This vegan cashew parmesan is easy to make, delicious, and can be sprinkled on any savory dish! It’s perfect on pasta, salads or pizza! It takes 5 minutes to make and stores well in the fridge for a few weeks.
I used to be a major cheese lover. Cheese and crackers, pizza, cheese all over my pasta, mac and cheese and just straight up cheese. But then I realized dairy was heavily contributing to my skin woes and I swore off dairy for good. Well, at least for the most part, I can’t say no to soft serve.
I always loved a sprinkle of parmesan on pasta and caesar salads, and struggled to find an alternative when I ditched dairy. This cashew parmesan is easy, savory, perfectly salty and sprinkles perfectly on any pasta dish.
It takes (literally) two minutes to whip up and stores well in the fridge for several weeks so you always have something delicious to top your meals with!
How to make this recipe
To make cashew parmsean, you will need cashews, nutritional yeast, salt, and garlic powder. If you have a nut allergy, you can sub the cashews for sunflower seeds or even hemp hearts!
All you need to do is add the cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic powder and salt into a food processor and process until a fine powder forms. It should be light and almost powdery like regular parmesan. This only takes about 20 seconds, depending on your food processor.
Alternatively, if you have a high speed blender like a vitamix, you should be able to make this recipe in there instead of a food processor, it might just take a bit more patience. Also, be sure you don’t over process or the parmesan will become clumpy!
What is nutritional yeast?
The star of this recipe is definitely the nutritional yeast. It’s going to give the parmesan that cheesey flavor we love AND it adds a host of B vitamins and protein as well (source).
Nutritional yeast is not the same as baker’s yeast, so it isn’t going to make anything rise, the yeast cells are not alive, and I promise it’s not as scary as it sounds! It adds a great flavor to almost any savory dish and is completely vegan.
Does it keep?
This recipe will store in the fridge for about 2 weeks. Keep it in an air tight container or sealed mason jar for best results.
Tips to make it perfectly
Whether you use a food processor blender, make sure it is completely dry before adding in the ingredients. This will make sure there are no clumps that form and it is smooth like regular parmesan.
This recipe is great in pesto, mac and cheese, but it’s also delicious sprinkled on top of my kale caesar salad!
I like using cashews for this recipe because they have a neutral flavor and keep the color looking like parmesan, but you can also use almonds or even sunflower seeds for a nut free option.
Enjoy with these recipes!
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Vegan Cashew Parmesan Cheese
by: claire cary
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- Optional: pinch of pepper
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a food processor.
- Process until completely broken up and a fine powder forms, about 30 seconds.
- Taste and add more salt, garlic or pepper if desired. Store in a glass container in the fridge.
Regina says
I can’t do dairy either and this is amazing! Literally cannot tell the difference!
Claire Cary says
Love hearing that!
Christina says
This is the best vegan parmesan cheese. I add Italian seasoning to mine for just a little bit more flavor. Thanks.
Betty Dunne says
Hi
sorry dont cook much with yeast and this might sound stupid but when you say half a cup do you mean just half a cup of yeast no water?
Claire Cary says
This is nutritional yeast, not regular yeast! So yes, just 1/2 cup.
Regina says
Do you have to soak the cashews prior? To make it more digestible
Claire Cary says
No you don’t want to soak the cashews as this will result in a really mushy texture and not like a regular parmesan.
Lucy says
I really enjoyed this vegan Parmesan recipe. Not many ingredients and very easy to make. I added a fait more amount of nutritional yeast but I’m French so I like my cheese strong haha ! But thank you !!!!
Claire Cary says
hahah don’t blame you! So glad you liked it 🙂
Mari says
I recently had to go dairy free and this is the first replacement I have tried that didn’t make me miss the real thing. I used roasted unsalted cashews because it’s all I had on hand it was very good. Will definitely be coming back to this recipe for use.
Claire Cary says
Perfect!! So happy you enjoyed it, it’s a staple in my fridge!
Liz Clark says
This is absolutely the most DELICIOUS parmesan replacement!! Even my non-vegan friends prefer it and ask me for the recipe! So easy to make too. Thank you!!
Claire Cary says
Thank you Liz! So happy to hear it’s been such a hit!