Gelatin Free Vegan Cashew Mozzarella
Stretchy, glossy, and genuinely satisfying to pull apart, this cashew mozzarella delivers the melty quality you want without a single animal-derived ingredient — and crucially, without any gelatin or setting agents that can sneak into store-bought dairy-free alternatives. The magic comes from tapioca starch, which transforms a blended cashew cream into something that stretches, slices, and re-melts on a hot pizza just like the real thing. Soaking the cashews first is the key prep step, giving the blender a head start on achieving that completely smooth, pourable base before it ever hits the stove. A little apple cider vinegar and lemon juice add the subtle tang you expect from fresh mozzarella, while garlic powder and salt round out the flavor so it never tastes flat or one-dimensional. The stovetop cooking phase is genuinely fun to watch — the mixture goes from thin cream to a glossy, pulling mass in just a few minutes of constant stirring. Once it sets in the fridge, you can slice it onto a caprese salad, tear it over flatbread, or shred it straight onto a pizza before baking. It's the kind of recipe that makes you wonder why you ever reached for a packaged version.
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Learn more →Ingredients
6 servings
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in cold water for at least 2 hours, then drained and rinsed
- ¾ cup water
- 3 tbsp tapioca starch
- 1 tbsp refined coconut oil
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- 1
Drain and rinse the soaked cashews, then add them to a high-speed blender along with the water, tapioca starch, coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and garlic powder. Blend on high for 60–90 seconds until completely smooth with no visible cashew pieces — the mixture should look like thin, pourable cream.
- 2
Pour the blended mixture into a medium saucepan and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula, for 5–8 minutes until the mixture thickens dramatically, pulls away from the sides of the pan, and becomes glossy and stretchy — it will look like melted mozzarella and stretch when you lift the spatula.
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