coconut milk cheese

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Vegan White Stilton with Cranberries and Pecans

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I make a lot of vegan cheese. It’s easier than most people think, fairly quick, and really affordable to make your own.

All you need are some basic ingredients that you can find at your local super market, plus some agar agar powder. Agar is a vegan gelatin make from seaweed and what is used to solidify the cheese. You can find agar on amazon, or your local Asian food store. It is also pretty inexpensive for the amount of cheese you will get from one bag!

Although vegan cheese options have come a long way over the years in super markets, I can still only find flavors like cheddar, mozzarella, and a few varieties of cheese slices.

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If you are like me and miss more artisan style cheeses, you best bet is to start making your own! Like this vegan cranberry and pecan stilton!! I used to impatiently wait for Trader Joe’s to put out their seasonal stilton’s. Traditional Stilton is a milder cheese and a little crumbly. It often is made with different fruits. I can think of no better fruit to toss into a cheese around the holidays than cranberries!!!

I love cranberries!! Cranberry sauce, cranberry desserts, I even love snacking on fresh raw cranberries!! I impatiently wait each year for fresh cranberries to come into season and to be available at my local super markets!

But for this cheese, you don’t need fresh cranberries unless you are wanting to make your own cranberry sauce, which who can blame you. I make it every single year!! But you can 100% use cranberry sauce from a jar or can for this recipe and don’t have to wait for the holiday season to make it! It is delicious year round!

Listen, don’t let a new or unfamiliar ingredient intimate you! This cheese is so quick and easy to make and pretty fool proof! You will be so amazed at how easy it was to make and how delicious home made vegan cheese is! And if you are on the fence about making a fruity cheese, don’t be. It is soooooo good!! Hooray for Stilton and thanks Trader Joe’s for your never ending inspiration!

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INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 can of full fat coconut milk or cream

  • 2 tablespoons agar agar powder

  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice or apple cider vinegar

  • 2 teaspoons miso paste

  • 2 tablespoons tapioca starch

  • 1 teaspoons of salt

  • 3 tablespoons sauerkraut (cabbage only, no juice)

  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

  • 1/4 melted cup refined coconut oil

  • 3 heaping tablespoons of whole cranberry sauce, homemade or store-bought

  • 1/4-1/3 cup chopped pecans (optional)

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INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. In a food processor or high speed blender, add all of the ingredients EXCEPT the milk, agar, and cranberry sauce .

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

  3. Now add the milk and agar to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until mixture thickens to the consistency of a thin pudding.

  4. Add the milk mixture to the ingredients in the food processor, and mix for about a minute. The mixture will quickly begin to thicken as agar begins to solidify at room temperature.

  5. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the cranberry sauce into the cheese mixture, so it’s kind of a marble swirl.

  6. Sprinkle a tablespoons or so of nuts in the bottoms of 2-3 ramekins or small bowls. Transfer the cheese mixture to the ramekins or small bowls. You should be able to fill 2 or 3 small bowls.

  7. Place bowls uncovered in the fridge for a few hours, or until the cheese has fully hardened and is a sliceable consistency.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

vegan flank steak

vegan flank steak

Vegan Pimento Cheddar Cheese with Coconut Milk

Vegan Coconut 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!

Vegan Pimento Cheddar Cheese with Coconut Milk

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!

Vegan Pimento Cheddar Cheese with Coconut Milk

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Pimento Cheddar Cheese with Coconut Milk

Vegan White Stilton with Peaches

Vegan White Stilton with Peaches

I make a lot of vegan cheese. It’s easier than most people think, fairly quick, and really affordable to make your own.

All you need are some basic ingredients that you can find at your local super market, plus some agar agar powder. Agar is a vegan gelatin make from seaweed and what is used to solidify the cheese. You can find agar on amazon, or your local Asian food store. It is also pretty inexpensive for the amount of cheese you will get from one bag!

Although vegan cheese options have come a long way over the years in super markets, I can still only find flavors like cheddar, mozzarella, and a few varieties of cheese slices.

If you are like me and miss more artisan style cheeses, you best bet is to start making your own! Like this vegan peach stilton!! I used to impatiently wait for Trader Joe’s to put out their seasonal stilton’s, peach being my most favorite. Traditional Stilton is a milder cheese and a little crumbly. It often is made with different fruits. I personally love the subtle sweetness of the peaches mixed with the tanginess of the cheese. Its perfect for snacking with crackers or adding to a salad.

Recently my friends Brad and Mike ( you will be learning more about them very soon as we have a super fun project in the works for the site) gave us a a jar or homemade spiced peaches. I think there was some kind of booze in the jar along with some delicious fall spices. I was told not to open them for several more weeks, so they found their way to the back of my pantry and were forgotten about. So when I finally found them again recently, I knew exactly what I was going to make with them!!

You can use any canned or jarred peaches you can find. You just need two halves. They are normally canned that way. You could also substitute the peaches with pears very easily if you are not a fan of peaches.

Listen, don’t let a new or unfamiliar ingredient intimate you! This cheese is so quick and easy to make and pretty fool proof! You will be so amazed at how easy it was to make and how delicious home made vegan cheese is! And if you are on the fence about making a fruity cheese, don’t be. It is soooooo good!! Hooray for Stilton and thanks Trader Joe’s for your never ending inspiration!

Vegan White Stilton with Peaches

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 can of full fat coconut milk or cream

  • 2 tablespoons agar agar powder

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar

  • 2 teaspoons miso paste

  • 1 teaspoons of salt

  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

  • 2 tablespoons tapioca starch

  • 1/4 cup sauerkraut (no juice, just cabbage)

  • 1/4 melted cup refined coconut oil

  • 2 halves of jarred or canned peaches ( we used homemade canned spiced peaches)

Vegan White Stilton with Peaches

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. In a food processor or high speed blender, add all of the ingredients EXCEPT the milk, agar, and peaches.

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

  3. Now add the milk and agar to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until mixture thickens to the consistency of a thin pudding.

  4. Add the milk mixture to the ingredients in the food processor, and mix for about a minute. The mixture will quickly begin to thicken as agar begins to solidify at room temperature.

  5. Use a paper towel to pat off as much liquid from the peaches as you can. Finely dice the peaches and fold them into the cheese mixture with a rubber spatula. Don’t blend them! It will mince them up too much.

  6. Transfer to the mixture to a few ramekins or small bowls. You should be able to fill 2 or 3 small bowls.

  7. Place bowls uncovered in the fridge for a few hours, or until the cheese has fully hardened and is a sliceable consistency.

If you like this recipe, try these:

 
Vegan White Stilton with Peaches

Sun-dried Tomato and Garlic Cheese with Coconut Milk

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If you have yet to dive into vegan cheese making, let me urge you to start right now! Seriously! It is not hard at all, errrr maybe I should say difficult because these agar cheeses are actually hard or firm enough to slice, or shred!! They also only take like 10 minutes to mix up and only a few hours to firm up in the fridge!

We use agar agar powder to solidify these cheeses. Agar agar is just a vegan gelatin made from a type of seaweed. Noting too weird, and it can be easily found online on Amazon or even in you local Asian food market. Don’t let an ingredient you may not be familiar with scare you off! Just get some, and keep some on hand. I promise once you make your first batch of vegan cheese, it wont be your last!

I love experimenting with different vegan cheese flavors and bases. I really love using coconut milk because it’s easy and affordable. Unlike nut cheeses were you have to soak nuts and own a pretty powerful blender or food processor to break them down, with coconut milk cheeses you simply have to open the can! And of course a can of coconut milk is way cheaper than cashews! Not to mention these cheeses are more allergy friendly.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a cashew based vegan cheese and have plenty of those recipes on the site as well, but most of the time I opt for for a coconut base because of how easy and affordable they are!

This cheese recipe will yield about 3 “wheels” of cheese depending on the size mold you use. So you can’t beat the price compared to store bought cheeses. You will often pay over $5 for a vegan store-bought cheese, where here you may spend $5 and end up with 3Xs what you would get for the same price at the store!

Making you own cheese at home also means you can make any flavor you can dream up. We have dozens upon dozens on the site if you are stumped for ideas. But really, there are soooo many options!

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 this particular cheese because sun-dried tomatoes and garlic together are a favorite of mine. This vegan cheese will slice, shred, and even melt, making it perfect for serving with cracker, on sandwiches, salads, or just snacking! 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 of full fat coconut milk or cream

  • 2 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

  • 2 teaspoons miso paste

  • 1 teaspoons of salt

  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

  • 1/4 melted cup refined coconut oil

  • 2 tablespoons agar powder

  • 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes

  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. In a food processor or high speed blender, add all of the ingredients EXCEPT the milk, and agar.

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

  3. Now 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.

  4. Add the milk mixture to the ingredients in the food processor, and mix for about a minute. The mixture will quickly begin to thicken as agar begins to solidify at room temperature.

  5. Transfer to the mixture to a few ramekins or small bowls. You should be able to fill 2 or 3 small bowls.

  6. Allow the cheese to harden in the refrigerator uncovered for about several hours.

  7. Once the cheese is set, store in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week.

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easy vegan coconut milk cheese with sun-dried tomatoes and garlic using agar agar

Smoky Coconut Milk Chile Cheddar Cheese

Vegan Smokey Chile Cheddar Cheese sliced

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 this particular chile cheddar for its deep smokey, peppery flavor without a lot of heat. You could always bump up the heat in this cheese by adding a few slashes of your favorite hot sauce. My kids and husband are not big fans of eye watering, nose running pepper heat, so this cheese has all the flavor without any of the pain.

We added reconstituted dried chiles and a can of small green chiles for the perfect smokey and tangy combo. This vegan cheese will slice, shred, and even remelt, making it perfect for quesadillas, enchiladas, tacos, sandwiches, or just snacking!

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 small can green chiles (4 oz can)

  • 2 dried chili peppers

  • 1/4 cup refined coconut oil

  • optional: a few shakes of your favorite hot sauce

Vegan Smokey Chile Cheddar Cheese on a cracker

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Place dried chiles in a medium sized bowl. Pour enough boiling water over the peppers to cover and place a plate on top of the bowl. Let the peppers soak for about 20 minutes

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

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

  4. After the peppers are done soaking and have softened, remove from the water. Cut the pepper open and remove the stem and the seeds. I just run a paper towel down the inside of the peppers to wipe out the seeds.

  5. Drop the whole peppers into the food processor. Open the green chiles and dump them onto several folded up paper towels or a clean kitchen towel just to absorb some of the liquid. Add them to the food processor as well. Pulse until the peppers are broken down.

  6. Now 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.

  7. Add the milk mixture to the ingredients in the food processor, and mix for about a minute. The mixture will quickly begin to thicken as agar begins to solidify at room temperature.

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

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

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

If you like this recipe, try these:

Coconut Milk Colby Jack Cheese

Coconut Milk Pepper Jack

Smokey Cashew Cheddar

A cheese board with vegan coconut chile cheddar cheese surrounded by chiles and crackers

smokey coconut milk chile cheddar vegan cheese

Vegan Coconut Kimcheese (Kimchi Cheese)

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I can eat an entire jar of kimchi by myself in a week, and often do.

I can also eat my weight in vegan cheese if given the chance. So for me, mixing the two was a no brainer, and so I introduce to you KIMCHEESE!

I often add sauerkraut to my vegan cheese recipes to give them that cheesy zip, and kimchi works just as well!

This cheese is tangy, spicy, quick and easy, but most importantly it is DELICIOUS! Even my husband who swears he does not like kimchi, inhaled this one!

Vegan cheese making is really so easy, especially quick set agar cheeses like this one. The mix up in minutes and are set in a few hours.

There is not a replacement for the coconut oil in this cheese, however. It is a key ingredient in helping solidify this kimchee vegan cheese. Agar is a vegan gelatin and on its own, the texture is not firm enough for my liking. The coconut milk solidifies once cold and helps get a nice firm texture, and aids in the remelting of the cheese once cooked.

This vegan cheese will shred, slice and melt, so It will work beautifully for snacking, salads, or even the best grilled cheese you may ever eat! If you can not find agar powder locally, check our pantry staples for a link to order on amazon prime!

Ingredients:

  • 1 can of full fat coconut milk or cream

  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

  • 2 teaspoons miso paste

  • 1 teaspoons of salt

  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

  • 1/4 cup triple refined coconut oil, melted

  • 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon agar powder

  • 3 tablespoons arrow root or tapioca starch

  • 3/4 cups vegan kimchi

Instructions:

  1. In a food processor or high speed blender, add all of the ingredients EXCEPT the milk, agar, and kimchi.

  2. Pulse until everything is all mixed up.

  3. Next, add the milk and agar powder to a medium sauce pan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 2 minutes, until mixture thickens to the consistency of a thin pudding.

  4. Add the milk mixture to the ingredients in the food processor and mix for about a minute. The mixture will quickly begin to thicken as the agar begins to solidify at room temperature. Once everything is well mixed, add the kimchi and just pulse a few times to get it all chopped up, and mixed in.

  5. Transfer to the mixture to a few ramekins or small bowls. You should be able to fill 2 or 3 small bowls.

  6. Allow the cheese to harden in the refrigerator uncovered for several hours.

  7. Once the cheese is set, store in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week.

Coconut Milk Pepper Jack

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Making vegan cheese is easier than most people think.

Especially cheeses using canned coconut milk and agar powder. Agar is a vegan gelatin that begins to set up a room temperature, so this cheese is super quick, and easy.

You can typically find agar powder at asian markets, or online. The addition of the chili peppers gives this cheese nice kick of flavor and spice, making it a nice alternative to traditional pepper jack.

So if you have never tried making your own vegan cheese, give it a go!! You will probably be surprised how easy and delicious it is!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 can of full fat coconut milk or cream

  • 2 tablespoon of lemon juice

  • 2 teaspoons miso paste

  • 1 teaspoons of salt

  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

  • 1/4 melted cup triple refined coconut oil

  • 2 tablespoons agar powder

  • 3 tablespoons arrow root or tapioca starch

  • 1 4oz can of green chilis

  • optional: 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or a splash of hot sauce for more heat

INSTRUCTIONS:

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

  2. Pulse a few times to mix everything up.

  3. Line a small bowl with a few paper towels, pour chilis into the bowl. The paper towels will absorb some of the liquid from the peppers. Set aside.

  4. Now add the milk and agar powder to a medium sauce pan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 2 minutes, until mixture thickens to the consistency of a thin pudding.

  5. Add the milk mixture to the ingredients in the food processor and mix for about a minute. The mixture will quickly begin to thicken as the agar begins to solidify at room temperature. Once everything is well mixed, add the chilis and just pulse a few times.

  6. Transfer to the mixture to a few ramekins or small bowls. You should be able to fill 2 or 3 small bowls.

  7. Allow the cheese to harden in the refrigerator uncovered for several hours.

  8. Once the cheese is set, store in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week.

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Coconut Milk Cheddar Cheese Shapes

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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 also love making my kids easy and healthy snacks that are a allergy friendly alternative.

What kid doesn’t love to get to play with their food, and with these vegan cheddar shapes it 100% encouraged.

You can make any shape you like using whatever cookie cutters you happen to have on hand.

You can also easily mold this cheese in small bowls and slice or shred it for any recipe calling for cheddar cheese.

Agar powder is simply a vegan gelatin made from seaweed and can be found at Asian markets or online.

It sets up once it cools off but will melt once you heat it.

So don’t be afraid to make your own dairy free cheese!! it’s so easy , cheap and actually really delicious. And in this case, pretty fun too!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 can full fat coconut milk

  • 2 tablespoons agar powder

  • 2 teaspoons light miso paste

  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

  • 3 tablespoons tapioca starch

  • 1 teaspoon turmeric

  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika

  • 1/4 cup refined coconut oil

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. In a food processor or high speed blender, add all of the ingredients EXCEPT the milk, and agar.

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

  3. Now 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.

  4. Add the milk mixture to the ingredients in the food processor, and mix for about a minute. The mixture will quickly begin to thicken as agar begins to solidify at room temperature.

  5. Transfer to the mixture to a 9x13 pan, or high sided baking pan.

  6. Allow the cheese to harden in the refrigerator uncovered for about an hour.

  7. Once the cheese is set, cut shapes using your favorite cookie cutters. You use the scrap pieces for tacos, soups and chili, on salads, whatever! It will also remelt, so you could use it in quesadillas, nachos, or any other recipe that calls for melty cheese.

  8. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.