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This homemade mozzarella recipe from Vedged Out came to me at a perfect time. We ran out of vegan cheese, but I had pizza crusts and wanted to make pizza.
So I was excited when I saw Somer McCowan post a pizza photo on Instagram using “Foxy Moxy” vegan mozzarella cheese. I’ve seen quite a few cheese recipes on Pinterest and Instagram, but what really attracted me to this recipe was the fact that it only takes 5 minutes to make! I am one of those people who will sometimes forget to eat, and then all of a sudden I’m super hungry and want something quick, but also something absolutely delicious because I’m starving! Can anyone relate?
So a five minute vegan cheese for pizza is ideal for me most of the time. You’re supposed to soak the cashews if you don’t have a high speed blender (like a Vitamix, which I’d love to get some day), so the first time I made it I did soak the cashews overnight in water. But the rest of the times, I didn’t bother soaking them, and the cheese still came out delicious (I have a Ninja blender, it’s not as fancy as a Vitamix, but it’s better than a standard blender.)
Another plus to this cheese is that it’s oil free, which was also perfect timing because my stomach was starting to get mad at me for feeding it so many quarantine Doritos (Sweet Spicy Chili & Blaze flavors are vegan friendly) and cookies.
But even without oil, this mozzarella stretches and brows (actually more so than a lot of store bought oil cheeses), and it has a nice flavor. Of course, you can also make cheese-less pizza and it would be even quicker, but this recipe adds more depth of flavor and texture and is worth the extra five minutes to me.
You know the recipe was a success for me because I devoured my pizza, and then I also made the recipe again 3 times within a couple of weeks!
The first time I made it, I used the full recipe for a small Essential Baking Company crust (they come in our Imperfect deliveries), but the cheese to pizza ratio was a little high, so the rest of the times I halved the recipe, and just did a few dollops of cheese instead of covering most of the pizza.
You’re probably wondering, are there any cons to this cheese?
Well, since it doesn’t have any oil, it doesn’t taste the same as store bought vegan mozzarella cheese, so if that’s what you’re looking for you’ll be disappointed. But it’s tasty in its own way, and though frozen pizzas like Daiya are delicious to me as well, if I eat too much of them, sometimes I’ll get a stomachache, so the oil-free aspect is a plus for me. It’s also not a cheese meant for eating on its own, so if that’s what you’re looking for, this isn’t the recipe for you either. It also does require a blender as well as a small pot to heat the cheese.
But if you want a quick cheese for pizza that’s oil-free, I definitely recommend trying it! Get the recipe from Vedged Out here.
Summary
Recipe is by Somer McCowan and is posted here on Vedged Out
The recipe includes a homemade crust and sauce as well, but I use pre-made Essential Baking Co. crusts (which have been coming in our Imperfect Foods deliveries) and Raos sauce for convenience.
Pros
-Quick (five minutes or less)
-Easy to make (blend ingredients, warm on stove)
-Adds flavor and texture to pizza, stretches & browns
-Oil free
-Aesthetic for photos (not gonna lie, this is a plus for me lol)
Cons
-May need to soak cashews if you have a basic blender
-Requires a blender and a pot
-Doesn’t taste like store-bought (if that’s what you’re looking for.)
Tips
-Half the recipe if you’re only making one pizza and want less cheese, use the full amount if you want it covered in cheese.
-Bake at 475 degrees F for 12 minutes, broil for a couple minutes at the end (Somer told me that when sharing the recipe via Instagram & it works well, even though it’s different than the instructions on the crust I had.)
-If you don’t need the recipe to be oil-free and want to splurge on a delicious sauce, Rao’s marinara is my favorite!
-Sprinkle some garlic powder and/or Italian seasoning on top of your pizza before baking for extra deliciousness.
Have you tried making homemade vegan mozzarella? Since we haven’t been buying a lot of cheeses lately, I’m looking to try more recipes, so please let me know if you have any recommendations, for any types of vegan cheese!
Also, would you like to see more recipes reviews like this one, of vegan cheese, or anything in particular? If so, please let me know in the comments.
PS–If you’d like to see more recipes I like, follow me on Pinterest–I have a favorite recipes board, a recipe successes board (for recipes that I’ve like but haven’t made enough times to consider favorites yet), and a recipes I want to try board that I update constantly.