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Vegan Parmesan Cheese is made with 3 simple ingredients, and is the perfect non-dairy substitute in your favorite recipes. You can make it in just minutes!
Ingredients You’ll Need
What is Vegan Parmesan made of? All you need is 3 ingredients!
- Cashews
- Nutritional yeast
- Salt
The nutritional yeast is responsible for the “cheesy” flavor here, just like it is in my famous Vegan Mac n’ Cheese recipe.
How to Make It
To make this cashew Parmesan cheese, you’ll need to process the ingredients into fine powder. You can use a blender or food processor to do this!
Since real Parmesan cheese is quite salty, I’m pretty heavy-handed with the salt in this vegan recipe, so you can use it just like the original.
You won’t need much to add a nice punch of flavor. But, if you’d like a less-salty cheese, you can always use less salt.
How to Use It
You can use this vegan Parmesan cheese just like you would regular Parmesan, but keep in mind that it won’t melt. Here are some suggestions for making the most of it!
- Use it on top of Lentil Bolognese.
- Add it to your favorite pesto recipe.
- Sprinkle it over Vegan Stuffed Shells.
- Add it into Vegan Lasagna.
- Sprinkle it on a Caesar Salad.
- Use it on top of Vegan Pasta.
- It’s also great on a pesto pasta salad!
How to Store Vegan Parmesan
Vegan Parmesan can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 month, as long as you keep it free from added moisture. You can also freeze it for up to 6 months, and use it straight from the freezer.
Since it doesn’t have any added liquid, it should stay crumbly, even when frozen.
Substitution Ideas
Need to make a swap? Here are my best guesses when it comes to substitutions.
- Cashews. You can swap cashews with hemp hearts, for a nut-free alternative. I use hemp hearts as a substitute in my vegan ranch dressing all the time! You could also use macadamia nuts, for a similar texture.
- Nutritional Yeast. This deactivated yeast gives this recipe its cheesy flavor, but you can leave it out if you need to. The salt will still add flavor, and you can boost that even more by adding in other spices, like garlic or onion powder, for a variation.
I hope you’ll enjoy this Vegan Parmesan soon, and I can’t wait to hear what you think!
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews (140 grams)
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (20 grams)
- 1 teaspoon salt (8 grams; plus more to taste)
Instructions
- Add the cashews, nutritional yeast, and salt to a food processor or blender, and process until powdery. Make sure your machine is totally dry, so you won't introduce any moisture into the mixture.
- Taste, and add up to 1/2 teaspoon more salt, as desired. Use right away, or store in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to 1 month. You can also freeze this for up to 6 months.
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this Vegan Parmesan recipe, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it. And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too. We can all benefit from your experience!
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Great
Will this cheese melt? If put in a stromboli type thing in the oven?
No, it doesn’t melt. But it’s delicious as a topping!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I had tried Go Veggie’s parmesan and couldn’t stand it. It tastes like metal to me. I just whipped this recipe up in minutes using a hand chopper and it is delicious! This is going to bring back several recipes that I have missed since becoming lactose intolerant. Thank you, thank you!!!
I made this with macadamia nuts. I accidentally purchased quite a few when the bulk dispenser went a bit haywire. This is so good as a salad or vegetable topping, too. I did reduce the salt as the nutritional yeast seems extra salty to me.
Thank you! I love all of your recipes.
I love your website and your recipes I find that I can use. I’m on the Phase 1 anti-fungal diet (Know The Cause with Doug Kaufmann) because I definitely have Fungus. Most of us do & don’t realize our problems are caused by Fungus.
I had breast cancer, mastectomy (1996) then a couple yrs later had reconstructive surgery to get rid of implant but ended up having to have a small implant anyway. I found found from the plastic surgeon that I would be More Susceptible to Fungus because of the ‘separation’ of my skin. At time, I had no idea what she was really talking about – until about 10 years later. Scar-like area between the stitch area – got rid of it but it returned later along with Dry Scalp & on left side on upper forehead, left eyebrow & both ears (I thought it was just ‘older age’) Then I happen to see Doug Kaufmann on TV.
Will probably take awhile longer for me to need to stay on the Phase 1 diet but I need to get rid of this fungus. But I’m writing all this to warn females who have had Breast Implants including saline – that they are very prone toward fungus & if they break – Plus there are women who are sick & then find out the problem has been the implant & fungus. (on the above website – search for Breast Implant)
This was so good, even my friend’s 2 year-old liked it!
Do you need to soak the cashews first? Thanks!
Nope, I didn’t! If you do decide to soak them, they must be thoroughly dried before pulsing them in the food processor.
Soaking will cause the cashews to turn to a paste when put in the food processor. 🙂
This looks delish. I was wondering if you have any insight on the link between nutritional yeast and MSG? I read that NY is derived from MSG.:/
Not “derived from”, but the fermentation process can create trace amounts of naturally occurring MSG. Those brands processed at a lower temperature have a lower occurrence of MSG, such as Frontier as opposed to Red Star. I’m extremely sensitive to MSG and have no issues with the Frontier brand, but Red Star left me with horrible headaches. Hope that helps.
is it ok to use this yeast if dealing with candida?
thx
NO – candida is a Fungus and all yeast is a form of Fungus.
I’m currently on the Phase 1 diet (Know The Cause with Doug Kaufmann) and it works great. Go online & click on the tab for videos/shows (forgot) & search for Phase 1 – You won’t need to go all out buying stuff.
Start with the basics – like Quinoa, veggies, No Sugar (very important because Fungus feeds on sugar – which also means No Starches because they turn to sugar)
Was tough giving up my regular Dr Pepper but I need to starve the fungus.
You can use the sweeteners – Xylitol and Stevia (but with nothing else unless sometime like the brand Sweet Leaf flavors).
Yes Lordis, this is fine, as nutritional yeast has been “in-activated”, so it does not react in the body like regular yeast.
http://www.herbalpharmacist.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57:nutritional-yeast-not-the-bad-guy&catid=38:articles&Itemid=57
What can be used instead of nutritional yeast? I have a client that is allergic. Thanks!