Imitation Cheese (Vegan)
Difficulty 2/5 Ingredients 15 Steps 5
A vegan cheese that mainly consists of potato, oil and soy.
Ingredients
- 5 ea. (750g–1kg) large, hard boiling potatoes
- 20 ml soy sauce or yeast extract
- 20 ml margarine or rapeseed oil
- Corn flour or breading mixture
- Any of the following optional ingredients:
- Salt or celery salt
- Bear's garlic or garlic
- Herbs, e.g. paprika, thyme, rosemary, cumin, oregano and savory
- Onions
- Taco seasoning mix (e.g. corn flour, salt, chili, onion, garlic, paprika, sodium glutamate)
- 1–3 g chili seasoning mix (e.g. chilies, orange zest, sesame, paprika, celery, and mustard)
- 1–5 g vegetable stock
- Unrefined sugar (or sugar not refined using the char method)
- Pepper
- 10 ml vinegar
Steps
- Boil potatoes until not quite done.
- Mash potatoes. Stir in soy sauce.
- Mix in margarine and cornflour to peanut butter consistency.
- Mix in optional flavor additions.
- Press into small, round form. Unmold. Serve.
Notes from the original
- A small amount of lecithin powder can be added as an emulgator but is not really necessary. Being hydrophilic and lipophilic, it binds together the water and the oil.
- Adding vinegar may increase durability in the refrigerator but more than 4 days are not recommended.
- A pinch of sugar can add to the taste but may not be compatible with all other spices.
- For a variant with rice, about half (and up to two-thirds) of the base substance is replaced by mashed rice. The advantage of mashed rice is that it results in a more cheese like substance, which dries better.
- A variant with vegetable stock can be made with less soy sauce. Mexican Taco Seasoning Mix can be used but is not required, because the vegetable stock is already very spicy. The variant can be combined with rice.
- A dairy free cheese flavor sauce mix can be suitable to acquire a stronger cheese flavor.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Imitation Cheese (Vegan)” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-10-04, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. Bfast2005 vegan cheese 2.jpg by Fasten at English Wikibooks, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.