Sprinkle vegan parmesan on salads, pasta, popcorn, or anything else that could use a little flavor boost! It's made with just 4 ingredients and comes together in a matter of seconds. Who knew that non-dairy cheese could be so easy? This simple recipe is vegan, lactose free, dairy free, and gluten-free.
Vegan Parmesan Cheese
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I like to make vegan “parmesan” using nutritional yeast and almonds. It has a nice flavor and it tastes great on pasta and salads. Sure there are a few vegan parmesans available on the market now, but it's so easy to make your own that it seems silly to buy it. Plus, homemade versions are always much healthier - and tastier, too!
Vegan Walnut Parmesan
One day I was making a Caesar Salad for lunch, and I went to the pantry to get almonds so that I could whip up a batch of parmesan, but there were none to be found. I dug through the freezer, because surely there must be a bag of almond meal somewhere at the back. But sadly, there wasn’t. Back in the pantry, the only nuts I could find were walnuts. I decided to give it a go. How bad could walnut parmesan be?
It turns out that walnut parmesan is amazing! I’ve found that I now prefer it over the almond parmesan. Around the same time that I made this amazing discovery, I was sent some vegan cheeses to sample. The parmesan, which is pine nut based, has a little extra bit of tang to it. It turns out that it comes from mustard powder, so I decided to add a pinch to mine as well. Parmesan perfection!
What You Need
You only need a few ingredients to make this recipe!
- Nutritional yeast
- Walnuts
- Ground mustard powder
- Sea Salt
See recipe card for exact measurements.
How to Make Vegan Parmesan Cheese
It couldn't be easier to make this dairy-free cheese. You just throw all of the ingredients into a spice grinder, a small food processor, or the dry blade of a high-speed blender and mix!
Be careful not to over-process it, as it will turn into a cheesy nut butter. (Which might not be too terrible!)
How to Customize Your Vegan Parmesan
If you're allergic to walnuts, you can substitute just about any other kind of nut or seed. I love to make parmesan with hemp seeds or almonds.
How to Store Your Vegan Parmesan
Store your vegan parmesan in an air-tight container your refrigerator. It will last for a few weeks. You can always find a jar of it in my fridge.
Serving Your Vegan Parmesan
I love to sprinkle – okay, douse – my pasta and Caesar salads with this parmesan. It's also great on pizza. It's delicious on popcorn, too!
Vegan Parmesan with Walnuts
Ingredients
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- ¼ cup walnuts
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground mustard seed
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients together in a spice grinder, a small food processor, or the dry blade of a high-speed blender. Do not over-mix or you'll end up with cheesy walnut butter! It only takes about 10 seconds to grind everything together in my Blendtec high-speed blender.
- Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Notes
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Mary Guay
Sounds great! I'll try it tomorrow.
Dianne
I hope you like it, Mary!
Gina
Thanks for this tweaked recipe--love the dry mustard addition. This is really good! I sprinkle 'parmesan' on pasta, veg cooked a variety of ways, things with tomato sauces. I will try this in my collards pesto and spinach pesto, as well. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Dianne
Thank you, Gina!
ShellyB
Lucky Me! I have walnuts and nutritional yeast in the cupboard. Gonna whip up a batch of this to try on pasta tonight. We have been meaning to give vegan parmesan a try for quite some time now but it's taken us some time to "sidle up to" nutritional yeast. The breakthru moment for us was adding it to our "chickpea pancakes". So good. Now it seems like we want to add it to everything LOL. Your idea on adding a pinch of mustard seems like a really good one. Thanks ever so much.
Dianne
I hope you enjoy it, Shelly! i love the idea of using it in chickpea pancakes!
Madhavi
Seems like a great recipe! However, I have a question before trying this. Do the walnuts need to roasters ?!
Hope to hear from you. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
Dianne
Hi, Madhavi! I hope you enjoy it! I like to use raw walnuts. I think roasted taste might overpower the taste.
Pam in Sacramento
Sounds great! How long do you think this will keep in the fridge? Can it also be stored in the freezer?
Thanks!
Dianne
Hi, Pam! It will last for a few weeks in the fridge and about 6 months in the freezer. Enjoy!
Marilyn Eden
I have a walnut tree full of green walnuts. At what point do I take them off the tree for this recipe?
Dianne
Hi, Marilyn. I don't know anything about growing walnuts, so I don't know.