This vegan overnight fermented cream cheese recipe is a staple that comes handy in many preparations as well as being enjoyed as it is. Let's learn how to make it!
Questa ricetta è disponibile anche in italiano
This recipe is:
- soy free
- gluten free
- fuss free
- oil free
- easy
- tasty
- packed with nutrients
You'll end up with a product that is:
- creamy
- soft
- nutty
- cheesy
- versatile
In fact, you can consider this as a basic recipe for a "plain" plant based cream cheese that can be your white canvas for future vegan cheese creations.
You can add herbs, spices, vegetables to it (must try with chopped sundried tomatoes and/or olives!) or even sweet ingredients like dried fruit, chutneys, jams and berries.
It also goes absolutely gourgeously with my Vegan Smoked Salmon on bagels, crackers and sandwiches!
Our virtual vegan cheese board on this blog is becoming bigger and bigger, week after week. So far we have:
- Vegan Stracchino
- Ricotta (also Almond Based!)
- Baked Camembert
- Mozzarella
- and this Turmeric Cheese Sauce which is amazing for dipping!
There are some vegan hard cheeses that I'm still testing to get right that I'll soon post too, so if you're into vegan cheese making, you should definitely register your email address and hit the button SUBMIT to receive email updates for new recipes!
But today prepared to be amazed and ready to play around with this extraordinary recipe!
How to Make Vegan Overnight Fermented Cheese
Disclaimer: this is a nut based cheese that uses probiotics for home fermentation.
This vegan overnight fermented cheese recipe calls for the following ingredients:
- Cashew Nuts: you can use other nuts such as Almonds, or Macadamia, or Brazilian or a mix for a more interesting flavour.
- Water: filtered. To soak the nuts in and blend the cheese with.
- Probiotics: 1 capsule of Acidophilus.
- Maple Syrup: for a touch of sweetness.
- Nutritional Yeast: for a stronger cheesy taste (it works even without).
- Garlic Powder: for flavour.
- Sea Salt.
Now this recipe is quite easy per se, the only aspect we have to be patient about are the resting and fermenting times.
All we need to do is to place the cashew nuts in a (preferably) glass or ceramic bowl and open the probiotic capsule over them. Cover with water, give a little stir and allow to sit overnight (from 8 to 12 hours) with a plate on top or some film.
The day after transfer the soaked cashews with all their liquid to a power blender (I use used my loyal Ninja Mega Kitchen System (BL770) pictured below), along with all the remaining ingredients, and blend a few times, scratching the sides of the bowl in between, until you end up with a silky smooth consistency.
You might need to add some extra water to get the mixture smooth. I recommend to start with ½ tablespoon at a time and see how it goes. We don't want the mixture to be super runny, otherwise it won't set.
This is the exact texture we are looking for. The mixture can still have granules of nuts, but I promise, you won't be able to feel them, as they will be soft after soaking anyway.
Now it's time to carefully transfer our cheesy mixture into a mould, better if covered in cheese cloth. I use the big cheese mould of my cheese baskets set, which I highly recommend you to invest on if you're really into homemade vegan cheese. Just hand wash the baskets after use (I won't recommend the dish washer, as they may retain the tablet flavour and smell, and even melt and lose their shapes), carefully dry and store back in their box.
The final step is to allow this cheese to set in the fridge for at least 12 hours, although better results are reached after 24 hours. As they say "good things require time". And this is indeed one of those things.
Anyway, you can check your cheese after the first 12 hours, if it's compact and it holds its shape it's ready to go, otherwise put it back in the fridge for a few more hours.
Enjoy your homemade overnight fermented vegan cheese as you please. On bagels, crackers, sandwiches or even cheesecakes, pasta dishes, stuffed vegetables and so, so on. The possibilities with this humble and easy recipe are literally endless.
As mentioned before you can also enrich it with herbs, spices, fruit and vegetables.
Free your fantasy and creativity and enjoy this completely cruelty free cream cheese alternative!
Vegan Overnight Fermented Cheese Recipe
Ingredients:
200 g Cashew Nuts
180 g Filtered Water
1 Probiotic Capsule (content)
½ tablespoon Maple Syrup
1 teaspoon Nutritional Yeast
⅔ teaspoon Sea Salt
¼ teaspoon Garlic Granules (omit if using in sweet recipes)
Method:
1. Place the cashew nuts in a (preferably) glass or ceramic bowl and spread the content of the probiotic capsule over them.
2. Cover with water, give a little stir and allow to sit overnight (from 8 to 12 hours) covered.
3. The day after transfer the soaked cashews with all their liquid to a power blender, along with all the remaining ingredients.
4. Blend for a few intervals, scratching the sides of the bowl in between, until the mixtures turns to a silky smooth consistency (you might need to add some extra water to get the mixture smooth. I recommend to start with ½ tablespoon at a time and see how it goes. We don't want the mixture to be super runny, otherwise it won't set).
5. Carefully transfer the mixture into a (squared) mould, better if covered in cheese cloth.
6. Allow the vegan cream cheese to set in the fridge for at least 12 hours (although better results are reached after 24 hours).
7. Enjoy the overnight fermented vegan cream cheese straight away or store in the fridge up to one week.
This cheese is perfect for these Courgette & Smoked Paprika Pastry Rolls.
You can also use it for sweet preparations (just leave out the garlic) like this Rhubarb Baked Cheesecake.
For other vegan cheese recipes do not miss:
- Vegan Stracchino
- Soy Ricotta
- Almond Ricotta
- Baked Camembert
- Mozzarella
- Aged Chickpea Cheese
- Homemade Vegan Mascarpone Cheese
- Garlic and Chives Roulade
- Vegan Aged Herbed Cheese
Paula
Adriana, I may be being a bit daft here...but the 180g of water - is this what we use to soak the cashews in overnight, or is it soaking water PLUS the 180 to the blending?
Adriana Z.
Hi Paula.
The 180g is the total amount of water for the recipe. You use that to soak the cashews and the day after you transfer the cashews with their soaking water in the blender.
If the mixture seems too thick or it's not blending to smooth you can add some other water (1 tbsp at a time), but ONLY if that's the case.
Hope that helps x
daniela
fatto stamattina dopo aver messo a mollo ieri sera gli anacardi con il probiotico....fan-tas-ti-co!!!!!!
Adriana Z.
Ci sei riuscita!! Grazie mille di cuore ❤️
Marina
Il formaggio funziona anche se non metto la capsula di probiotico? Perché non sono sicura che quello che ho trovato io sia di origine vegetale...🙄
Adriana Z.
Ciao, i probiotici sono necessari per questa ricetta. Ce ne sono davvero tantissimi vegan, nel dubbio puoi chiedere al tuo farmacista.
Spero di esserti stata d'aiuto 🙂
Dee
I use a dairy free (vegan) probiotic do you think that would work. I know it does when I use it in boiled soy milk to make yoghurt.
Adriana Z.
I Dee!
I would personally try bringing the water to 60° C and pouring it over the cashew nuts. Then I would store them (covered) in a warm place. Wrapping the bowl with a blanket and store it in the oven (turned off, of course) overnight I think it might do the trick.
But as I mentioned in a previous comment I only tried it with Acidophilus so far. I will indeed experiment with different probiotics in the future so I can better cover questions and doubts like yours 🙂
Hope it will work for you, take care!
Chris
This looks great. Do you have to use acididophilus or will any probiotic strain work?
Adriana Z.
Hi, thanks!
To be completely honest with you I've only been experimenting with acidophilus probiotics as I bought them in bulk. But I cannot see why not it won't work with others 🙂
I only know that some require a certain temperature to activate (between 40 and 60 degrees if I'm not wrong), so just double check that before using any other type.
Take care!