.html?fbclid=IwAR0bC0y8xmNDjn3MuSw85XUzrBIxSdah1hlSMw71tzFKtYtn8oakWQKv5Co
Yes! Super important topic, thanks for sharing it ❤️
How long do you soak the cashews for?
Thanks
-Chris
Hey Chris,
For the best result I try to soak my cashews overnight, so for 6-8-10 hours, but 1-4 hours will also work if you are in a hurry.
However there’s also a quick ‘cheat’ solution: Just cook the cashews in boiling water for 10-15 mins, they will be just as soft as if they were soaked all night long. 😉