This is my step by step recipe on how to make the perfect and totally Vegan Buffalo Mozzarella with ingredients easily available from any food store as well as completely natural.

This homemade vegan buffalo mozzarella is a versatile, satisfying addition to your plant-based kitchen. It’s easy, realistic, and sure to impress even non-vegans. Perfect for every season, from BBQs to winter comfort food.

Jump to:

• About this Recipe
• Ingredients
• How to make Vegan Buffalo Mozzarella - Steps & Tips
• How to eat and long do they keep
• Extra: How to Make your own Soy Yogurt
• How to make the Soy Cream
• Recipe

About this Recipe

As I promised you in the post of my Vegan Melty Homemade Mozzarella, here is my version of the vegan "buffalo", perfect to be consumed "raw" in salads, appetizers or in any way you like.

While the first version is ideal for melting on pizzas, arancini and baked pastas or lasagne, this one is ideal for making a nice Caprese or, simply, to be enjoyed as it is.

The recipe that I am about to walk you through will replicate the flavour of buffalo mozzarella both in its appearance and feel. After all we don't just enjoy food because of its taste but because of the whole, am I right?

If you have never had the pleasure to try this cheese, the main feature of traditional buffalo mozzarella is its sour and salty aftertaste. Unlike that of cow's milk, which is much sweeter and far less savoury, it has a pearly white colour and when cut it releases an oozy milky liquid that is just beautiful; the mozzarella has its own self contained sauce.

This mozzarella has a gorgeous smooth surface which has an absolutely delightful sheen to it, whereas the inside is a flaky granular texture. A simply divine combination in this traditional delicacy.

It is these four characteristics (acidity, flavour and both the internal and external consistency) that I have promised myself to reproduce and to present you with a perfect vegan version of this Italian favourite and all completely plant based.

You are probably thinking this is too good to be true but I promise some things in life are magic.

Ingredients

The key ingredients for this vegan version of Campania buffalo mozzarella are:

• Soy Yogurt, unsweetened (below is the recipe I use to make it at home- recommended option). I recommend this because it is such an easy process;
• Soy cream. For this recipe I made my own soy cream which is a really easy process and I have listed the process below in the notes but if you wish to skip this step then any vegetable cream for savoury preparations will do equally well;
• Tapioca starch, preferably in its powder/flour state;
• Agar Agar which will be used for the thickening process.

These ingredients together will work to create both its unmistakable flavor and the "flaky" consistency typical of this cheese.

Let's go immediately to see how to make our soy buffaloes.

How to make Vegan Buffalo Mozzarella - Steps & Tips

STEP 1 - Make the Brine

First we must start by creating a brine.

TIP: If you make Vegan Ricotta at home, the liquid remaining in the pot (whey), after the curd flakes have been collected, is perfect and a great way to use up what otherwise could be wasted.
The same goes for the self-made soy yogurt whey. Anyone who has some experience with the self-production of vegetable yogurt will already know that it remains rather soft after the incubation process.
To make it firmer and creamier, I personally let it drain in a colander covered with cheesecloth for 6 to 12 hours (depending on the desired consistency).
After about 12 hours you will get a consistency reminiscent of Greek yogurt, and this is exactly what we are going to use for our mozzarella.

Below the colander, I always place a glass bowl to collect the liquid as it drains from the yogurt which we can use for the cooling phase of the buffaloes.

Alternatively, you can quickly whip up your own brine by mixing about 500 ml of filtered water, 1 teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of dairy-free yoghurt (or lemon juice).

STEP 2 - Make the Base

Mix the yogurt with the tapioca, salt and soy cream, until the mixture is smooth and without lumps.

STEP 3 - Activate the Agar Agar

Dissolve the agar agar in the water until it is completely dissolved, then place on a medium heat stove and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

Leave to cook for at least 2 or 3 minutes after boiling.

STEP 4 - Combine

Incorporate the yogurt mixture into the pan with the water and agar agar with a whisk, and heat everything until the mixture is homogeneous, stringy and detaches from the side of the pan.

STEP 5 - Shaping

Now it will be necessary to work quickly, to prevent the mixture from solidifying too much (the agar agar tends to harden quickly when the temperature drops after being activated, so just make sure you are tidy and set up and ready).

Take you brine mixture, place it into a bowl and place this bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice and water.

With the help of a couple of kitchen spoons take the mixture from the pan, form a sort of quenelle and dip it into the bowl with the brine.

Continue until you have used up all the mixture; you will get about 5-6 mozzarella with a diameter of 5 centimetres.

Alternatively, you can wrap the mixture in some suitable cling film and shape it into mono portions or a big one (ideal to make Caprese Salad). Be careful whilst handlining the mixture as it will be hot!

STEP 6 - Cool down

Cover with a lid or cling film and place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before enjoying your homemade vegan mozzarella buffalo style.

How to eat and long do they keep

You can taste the vegan buffalo mozzarella cold from the fridge or after having kept them at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

They can be kept in the refrigerator covered with their serum for about 4 days.

Extra: How to Make your own Soy Yogurt

Ingredients:
1 liter of Soy Milk
1 Sachet/Capsule Yogurt Starter *

* Keep in mind that not all bacteria for self-producing yogurt are vegan, below you will list the most famous / easy to find on the market that are compatible with a totally vegetable diet:

- Streptococcus thermophilus
- Lactobacillus bulgaricus
- Lactobacillus acidophilus
- Bifidus lactis

To make my own at home I use the convenient Instant Pot, but you can use any yoghurt maker or even the Thermomix, and just follow the recommended instructions.

On the other hand, those who own an Instant Pot will simply have to mix milk and starter / bacterial cultures and activate the yogurt program for 14 hours.

This is a really easy process and the results are fantastic.

As soon as the yogurt is ready, simply pass it through a colander covered with cheesecloth for a further 12 hours. During this process you will have to place the colander above a large bowl or pot where the whey will be deposited, which will be useful for use during the cooling phase of our mozzarella. Then simply place it into the fridge covered with film.

The next day you can transfer your yogurt to a bowl and work it with a whisk. You will get a thick and creamy looking Greek-like yogurt, perfect for making these vegan buffalo mozzarella!

How to make the Soy Cream

If you can't grab it ready made from the supermarket, don't worry: making soy cream for these mozzarelle couldn't be simpler and all with ingredients you should have no problems finding.

Just weigh and blend in the blender:

50 g Soy milk
50 g Seed Oil
10 g Sugar
6 g Corn starch
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of Lactic Acid (or 2 drops of lemon juice)

And voila: a self-made soy cream in a handful of second ready to use! It really is this easy. Isn't food fun when you know the secrets?

 

Recipe

If you are into vegan cheese production do not miss the following cheese recipe already available on the blog:

- Vegan Overnight Fermented Cream Cheese
- Vegan Stracchino
- Homemade Ricotta
- Baked Camembert
- Vegan Mozzarella (meltable) 

More cheese recipes are also scheduled to be posted, so if you don't want to miss them subscribe your email address to receive updates once a new recipe is available.

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