Vegan Parmesan Cheese
Here’s a recipe for my faaavorite cheezy condiment 😍 I use homemade vegan parmesan cheese for pesto, pasta, pizza, toast, and soups… basically anywhere where I want to add a delicious, savory, and umami flavor.
I’m not a fan of vegan cheeses (if you have a favorite one, please tell me!!) due to their mehh taste and low nutritional value. Patiently waiting for the day when someone invents a delicious-tasting & dairy-free halloumi cheese 🥹🤍Instead, I trust every dairy-free person’s best friend, aka nutritional yeast <3. Together with some creamy nuts, seeds, and spices, they make a perfect multipurpose & nutrient-dense condiment that works the same way as a dairy parmesan.
This parmesan doesn’t melt like its dairy counterpart, but the umami-packed flavors get to shine when you sprinkle it on top of different dishes or add it to your soups or stews.
This recipe is suuper simple to make, and you only need a couple of basic ingredients. It’s alsoFOPMAP-friendly when you leave the garlic powder out 🙂
What you need for your Vegan Parmesan Cheese
Nutritional Yeast – Nutritional yeast is THE best way to add a cheesy taste to plant-based recipes! It has (quite addicting) umami flavor and a nice yellow color, reminding me of dairy parmesan cheese.
Most of them are fortified with different vitamins and minerals, and usually, they contain great amounts of plant-based B vitamins. If you are following a plant-based diet, you need to give this a go! You can buy nutritional yeast at your local grocery store, amazon, or any organic/health store!
Brazilian nuts – Brazilian nuts add a smooth, almost buttery flavor & texture to this parmesan. They are also one of the most selenium-richest foods in the world! They’re also a great source of potassium, magnesium, antioxidants, and healthy fats.
Fun fact: You can get your daily recommended intake of selenium by eating ONE brazil nut! One single nut (weighing about 4 grams) contains 76 μg of selenium!
Sunflower seeds – Sunflower seeds have a creamy, nutty taste so they are a great addition to the parmesan. Sunflower seeds are one of my favorite ways to add some nice crunch and healthy fats to different dishes. Plus they are inexpensive and a great source of vitamin E, manganese, and selenium!
Salt – A little pinch of salt to enhance the flavors!
Garlic powder – Garlic powder adds extra flavor to the parmesan, and I love the taste of garlic 😀 (who doesn’t??) If you are following a low-FODMAP diet, you can leave the garlic powder out 🙂
Food processor or a blender – You’ll need a food processor to blend everything into a semi-smooth mixture. Maybe you could use a mortar and pestle if you have one! I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work 😀
VEGAN PARMESAN CHEESE RECIPE
Time to make 5 min
Makes 1 small jar
Ingredients
- 2,5 dl or 1 cup nutritional yeast
- 1,5 dl or ¾ cup sunflower seeds (feel free to sub some with cashews or brazil nuts)
- ½ – ¾ tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- Measure everything into a food processor and blend until you get a fine, “powdery” mixture.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge.
Tips and notes
Fodmap version – leave the garlic powder out.
Nut-free version: leave out the Brazil nuts and substitute with a tablespoon of sunflower seeds or peeled hemp seeds.
Use vegan parmesan in your…
- Pasta
- Pizza
- Pesto
- Risotto
- Popcorn
- Avocado toast
- Soups, stews
- Salads (Caesar salad is my fave!!)
- Vegan cheese dip