I'm obsessed with this vegan cheese log recipe right now! It's super smooth and creamy texture is as good or better than anything that can be found in the fancy (expensive) specialty vegan cheese shops around Portland.
Table of Contents
Recipe Features
- It tastes amazing and the creamy texture of the tofu and cashew base is addictive.
- It's versatile. The base cheese mixture can be flavored and coated in so many different ways - the only limit is your imagination. It can be formed into logs, cheeseballs, mini-cheeseballs, wedges, or put into a container for spreading like flavored cream cheese.
- You can make this as fancy as you'd like and it makes a great addition to a cheese or charcuterie board.
Ingredient Notes
- Tofu - it's important to use extra firm tofu so that there is as little liquid as possible. You can use super firm, but it may be a little more difficult to work with.
- Cashews - these should be unsalted and unroasted
- Refined coconut oil - I specify refined so that there isn't any coconut flavor. This should be coconut oil that is firm at room temperature which is what helps this cheese maintain it's shape so don't replace it with a liquid oil.
- Lemon juice
- Salt
- Miso paste - use a mild white paste
- There are optional ingredients used to flavor and coat these cheese logs - see the recipe card for details
Steps By Step Instructions
- Drain and press the tofu (see directions below)
- Make the base cheese recipe and refrigerate for 4-6 hours
- Meanwhile, prepare your mix-in and coating ingredients
- Remove cheese from fridge and add your mix-in ingredients.
- Roll into a log or ball and then coat with additional toppings
- Keep chilled in the fridge until 15-20 minutes before serving.
- Enjoy!
How to Press Tofu
- Lay a couple of folded up paper towels on a plate
- Place the tofu block on top and cover with additional paper towels
- Put a heavy plate on top
- Weigh this down, I like to use a few heavy cookbooks.
- Check on it after 30 minutes and change out the paper towels if necessary.
If you put too much weight on the plates your tofu may break or split, but for this recipe that's fine because we're going to throw it in the blender anyway.
Making the Base Cheese Recipe
Once the tofu is nicely pressed, break it up with your hands and throw it in a blender with the soaked and drained cashews and the rest of the ingredients. Then blend the ever-loving crap out of it. I use a Vitamix and because there isn't much liquid in the recipe it takes a good bit of working it with the tamper to get it all nice and creamy. I start off on the lowest setting and work my way up to the highest. This takes about 3 minutes.
At this point, it still tastes pretty tofu-ey, but don't worry because once you add the mix-ins and roll it in coating that tofu taste will disappear.
Scrape the cheese mixture into an air-tight container and refrigerate for 4-6 hours. I'll often do this step the day before I intend to serve the cheese, but it can definitely be done all in one day.
Flavor Combinations
Because I like variety, I'll often split this base recipe up to make three or four different flavored cheeses. For this recipe I split it into thirds to make three logs, but you could also make cheese balls.
This time around I made the following vegan cheese log varieties:
- A super easy Everything Bagel cheese
- A tapenade style cheese flavored with olives, sundried tomatoes and balsamic vinegar that was rolled in a coating of chopped walnuts, parsley and toasted capers.
- A smoky cheese that reminds me of something my mother used to make involving dried beef. This beef-less version is flavored with onions, horseradish and Worcestershire sauce and then rolled in smoky pecans, parsley and dried cranberries.
The flavor combinations are endless though. These taste great rolled in fresh basil and other herbs or marinated with oil and herbs like a Chevre.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe works best if you start with the right type of tofu. I find that extra-firm tofu works best. I've also tried this with super-firm tofu and the results were comparable, but I had a little more trouble working with it in the blender.
This is definitely one of those recipes that works best with a high-speed blender. I can't vouch for the results using anything less and imagine that it would be difficult to achieve the creamy texture using a basic blender.
Absolutely, the creamy texture of the finished cheese really requires removing as much liquid as possible from the tofu. If you're like me and don't own a tofu press, follow the instructions in this post using two plates, some paper towels and something heavy to put on top.
1. Lay a couple of folded up paper towels on a plate
2. Place the tofu block on top and cover with additional paper towels
3. Put a heavy plate on top
4. Weigh this down, I like to use a few heavy cookbooks.
5. Check on it after 30 minutes and change out the paper towels if necessary.
Absolutely! Go ahead and get creative with it! My only caution would be not to add more than a few teaspoons of liquid as this will change the texture and result in a much softer cheese (unless that's what you're going for).
Keep these wrapped in parchment or plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Happy cheesemaking!
PrintRecipe
easy spreadable vegan cheese log
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 3 logs 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
It's easy to become obsessed with this vegan cheese log recipe! It's super smooth and creamy texture is as good or better than anything that can be found in fancy (expensive) specialty vegan cheese shops.
Ingredients
Basic Cheese Recipe
- 14 oz extra-firm tofu, pressed
- ⅔ cup cashews, soaked
- ⅔ cup refined coconut oil
- 1 Tbs lemon juice
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 Tbs miso paste
Everything Bagel Cheese
Tapenade Cheese
- 10 Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped finely
- 2 Tbs sundried tomatoes, chopped finely
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- ¼ tsp dried basil
- ⅓ cup walnuts, finely chopped
- 1 Tbs fresh parsely, minced
- 2 Tbs capers
- 1 Tbs of olive oil
Smoky Cheese
- 2 Tbs onion, finely minced
- ¼ tsp horseradish
- ½ tsp vegan worcestershire sauce
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ⅓ cup pecans halves
- 1 ½ tsp soy or tamari sauce
- ¼ tsp liquid smoke
- ¼ tsp olive oil
- ⅛ cup dried cranberries
- 1 Tbs fresh parsley, minced
Instructions
Basic Cheese Recipe
- Press tofu for at least 45 minutes to remove as much liquid as possible
- In the meantime, place cashews in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak for 30 minutes then drain and set aside.
- Crumble the pressed tofu into a high-speed blender and add in the cashews, coconut oil, lemon juice, salt, and miso paste.
- Blend until smooth using the tamper for 3 minutes or until creamy.
- Scrape mixture into an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
- Remove cheese from refrigerator and divide into thirds. Then use the options below to flavor each third or come up with your own flavor combos.
Everything Bagel Cheese
- This one couldn't be easier. Form the cheese mixture into a log or ball. The cheese will soften as you handle it which will get a bit messy, but will help the coating to stick.
- Spread everything bagel seasoning on a plate and roll your cheese log until completely coated.
- Wrap the cheese log in a piece of parchment and twist the ends to secure.
- Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Tapenade Cheese
- Place capers in a small bowl and cover with the olive oil. Then microwave for 1 ½ minutes. The capers will sizzle, turn a brownish color and pop open. Transfer to a paper towel to drain. When cool enough to handle, roughly chop and place on a plate. Any oil that's left in the bowl can be used to make a salad dressing or cook with and is super yummy!
- Chop walnuts and parsley finely and add to the plate with the capers. Mix everything together.
- In a bowl, use a fork to thoroughly distribute the olives, sundried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and dried basil into the cheese mixture.
- Shape into a log or ball. The cheese will soften as you handle it which will get a bit messy, but will help the coating to stick.
- Roll the log in the walnut, caper, parsley mixture until fully coated.
- Wrap the cheese log in a piece of parchment and twist the ends to secure.
- Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Smoky Cheese Mix-Ins
- In a small bowl mix together soy/tamari sauce, liquid smoke and olive oil. Set aside.
- Toast the pecans in a dry non-stick pan set over medium-high heat for 4 minutes stirring, tossing or flipping often to avoid burning. They will start to smell toasty and fragrant and slightly darken in color when they're ready.
- Remove from heat and pour the smoky liquid over the pecans mixing to coat.
- Once they are cool enough to handle, chop them finely and place on a plate. Try not to eat them all because they are delicious.
- Mix the parsley and chopped dried cranberries in with the pecans.
- In a bowl, use a fork to thoroughly distribute the onion, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, and salt into the cheese mixture.
- Shape into a log or ball. The cheese will soften as you handle it which will get a bit messy, but will help the coating to stick.
- Roll the log in the walnut, caper, parsley mixture until fully coated.
- Wrap the cheese log in a piece of parchment and twist the ends to secure.
- Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Notes
- I use the time during the 4 hour chill time to ready the mix-in and coating ingredients so that I'm ready to roll (pun intended).
- The cheese logs will soften as they sit out. I tend to remove the from the fridge at least 20 minutes before serving to make it easy to spread.
- As with many things, these taste even better the next day.
- Try to really finely chop all the mix-in and coating ingredients so you don't end up with big hunks of anything on your cracker.
- After shaping into logs, place onto plate with coating and then wash your hands. This will keep the coating from sticking all over you.
- The measurements and quantities used will vary depending on the size you make your logs or balls. If you split cheese mixture in half instead of thirds adjust accordingly. If you come up with your own flavor creations be careful not to add too much liquid as this will soften the cheese and it may not hold it's shape.
- Category: snacks
- Method: blender
- Cuisine: american
Keywords: vegan, cheese, dairy-free, gluten-free
Gabriela Herrera says
This cheese log is going to be a must for my husband and I for Valentine's day. Thank you so much.
★★★★★
Kris says
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Jean Paul says
This stuff is sooo delicious! The texture is perfect, too. My partner and I particularly liked the smoky cheese one. Also, amazed at how un-tofu-ey it tastes. Really good and well done on the recipe. Even tho it is a little involved, it is very clear and easy to follow. Definitely worth the effort!
Kris says
So happy you like them!