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This vegan white cheddar cheese made with leftover wheat starch water from washing flour to make seitan gets its creaminess from cashews and cheddar flavor from a combination of nutritional yeast and the brine from a jar of olives. It's a hard cheese perfect for your next charcuterie board, but can also be sliced thin for sandwiches or grated onto just about anything for flavor.
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 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 salt to your blender or food processor and blitz. Slowly add in the melted coconut oil 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 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 salt to your blender or food processor and blitz. Slowly add in the melted coconut oil 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.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I cannot wait to try it. Question: Can I use agar agar instead of Kappa carrageenan? If so, would you have any advice as to how to incorporate it in terms of substituting? Thank you!
Hey Kelly! I have not yet tried agar powder as a substitute l, but I have read that it should work if you double the amount. I hate to give any recommendations without testing, but if you’re willing to experiment please let me know how it goes! 😊
Hi! I’m really excited to try this recipe. Do you think it is okay to sub the coconut oil with vegan butter? And also the kappa carrageenan with another gellinng powder (I have the dr. Oetker gelling powder which contains: carrageenan, locust bean gum, potassium chloride and calcium acetate). Thank you so much in advance for your recipe!
I think the vegan butter could work, I use half in the provolone recipe, but it may be a little more stiff in the final result? As for the gelling agent you have, I’m sorry I have no idea because I haven’t tested anything like that. I would assume it may also alter the final texture, but it could be really good! I don’t know if its gelling strength is the same/stronger/weaker so if you’re willing to experiment I might start with the same amount and see if it firms up to your liking. If you do experiment with any of these changes, please let me know how they work out!
Thank you so much for your reply! I think the vegan butter did work. However, subbing the gelling powder I had (I didn’t even have enough but it was too late when I realized) instead of using the kappa carrageenan, I think changed the texture of the cheese. It still firmed up but it feels and looks more gelatinous, almost like a baby bel. I also realized too late that I didn’t have olive brine either. I would say overall it still came out at a 6/10 even though I didn’t have/use 3 of the ingredients listed (kappa carrageenan, olive brine, lactic acid). I tried the vegan pepper jack cheese this morning (with kappa carrageenan this time but still no lactic acid, it’s surprisingly hard to find in Canada) and so far it looks and smells really good. I am excited to see the final results once it chills! Thank you again for all your help!
Hi! What kind of starch do you use?
I have made about 8kg of this cheese. Love it. Been making seitan a while and blend the cooked seitan with extra herbs and white pepper to make a sausage roll mix. My hubby likes them more than meat ones and he a carnivore. The cheese melts great on pizza, brilliant for Mac and Cheese and amazing as deep fried cheese sticks. Really stringy.
So happy you are enjoying the cheese! And that is awesome to hear about your meat-eating hubby loving your seitan, too!
Hi! What starch do you use?
I use the wheat starch water leftover from making seitan by washing flour.
Thank you!! I’m gonna try!
Hi, what is a “steamer” and how do steam the cheese?
Hi, Jodie! For me, a steamer is a pot fitted with 2 of those cheap stainless steel vegetable steamer baskets stacked on top of each other and water filled to just below the bottom of the top basket, then the pot is covered with a lid. One basket would work perfectly well, but you might need to refill the water during steaming. For others, they might use an Instant Pot on the steam setting, or have an actual apparatus meant for steaming on the stove or a separate electronic appliance. Whatever you can use to keep the cheese level and steaming above boiling water would work. 😊
A very good recipe, I made it, with a few tweaks….very impressive texture. Thank you.
Glad you liked it!
Can anyone recommend a sub for the olive brine please?
If you have capers that could work, otherwise just a little bit of white vinegar would work. Though there’s something about the olive flavor that I find actually makes the cheese taste more “cheddary.” Hope that helps!
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. 🙂 I made this yesterday (my first starch cheese! caper brine worked great in place of olive) and we love the flavour/texture, but I wondered how long approx it will keep well wrapped in the fridge before it goes bad, based on your own experiences? A week or maybe a bit longer? thanks!
Hi Erinn, So happy you enjoy the cheese! Yes, a week or a bit longer seems about right. It will dry out some if not tightly wrapped so I only ever slice as I go. I keep planning to experiment with freezing it to see how the texture holds up but usually we end up finishing it before I can get to that.😆 Good to know about the caper brine, I’ll try that, too!
Thanks Jen! 🙂
Hi Jen, great recipe but I was just wondering what you used to slice them so thinly and evenly in the photo, did you use a mandolin?
I actually bought a small deli slicer for all my seitan and cheeze, but a mandolin should definitely do the job. 🙂
It freezes brilliantly
Lasts 3 months and actually tastes better and cuts more like ordinary cheese. My hubby not noticed in sandwiches after frozen but does beforehand.
😮 That is so amazing to hear! I still haven’t frozen it yet, in part because I often make smaller batches for testing and eat it all, but otherwise just cause I eat it all. 😝 Thank you so much for letting me know!
Hi Jan,
I’m new to WTF and have not tried any recipes yet, but having found your site am looking forward to trying something new to add to my vegan diet. Your recipes look amazing, and very tasty.
Hope you enjoy the recipes and feel free to hit me up with any questions! 🙂