Vegan Pimento Cheddar Cheese with Coconut Milk

I love experimenting with different vegan cheese flavors and bases. I really love using coconut milk because it’s easy and affordable.

I am often asked if these cheeses have a strong coconut flavor and the answer is, not really. I always used refined coconut oil which has little to no coconut flavor at all, and all of the spices and other ingredients in the cheese mask the flavor of the milk very well.

I love to make homemade pimento cheese and often do! I have always just made a vegan cheddar using coconut milk to make it, or in a pinch have bought some vegan cheddar shreds. BUT, how much more delicious is my pimento cheese spread now going to be when I use this vegan pimento cheddar to make the spread!! Double pimento and double delicious.

We added jarred red peppers to our recipe and can be used interchangeably with pimentos if you do not have any on hand. I normally have one or the other and just use what I have.

This is a quick set cheese and is so simple to make, there is no reason to keep overpaying for store bought vegan cheese! You can have delicious vegan cheese, start to finish in about 2 hours, and for a quarter of the grocery store price!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 can full fat coconut milk

• 2 tablespoons agar powder

• 2 teaspoons light miso paste

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

• 1 teaspoon turmeric

• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika

• 1/4 cup diced red jarred red peppers or pimentos

• 1/4 cup refined coconut oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. If using a jarred red pepper, remove a piece from the jar and pat it with a paper towel to remove some of the liquid. Next coarsely chop the pepper. If using pimentos, line a bowl with paper towels and put the 1/4 cup pimentos in the bowl to try and draw out some of their liquid.

2. In a food processor or high speed blender, add all of the ingredients EXCEPT the milk, and agar and peppers/ pimentos.

3. Pulse a few times to mix it all up.

4. Add the milk, and agar to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until mixture thickens to the constancy of a thin pudding. This only takes a few minutes.

5. Add the milk mixture to the ingredients in the food processor, and mix for about a minute.

6. Drop the peppers/ pimentos int the mix and process for a minute until they are all chopped up and incorporated. The mixture will quickly begin to thicken as agar begins to solidify at room temperature.

7. Transfer to the mixture to several small bowls or cheese molds. I can fill three small bowls with this recipe.

8. Allow the cheese to harden in the refrigerator uncovered for a few hours.

9. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week or so.

10. This cheese will shred and make a pretty tasty pimento cheese spread!

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Sliceable Smoky Garlic Cashew Cheese

Vegan Pimento Cheese

Coconut Milk Colby Jack Cheese

Vegan Deviled Eggs

Once again agar powder steps in to do some truly amazing vegan magic (or science) to create a perfect vegan deviled egg!

For those unfamiliar with agar powder, it is a vegan gelatin derived from seaweed. It can be found in asian grocery stores or online. I use agar often in vegan cheese making, so always have some on hand.

The next ingredient that makes these eggs really convincing is Indian Black Salt, or also called Kala Namak. It is salt that is high in sulfur so it smells and taste like eggs! You can find this at specialty spice shops or also online. I really suggest not skipping the salt because it is the ingredient that make these vegan eggs taste like an egg.

The filling is made from tofu because as we all know, tofu makes a great egg substitute. It makes for a creamy filling with the help of some mustard, vegan mayo, and spices.

If you do not have egg molds, they can purchased on amazon or craft stores in the baking section, or you can use a deviled egg serving tray to mold the whites. A serving tray is actually how I made my first batch and it worked well, although it makes for shallow eggs.

I have fed these eggs to any and all vegan and non vegan friends and family that were willing to try them, and they were all amazed at how close these are to the real thing! So if you are skeptical, by all means, whip yourself up a batch and let me prove you wrong! I think you and everyone else you serve them to will be wowed and amazed.

I have missed deviled eggs for years and now I don’t have to. I make these for just about every pot luck, BBQ, or holiday get together side by side next to tray of regular deviled eggs, you would hardly notice a difference. Magic….sheer vegan magic!

These deviled eggs are delicious, beautiful, and super fun to serve to unknowing friends and family, if for no other reason, for the reaction you get when you tell them they are vegan!

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Ingredients:

For the egg white:

• 2 cups almond milk

• 1 tablespoon agar powder

• 1/2 teaspoon Indian Black Salt, also called Kala Namak (this salt has a high sulfur content so it smells and tastes like egg. It is an essential ingredient in this recipe if you want this vegan version to taste like an egg)

For the yolk:

• 1 block extra firm tofu

• 1/4 cup vegan mayo

• 3 tablespoons yellow mustard

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• 1/2 teaspoon Indian Black Salt

• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon turmeric (This is for color. The more you add, the stronger the flavor, so it is just up to preference)

• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill, plus more for garnish

• 1 teaspoon all purpose greek seasoning (you can skip this if you like, but it is delicious in the eggs)

• 1-2 tablespoons diced dill pickles

• pepper and salt to taste

• paprika for garnish

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Instructions:

1. You will either need a silicon egg mold or a deviled egg serving tray, the kind with egg shaped divots, to form the egg whites. If you use the serving tray the eggs will be pretty shallow, but it still works.

2. In a small sauce pan, whisk together almond milk, agar, and Indian black salt. Heat the mixture over medium heat until it comes to a simmer, then remove from the heat.

3. Transfer the mixture to a pyrex, or glass bowl, and allow to cool on the counter top. Let the mixture sit until it appears to be thickening but is still liquid, and pourable, stirring occasionally. I have found if you pour the mixture into the molds too soon, while it is still very hot, the milk solids will separate and sink to the bottom, and the water will be left at the top. This is not an appetizing egg!

4. Once the mixture is ready, pour it into the eggs molds and pop them in the fridge for about half an hour, or until they are nice and solid.

5. While the molds are in the fridge, prepare the yolk filling by adding all of the ingredients, except the pickles, to a high speed blender or food processor. Process on high until the mixture is creamy and smooth. If you want to pipe the filling into the eggs, then you can drop the pickles into the mixture at the end and pulse a few times to get them good and minced. Large pieces of pickle won’t make it through a piping tip.

6. Remove the eggs from the fridge once they have set, and spoon out a divot from the middle to make space for the filling.

7. You can either scoop spoonfuls of the yolk filling onto the eggs, or fill a piping bag with a large tip and pipe the filling onto the egg whites. Garnish with extra dill and paprika.

8. Store the deviled eggs in the fridge for 2 or 3 days.

Yields 1 - 2 dozen eggs depending on the depth of the mold you use.