Hard vegan cheeses are easier than most people think. Agar is vegan gelatin that you can easily find online or in your local asian food market that helps the cheese to solidify. You can find it in powdered or flake form.
Because so many people have allergies to tree nuts and coconut, I wanted to include a seed cheese option. You can easily swap out sunflower seeds in most nut cheese recipes with great success! You can just exchange equal amount of seed for nuts and follow the recipe as written!
I love this recipe because you can slice and even shred this cheese. If you are not a fan of smokey cheeses, just eliminate the liquid smoke and you will still be left with a tasty cheddar, perfect for sandwiches, cheese plates, tacos, and more.
Also this recipe uses triple filtered coconut oil. I buy mine at Trader Joe's. Triple filtered coconut oil does not have a coconut flavor like regular coconut oil, so if you choose to use regular, you may find the cheese will have a hint of coconut flavor to it. It may also be labeled as refined coconut oil. They are the same thing!
So if you are allergic to nuts, or have not been a fan of coconut milk cheese, I hope you will enjoy this option!
This cheese is also perfect for sending in school lunch boxes to avoid any allergy issues with you kids friends! I always worry about our kid’s friends with nut allergies when they visit our house, and am so glad I have an option to serve them and still keep it vegan!
Sunflower seeds are also relatively inexpensive! This cheese will cost you easily less than half of what you would pay for vegan cheese in the store. I use small snack size bowls to mold this cheese and can yield three wheels of cheese for around $4-5! If that is not a reason to start making your own cheese, I don’t know what is!!
So let me know what you think of this inexpensive, allergy friendly vegan cheese! I hope you love it and it becomes a staple in your house like it has ours!
INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cups raw sunflower seeds
1 and 1/2 cups plant milk (we used almond milk)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup sauerkraut without the liquid
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons tapioca starch
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 and 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
2 tablespoons agar powder
1/4 cup refined or filtered coconut oil
Juice from 1/2 lemon
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:
Soak sunflower seeds in hot water for a few hours, or cover in water in microwave safe container and microwave on high for 3 minutes
Drain seeds and them add along with coconut oil, sauerkraut, nutritional yeast, starch, and seasoning to a food processor or blender. Blend for about a minute .
Add the milk and agar powder to a medium sauce pan. Heat over medium heat, whisking continuously unit the mixture comes to a boil and begins to thicken. Once thickened allow the mixture to simmer for a few minutes, but keep whisking.
Add the milk and agar mixture to the food processor or blender and mix on high for several minute, unit the mixture becomes creamy smooth.
Transfer the mixture to several small bowls or cheese molds. Place in the refrigerator uncovered for serval hours to allow the cheese to firm up.
Store firm cheese in an air tight container in the fridge for about a week.
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