Oh mozzarella cheese, how I loved you in all of your many forms.
Soft, shredded, on pizza, in a caprese salad, in lasagna, any way at all. But most of all FRIED and dipped in marinara.
So once going vegan I had to, HAD TO, find a way to mimic soft mozzarella. It is the cheese I missed the very most and could not imagine a world where I would not longer eat mozzarella!
Honestly, hard cheeses are really easy, and coming up with a shreddable mozzarella wasn’t too hard, but what stumped me was a soft vegan mozzarella, one that I could make my favorite salad with!
This may not be my easiest cheese recipe, but it is certainly not difficult. Just a little more time consuming than some agar quick set cheeses. This cheese cooks up like a regular agar cheese, but instead of pouring it into a mold, you scoop the mixture and drop it into ice cold water, causing it to quickly set into soft vegan mozzarella cheese balls!
It’s brilliant really! Agar agar will begin to set at room temperature, so dropping this cheese mixture into ice cold water will have it set into a ball almost instantly! It still needs some time in the fridge to completely set, but over all, this recipe is really easy, quick, and pretty straightforward.
Now, before you glance at the ingredients and gawk at addition of sauerkraut, hear me out. It works! It adds a fermented briny-ness (is that a word, if not it is now on this blog if nowhere else) that a lot of vegan cheese recipes are missing. You will never even be able to taste it in the cheese, but I adds a kick that you would miss if you didn’t add it! You gotta trust me here!
So don’t be intimidated and try your hand at making this soft mozzarella!! I think you will be surprised at how easy it is and how close it mimics the real deal! And trust me when I tell you, you want to fry it up and dip it in your favorite marinara sauce ( or my fave is vegan honey mustard..sounds weird maybe but its soooo good)
Use 1/2 a batch of vegan mozzarella, or a whole batch if you are extra hungry. Just double the following recipe.
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 batch vegan soft mozzarella
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup dairy free milk (I use unsweetened almond)
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons garlic powder
Oil for frying
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:
Cut 4 - 5 mozzarella balls into quarters.
Add flour to a shallow dish.
In a deeper dish, whisk together 2 flax eggs and 1/2 cup of non-dairy milk.
In another dish mix Italian seasoning, garlic powder and panko.
Start by dredging the mozzarella pieces first in flour, completely covering the pieces.
Next, dip the bites in the flax egg mix, letting the excess drip off a little.
Now, lay the pieces in the panko, gently pressing in the crumbs so they stick to all sides.
Lay coated mozzarella on a plate.
Fill a medium size skillet halfway with oil and heat on medium/high heat until nice and hot.
Once oil is hot, add the mozzarella in batches. Just be careful not to over crowd the pan.
Let the cheese bites fry on each side until brown and crispy before turning.
Take a cooling rack, and place it on top of a paper towel line cookie sheet. Place finished mozzarella bites on the rack while you finish frying the rest.
Serve with a side of marinara sauce.
Any leftovers can be reheated in a 350 degree oven for 10 - 15 minutes or until heated through.
