This Tofu Mozzarella is the best vegan mozzarella cheese to make if you’re looking for a cheese made with no nuts or refined oil. It’s silky smooth, stretchy and budget friendly. Have this soy mozzarella meal prepped and ready in less than 10 minutes.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Low fat vegan cheese – A lot of store-bought and homemade vegan mozzarella cheeses are made using cashews or oils, but this mozzarella sauce is low in fat and a great, lower calorie option!
- Stretchy – Adding tapioca flour to the vegan mozzarella cheese helps give it that stretchy, gooey texture you’d get with traditional mozzarella.
- Versatile – You can put this tofu mozzarella cheese on practically anything. Try it as a vegan pizza cheese, mozzarella dip, on pasta, on a sandwich, as a grilled cheese, etc. Make it on Sundays and add it to any dish throughout the week for an extra flavor boost. Keep reading below for additional recipes to try this cheese with!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- tofu – I use medium firm tofu and find it gives this soy mozzarella the best consistency. If you use a softer tofu, your cheese will be more runny (more like a sauce) and if you use extra firm tofu, your cheese will be much thicker and difficult to spread. For another vegan fat free cheese, try my Vegan Tofu Ricotta Cheese.
- nutritional yeast – Nutritional yeast helps give this vegan mozzarella cheese a “cheesy” flavor without any dairy! I have begun using a non-fortified nutritional yeast, meaning it has not been enriched with additional vitamins and only has naturally occurring vitamins. It is still rich in B vitamins and amino acids and is a great plant-based source of extra nutrition. Non-fortified nutritional yeast is difficult to find in stores, but if you’d like to order it, I love the brand Sari Foods.
- tapioca flour – This is the secret ingredient that makes the vegan mozzarella cheese stretchy and change texture when warmed. It cannot be substituted with any other ingredient.
- lemon juice – Most dairy based mozzarella cheeses have a distinct tangy flavor from the fermentation process. To replicate this, I use freshly squeezed lemon juice to create that same tangy flavor in vegan mozzarella. A little goes a long way, but is essential in balancing the flavor.
Step by Step Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a high speed blender. I recommend adding the tapioca on top of the liquid to help prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the blender. There is also no need to press the tofu ahead of time – just drop it in the blender straight from the package.
- Blend until completely smooth. The texture of the tofu mozzarella at this stage should be similar to the texture of my Cashew Sour Cream. Silky smooth with no grittiness!
- Transfer the vegan mozzarella to a sauce pan and whisk until warm and stretchy. Once the vegan cheese is silky smooth, transfer it to a sauce pan using a silicone spatula. Then, over medium heat, whisk the tofu mozzarella frequently until the consistency thickens and the cheese becomes stretchy. This will take about 3-5 minutes, depending on the size of your sauce pan.
FAQs
This tofu mozzarella will last for up to 5 days when stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. It may even last a bit longer if stored in an air-tight glass jar, as glass helps preserve food a bit better than plastic. Perfect for meal prep!
Yes, vegan mozzarella is dairy free because vegan foods are not made with any animal by-products, including dairy. This is a great starter non dairy mozzarella cheese to try at home because it has very few steps and uses simple ingredients to find in the grocery store.
Tofu is typically near the produce section in grocery stores and is on the refrigerated shelves. It is often near other vegetarian proteins like tempeh, vegan mock meats, and vegan cheeses. Notice that there are several types of tofu indicating how either soft or firm they are and be sure to choose the right firmness for your recipe.
Although using tofu that has been frozen, then thawed is a great trick to make tofu more chicken-like in texture, it is not good to use in sauces or vegan cheese recipes. This is because the act of freezing, then thawing tofu causes all of the excess moisture to drain out of the tofu. If we were to use a frozen, then thawed block of tofu in this tofu mozzarella recipe, the cheese would be lacking that creamy texture as well as the moisture. Save frozen tofu for recipes like my 30 Minute Crispy Peanut Tofu or Sticky Vegan Orange Chicken.
How to Use Vegan Mozzarella Cheese
This tofu mozzarella goes well on just about anything savory (not just limited to Italian inspired dishes!). Here are a few of my favorite recipes to use it with.
- On top of Beer Braised Jackfruit Enchiladas.
- On a vegan grilled cheese with tomatoes and Easy Dairy Free Pesto.
- Baked on a vegan flatbread pizza.
- Rolled in a tortilla with Vegetarian Refried Beans and Cilantro Lime Rice.
- Added to a Vegan Taco Salad Bowl with Tempeh.
- In Oven Fried Vegan Potato Tacos (Tacos de Papa).
- With Vegan Tofu Bolognese Sauce.
- Melted on Vegan Lasagna.
- In Vegan Crockpot Lasagna Soup.
- Baked on Vegan Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Boats.
- Baked on Lentil Stuffed Peppers.
- Spread on a Chickpea Egg Breakfast Sandwich.
Expert Tips
- Adjust the amount of time you heat it over the stove depending on how stretchy you’d like your tofu mozzarella. Whisking it over heat for less time will result in a saucier, less thick cheese – suitable to being used as a cheese sauce. On the contrary, whisking it for longer will result in a thicker, stretchier cheese.
- Do not use the Ninja blender with the blade up the stem. This blender is incapable of making smooth sauces, cheeses or dips because it really is only capable of chopping food very, very finely. If you are looking to invest in a blender that is better suitable for homemade vegan cooking, I recommend the Vitamix or any high speed blender that has the blades at the bottom of pulls everything down into a vortex. These are the only types of blenders that can blend completely smooth.
More Vegan Tofu Recipes You May Like
Tofu Mozzarella (no nuts, no oil)
Ingredients
- 16 ounces medium firm tofu
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- ¼ cup tapioca flour
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice - freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Blend all ingredients together until smooth in a high speed blender.
- Transfer to a sauce pan over medium heat and whisk frequently for 3-5 minutes until thickened and stretchy.
- Serve while warm. Store any remaining leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
- I use non fortified nutritional yeast that is more a beige/brown color. If you use the fortified nutritional yeast that is bright yellow, your mozzarella may turn out more yellow. The taste will be the same.
- Change how long you heat the cheese depending on desired consistency. For a more sauce like cheese, heat for closer to 3 minutes. For a stretchier, thick cheese heat between 5-7 minutes.
- Do not use tofu that has been previously frozen in this recipe.
- Do not use the Ninja blender with the blade up the stem. It will not blend the tofu mozzarella smooth.
General note about salt
Please pay attention to the type of salt called for in the recipe (if applicable). Not all salts are made equal and cannot be substituted 1 for 1. If you are substituting table salt for kosher salt, you will need to cut the amount called for in the recipe by at least half.
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Nutrition
Disclaimer: The Nutritional Information provided for this recipe is only an estimate. The accuracy of the facts listed is not and cannot be guaranteed.
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