Fish Free Cashew Parmesan
That savory, salty sprinkle you reach for to finish pasta, salads, and roasted vegetables doesn't have to come from a dairy block — and it definitely doesn't need to come from the sea. This plant-based alternative delivers a surprisingly convincing Parmesan-like flavor thanks to the combination of raw cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and sea salt, all blitzed together in a food processor until crumbly and dry. The nutritional yeast brings that deep, umami-rich quality that makes the whole thing taste far more complex than four ingredients have any right to. The key is in the pulsing — you want coarse, sandy crumbs, not a paste, so a little patience with the food processor goes a long way. It stores beautifully in an airtight jar, meaning you can keep a batch on hand all week and reach for it whenever a dish needs a finishing touch. For anyone navigating seafood-free eating, this is the kind of pantry staple that quietly solves a dozen problems at once — no label-reading required.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- 1
Combine the cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and salt in a food processor.
- 2
Pulse 10–15 times until the mixture resembles coarse, dry crumbs — roughly the texture of finely grated Parmesan. Stop before the mixture turns into a paste or butter.
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