Spread it on Thick

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by Hannah (BitterSweet)

Dear readers, I have a confession; I’ve been holding out on you. Almost a year ago now, I made the most incredible discovery while playing around in the kitchen, adored the results… And failed to post about it. I meant to, truly I did! But then there were holidays, events, and other time-sensitive materials to talk about – You know how it is – And that recipe sat on the far corner of my computer’s hard drive, gathering dust.

Well, you remember that demo I was preparing for recently? Somehow while gabbing a bit about recipes, that very experiment came to mind, and all of a sudden I realized the injustice committed by leaving it off the blog. Promising to post it asap to all those in attendance, now seems as good a time as ever to share: It’s possible to make truly delicious vegan cheese, and not just some nut- or seed- based concoction, but something made in a more traditional way.

Cheese making is certainly a whole separate craft from other food prep, and few people take the time to learn it these days. Doing just a little bit of research online, however, provides an abundance of information and insight, and much of it is surprisingly easy to veganize! This simple spread that was a first step into this broad and fascinating world, but there’s just so much potential for vegan cheeses, it’s a shame not to continue pressing further.

There is one trick to this procedure; While I usually don’t like writing recipes that require one particular brand of soy or non-dairy milk when there are so many options out there, for this one, I must insist that you use Organic Edensoy Original. Why? It’s all in the protein and fat content, and it most closely resembles that of whole milk of any vegan option I’ve found yet. The nutritional composition is extremely important in cheese making, so while it’s possible that there are other brands that would work, I’m not sure that it would work quite as well.

And if you aren’t so keen on this spread, what would you think about vegan cottage cheese? Even easier yet, just stop after draining out the whey and serve! Now that’s one dairy-alternative that I have yet to see hit store shelves.

Vegan Cottage Cheese

1 Quart Organic Edensoy Original
1/2 Cup Plain Soy Creamer
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar

Before you begin, line a strainer or colander with cheesecloth and set it over a large bowl.

Combine the soymilk, soy creamer, and salt in a medium pot. Set it over moderate heat, and bring it to a steady simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent it from scalding. Pour in the lemon juice and vinegar and stir briefly to incorporate. Allow the contents of the pot to cook for 1 minute undisturbed, and then stir gently for one more minute. Stop stirring for one or two more minutes; It should begin to look curdled, and the liquid will start separating into curds and whey.

Pour everything into your prepared strainer. Transfer the whey (liquid) into another bowl or pitcher, and DON’T TOSS THIS OUT! It may not seem all that appealing, but it has tons of protein and there are many other uses for it. In fact, stay tuned for more on this later…

Let the curds continue to drain for 1 hour at room temperature before scraping them out of the cheesecloth and refrigerating in an air-tight container.

Makes about 1 Cup

Vegan Cheese Spread

1 Recipe Cottage Cheese (above)
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Tumeric
1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
2 Tablespoon Nutritional Yeast

Simply mash everything together with a fork and enjoy!

64 thoughts on “Spread it on Thick”

  3. i wanted to get some vegan rennet and try to make cashew cheese. seems like it should work right?

    i think making vegan cheese from scratch is pretty rad. you go!

  8. I’ll have to have a look around and see if I can get my hands on some Edensoy over here.

  9. That looks nice! Thanks for the recipe, Hannah! Unfortunately here in Israel we have neither Eden soymilk or soy creamer, so I wont be able to make your cheese spread :-(

  12. Thank you for all the inspiration and ideas on cheese making!I love, love, love your method, the straightforward ingredients and the lack of tofu!

  18. This sounds really interesting and very good. I’m going to try it because I’ve been looking into more vegan foods to help battle my Crohn’s. I definitely miss cheese at times and this could be a very good alternative. Thanks for posting the recipes!

  19. Seems like a simple plan, I’ll have to give it a go sometime. This post ties right in with the topic of discussion in my experimental foods class this week, we are studying milk and milk products. Gross, I know, but it’s interesting to learn the chemistry behind so we can veganize it!

  21. hi hannah,
    this looks fun and yummy! the various soy products all differ so much, I totally appreciate a specific brand recommendations.

    :)

  24. cottage cheese?? I used to be obsessed with that stuff! Sometimes I think I miss it more than normal cheese. Thank you for this method!

  27. awesome! It’s very similar to making tofu..

    You know, I’ve read that the whey leftover from making tofu (that was cultured with nigari) was often used as a laundry whitener! I guess after culturing with the nigari the whey is not palatable, but the ladies sure figured out a way to use it. It’s said to get cloth diapers sparkling clean!

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  29. Wow! Both the cottage cheese and spread sound delicious. I’m going to try them. Thanks for sharing.

  33. I’m really impressed. There are just not so many really interesting vegan cheese making posts out there. And I’m a huge fan for vegan cheeses. I wish they would be all over the world (I know I might be asking for too much). Way to go! I’ll definitely tune in for more information on how to utilize the whey (liquid).

  37. Another amazing recipe! We don’t really buy much vegan cheese, kind of grew out of it, but I am actually excited about making this recipe. What kind of cheese would you compare this to?

  42. Hi Hannah,
    I made this “cheese” this afternoon. WOW! It’s so delicious! My daughter and husband are both lactose intolerant, and they both *loved* it. We spread it on some rice crackers, and it’s just so yummy. I made it as per the recipe this first time. I used coffee filters instead of the cheesecloth. The cheese just rolled right off of it! It was so very tasty, I went back to the grocery and bought two more boxes of EdenSoy. I’m not sure what we’ll flavor these with next. I’m thinking possibly cilantro and cumin? Maybe dill and ??? I may make some bread tomorrow just for spreading vegan cheese…….Oh, and the texture was so terrific after being refrigerated. Yummy!

  45. This sounds so wonderful! I’ve never made anything like this, so I can’t wait to be adventurous and try my hand at this recipe!

  48. I am simply DYING to find a good vegan cheese recipe! I don’t know about the cottage kind, I am leaning twords the block kind which I know is difficut to replicate for the dairy type contains much saturated fat to keep it hard at room temerature… Thanks for sharing the recipe, hope to see more like this soon!

  49. hannah, you are a genius! i’ve yearned for a vegan cottage cheese…i used to eat the dairy stuff a lot pre-vegan. i can’t wait to try that and your spread out! it seems so simple!

  50. I’ve actually been thinking a lot about this lately. I’m sure there is a good reason for it, but why haven’t any of the companies making vegan cheese tried making it in the traditional way, using vegetable based enzymes, cultures, and then aging it like dairy cheese? There has to be a way. In the meantime I’ll try making your version it sounds really good.

  51. I am very interested in trying this recipe it looks great! Have you tried warming the cheese at all? I’d be very interested to know if it melts.

  52. hi there!
    i just started following your blog as well as just becoming vegan! i have to say i know the thing i will miss most is cheese. and low and behold, i find this. so cool :)
    gonna hafta try this ASAP!

  53. I absolutely must make this cottage cheese! I miss cottage cheese (with a bit of apple sauce on top) so very much. You are pure genius, have I told you that enough?

  59. Just wanted to drop you a line and let you know that I made this recipe and it worked out wonderfully. You see, TGH and I loved lasagne and it is one of the things we miss now that we are vegan. I used to make it with a mix of cottage and ricotta cheeses so guess what we did with this recipe? We used some rice lasagne pasta, some grain sausage, and your cottage cheese plus my homemade tomato sauce, added lots of veggies to make a delicious vegan lasagne that was as good taste-wise as the dairy and meat stuff we used to eat but better health-wise! Just thought you may like to know. I will respond to your email soon but wanted to tell you this before I forgot. :)

  60. Oooh if you just mash some tofu with some Vegenaise (with a squeeze of lemon here and there) you pretty much get cottage cheese flavor and texture!

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