Nightshade Free Vegan Cashew Mozzarella
Stretchy, glossy, and genuinely satisfying to pull apart, this cashew-based mozzarella delivers the melty, mild creaminess you'd expect from the real thing — all without a single animal product or nightshade ingredient in sight. For anyone navigating a nightshade-free lifestyle, finding a mozzarella alternative can be surprisingly tricky, since many store-bought vegan cheeses sneak in tomato-derived additives or paprika-based colorings. Here, the magic comes from soaked raw cashews blended silky-smooth, with tapioca starch doing the heavy lifting to create that signature stretch and pull when the mixture hits the heat. Coconut oil adds richness, while apple cider vinegar and lemon juice bring just enough tang to mimic the subtle brightness of fresh dairy mozzarella. The transformation in the saucepan is genuinely fun to watch — what starts as a thin, pourable cream thickens into something glossy and elastic right before your eyes. Once chilled and set, it slices cleanly, shreds easily, and re-melts beautifully on anything warm. Keep a batch in the fridge and you'll find yourself reaching for it constantly.
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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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