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This vegan provolone cheese is buttery, tangy, and a little bit smoky. It's made with the leftover wheat starch water from washing flour to make seitan. Perfect for your next charcuterie board or sliced thin for sandwiches, the texture will impress even the hardcore cheeseaholics!
Ingredients
Directions
Soak the cashews overnight or for 8-12 hours to soften them. If you're pressed for time you can boil a cup or two of water, then add the cashews and remove from the heat. Let them sit for 30 minutes in the boiled water, then give a quick rinse in cool water.
In a high-speed blender or food processor (I used the single blender cup from my Ninja) process the cashews and starting with about a 1/2 cup of water, process until smooth, adding the additional 1/4 cup as you go.
Drain as much excess water off your starch as possible and stir. I let mine sit in the fridge for a day or two to try to get it to really separate before using for this. Make sure your starch water is at room temperature before beginning, or it can make your coconut oil solidify when mixing.* I microwave it in 30-second increments, stirring each time until it's ready. Be careful not to heat it too much or the starch will clump.
*You can also leave the starch on your counter for several hours or overnight so it begins to ferment. The sourness and slight acidity will add more depth of flavor to your cheese.
Prepare a steamer and have a container ready for your cheese. I use these silicone molds which easily release. You may want to oil a glass container if using. Whatever you choose, make sure it can easily hold up to at least 2 1/2-3 cups of liquid, because the mixture will rise by about 1/3 during cooking.
Add the blended cashews and all the ingredients through the liquid smoke to your blender or food processor and blitz. Slowly add in the melted coconut oil and butter and continue to blend until it is fully emulsified.
Finally add in the lactic acid and pulse the blender a bit more to incorporate.* Pour the mixture into the prepared vessel and steam for 45 minutes. Allow to come to room temperature before covering and storing in the fridge. The cheese will be hardened after about 6-8 hours of resting in the fridge and will continue to harden a little more as it rests.
*SIDE NOTE: The reason I add the lactic acid last is because it can affect the kappa carageenan's ability to harden the cheese. I'm honestly not sure if it makes that much of a difference since I'm blending everything together before cooking, anyway, but it's a habit I picked up from The Non-Dairy Evolution by Skye Michael Conroy. If you're just learning about vegan cheese making or want to explore some new ideas, I highly recommend the book.
More Starch Water & Deli-Style Recipes
Ingredients
Directions
Soak the cashews overnight or for 8-12 hours to soften them. If you're pressed for time you can boil a cup or two of water, then add the cashews and remove from the heat. Let them sit for 30 minutes in the boiled water, then give a quick rinse in cool water.
In a high-speed blender or food processor (I used the single blender cup from my Ninja) process the cashews and starting with about a 1/2 cup of water, process until smooth, adding the additional 1/4 cup as you go.
Drain as much excess water off your starch as possible and stir. I let mine sit in the fridge for a day or two to try to get it to really separate before using for this. Make sure your starch water is at room temperature before beginning, or it can make your coconut oil solidify when mixing.* I microwave it in 30-second increments, stirring each time until it's ready. Be careful not to heat it too much or the starch will clump.
*You can also leave the starch on your counter for several hours or overnight so it begins to ferment. The sourness and slight acidity will add more depth of flavor to your cheese.
Prepare a steamer and have a container ready for your cheese. I use these silicone molds which easily release. You may want to oil a glass container if using. Whatever you choose, make sure it can easily hold up to at least 2 1/2-3 cups of liquid, because the mixture will rise by about 1/3 during cooking.
Add the blended cashews and all the ingredients through the liquid smoke to your blender or food processor and blitz. Slowly add in the melted coconut oil and butter and continue to blend until it is fully emulsified.
Finally add in the lactic acid and pulse the blender a bit more to incorporate.* Pour the mixture into the prepared vessel and steam for 45 minutes. Allow to come to room temperature before covering and storing in the fridge. The cheese will be hardened after about 6-8 hours of resting in the fridge and will continue to harden a little more as it rests.
I’m sure this is going to sound stupid, but I have to ask….can I substitute something else for the wheat starch, I just don’t feel like washing flour today but I have all the other ingredients for making the cheese. But there is no way to know how much wheat starch is actually present in the 3/4 cup of starch water.
Not stupid at all! You can buy powdered wheat starch and add it to the water until it’s about as thick as pancake batter. You can also try other starches. A combination of potato and tapioca should work well, (though I haven’t tested this) and should even give you more melt ability than wheat starch which tends to stiffen and clump more than the others. Please let me know how it works out if you try it!
I just went ahead and washed some flour yesterday and made the cheese today after leaving the starch water on the counter overnight to get a bit of fermentation….I could smell it!!.
It’s quite yummy and the texture is great (yeah, I had to taste it right out of the blender and also before the refrigerator) My husband says it’s tasty so that’s all I care about….and I can taste the smoke flavor. I didn’t see anything about it being a melting cheese though.
Thank you for a great vegan cheese, I will definitely be making it again and washing flour more often to get the starch water….but I may also try the potato flour too, someday.
So glad you and your husband enjoyed it! Cheese made with wheat starch is finicky with melting, because that particular starch seems to clump more easily than any other when heating. That’s part of why steaming this works so well, but also why some other starches like potato and tapioca might “melt” better.
So, completely new to vegan cheeses, wtw is starch water? I saw you said you used the leftover starch water from making seitan, but I still don’t really get it.
It is wheat starch mixed with water. When washing seitan you separate the gluten from the starch, and the starch settles to the bottom of the water. Then you dump the top water off and you are left with a thick, sludge-like consistency of wheat starch plus water. You can buy dry wheat starch and mix it with water until you get the same consistency without having to wash flour. You can try other starches like tapioca or potato, too, but they may be a little less firm so I might suggest using a little less water. Hope that helps! 🙂
I don’t have a steamer – how can I substitute?
How can I prevent water dripping on the cheese while steaming?
I don’t have a steamer, either actually. I use two of those stainless steel foldable vegetable steamer baskets stacked on top of each other in a large pot. I fill the water to just below the top basket. If you only have one you might just need to add more water during the steaming process. If you don’t have any, you can try rolling balls of foil or anything else that is safe to put in boiling water to keep the cheese raised above it. Cover the pot and only open to check your water level if necessary. I have only ever splashed a little water in when I’m removing the lid, and it floats to the top of the cheese and easily pours off when done steaming.
Tried making this recipe a few weeks ago. It turned out more like a cheese spread unfortunately, but it tasted great! Pretty much the same taste as the Gentle Chef’s smoked provolone. I think the texture went wrong because the butter i used is quite soft even in the fridge (I used I Can’t Believe it’s not Butter), so I’ll report back when i get around to making it again.
It is possible it could have been the butter, I use the stick form. I also use the thickest starch water so maybe it’s also possible that yours might have been a little thinner? My only other note is the kappa carrageenan is the key ingredient to helping firm this up. And yes, chef Skye’s recipes are a true inspiration! (Though I have not tried his smoked provolone yet. 😊)
Hi! Is it possible to substitute the cashew with something else?? This really looks amazing!
Yes, absolutely. I’ve been using the cashews because I think they make it creamier, but other plant milks should work. I’d use about 1 – 1 1/4 cups as a substitute for the cashews and water in this. I’ve tried Silk brand unsweetened soy milk which worked well, but I suppose different gums and thickeners used in different brands may have different effects on the final texture.
Hello, I am wondering if Agar Agar can be substituted for the kappa carrageenan? I was told that this is a carcinogenic item. Don’t need that in my diet.
The research I have done has shown no proof of that claim, but I am not a scientist or nutritionist and am not going to debate anyone’s dietary preferences. I have read that you can try substituting double the amount of powdered agar for carrageenan. Agar needs to be boiled to activate, and I assume steaming the cheese should reach it to that degree of heat. If you try it please let me know how it goes!
I have everything, but the lactic acid. Can I leave it out? What does it do? I have citric acid. Will that work?
I believe you can use citric acid as a substitute, though I haven’t tried it. Both will add a tanginess, but lactic acid is produced in real cheese culturing and will add more of a real cheesy tang.
Just commenting that I made a vegan morel cheddar recently from the “bones” of these recipes (really only changed the flavorings) and couldn’t get my hands on kappa carageenan. I used agar flakes, doubled the amount, and steamed them and the cheese firmed up excellently. Most convincing vegan cheese texture I’ve seen since going vegan, years ago.
Thank you for letting me know that the agar flakes worked well and I’m very happy to hear you enjoyed the cheese! 🙂
Having issues with obtaining (reasonably priced) Kappa from a source I trust First attempt I used Agar Agar flakes at double the amount of Kappa. Result was thick goop. Also awful taste which I put down to the liquid smoke. Got new brand of liquid smoke and agar agar in a powder which I read was more effective than flakes. …. ended up with the same consistency as Paul, a spreadable cheese (like Boursin). My washed flour starch I had stored on the counter with a little sour dough starter. The ferment might have lowered the viscosity…. Some more experimenting but I will spring for the Kappa
Don’t know where you’re located but I prefer Modernist Pantry brand of kappa carrageenan which you can buy directly from them in the US. I was buying another brand and the first batch worked well, but the second I was having trouble getting solid cheese. Thickness of your starch water may also affect the end result, mine has usually been sitting for at least a day or two before I drain the excess water again and stir. It also may be the type of vegan butter you’re using, (I use a stick)but really shouldn’t because I’ve replaced half the oil with the melted butter which works well in other recipes. My favorite brand of liquid smoke is Wrights which is just smoke and water if you can find it. Hope the carrageenan helps solve your issues.
Thank you for the great website and recipes! I made this cheese and it was great. I didn’t have any kappa carrageenan on hand so I used some quick set agar and the cheese was firm and could be sliced but had a creamy texture. I’m looking forward to trying more recipes here.