This vegan pizza cheese is as close as it gets to the real thing! It is super easy to make and results in a gooey melty cheese, perfect for making dairy free pizza.
Jump to RecipePizza has become a fun Friday night dinner for us. While I don’t always exclude dairy from my diet, I tend to avoid it most of the time. And dairy free cheeses in the grocery store are loaded with questionable ingredients and can be pricey.
So, I’ve made my own vegan cheese for our Friday night pizzas. It’s super easy to make and takes less than 15 minutes. The recipe includes ingredients I usually have in my pantry and saves me a trip to the grocery store whenever we decide to make pizza.
“Cheese” Ingredients
One of the many great things about this “cheese” is that it fits into many different diets. Whether you’re vegan, paleo, or dairy free, you can enjoy this recipe and stop missing out on cheesy pizza.
- Raw Cashews – the base of the recipe, the cashews need to be raw in order to bind the ingredients together
- Arrowroot Powder – this is the thickening agent that creates the gooey texture, tapioca starch can also be substituted
- Nutritional Yeast – the well-known vegan cheese flavor, add or reduce the amount depending on your flavor preference
- Apple Cider Vinegar – helps to sharpens the flavor, I’d bet you could replace this with lemon juice for the same affect but slightly different flavor
- Garlic Powder – another flavor enhancer, also an option to add dried herbs like parsley or basil
Gluten Free Pizza With Vegan Pizza Cheese
Our Friday night pizza tradition started with a bag of Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Mix. After a messy battle with the batter, the pizza came out better than expected. The dough was thick and crispy. Not a combination that’s easy to get with gluten free pizza. So, now we keep a few bags of the mix in the pantry.
To be honest, making this pizza is a bit of a process. The gluten free dough is fussy. But here’s how I make it…
Prepare the dough as instructed on the package, but don’t split it up into two crusts. Instead, oil a baking sheet and spread the dough across the entire sheet. The dough will be sticky, but I have found if you use extra oil on top of the dough and continue to wash off your hand in a bowl of warm water you can eventually smooth it out over the length and width of the sheet.
Then, as instructed on the package, place the dough in a preheated oven for 7-10 minutes. Remove and top with your favorite ingredients. I sauté peppers, mushrooms, and onions to spread on top of pizza sauce. Then cut up some chicken sausage to add. And last, I spread on the vegan pizza cheese and place the pizza back in the oven for 15-18 minutes.
After the pizza cools, it slides right out of the baking sheets onto a cutting board. I cut it into squares and serve!
Looking for more vegan recipes? Check out my favorite Dairy Free Ranch Dressing.
Vegan Pizza Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 3 tbsp arrowroot powder
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a high speed blender and blend until completely smooth (the mixture will be liquid).
- In a sauce pan, over medium heat, pour in the cashew mixture. Heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring consistently to avoid clumping or burning on the bottom.
- The mixture will thicken, turning into a melty cheese. At this point, scoop and spread on desired pizza and bake in the oven as normal. Or, save the cheese in the fridge and reheat later on the stove – stirring continually and adding small amounts of water as needed.
