Cashew Parmesan Cheese

This vegan cashew parmesan is easy to make, delicious, and can be sprinkled on any savory dish! It’s perfect on pasta, salads or pizza! It takes 5 minutes to make and stores well in the fridge for a few weeks.

I used to be a major cheese lover. Cheese and crackers, pizza, cheese all over my pasta, mac and cheese and just straight up cheese. But then I realized dairy was heavily contributing to my skin woes and I swore off dairy for good. Well, at least for the most part, I can’t say no to soft serve.

I always loved a sprinkle of parmesan on pasta and caesar salads, and struggled to find an alternative when I ditched dairy. This cashew parmesan is easy, savory, perfectly salty and sprinkles perfectly on any pasta dish.

It takes (literally) two minutes to whip up and stores well in the fridge for several weeks so you always have something delicious to top your meals with! Enjoy on top of my gluten free chicken caesar salad!

How to make cashew parmesan

To make cashew parmsean, you will need cashews, nutritional yeast, salt, and garlic powder. If you have a nut allergy, you can sub the cashews for sunflower seeds or even hemp hearts!

All you need to do is add the cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic powder and salt into a food processor and process until a fine powder forms.

It should be light and almost powdery like regular parmesan. This only takes about 20 seconds, depending on your food processor.

Alternatively, if you have a high speed blender like a vitamix, you should be able to make this recipe in there instead of a food processor, it might just take a bit more patience. Also, be sure you don’t over process or the parmesan will become clumpy!

What is nutritional yeast?

The star of this recipe is definitely the nutritional yeast. It’s going to give the parmesan that cheesey flavor we love AND it adds a host of B vitamins and protein as well (source).

Nutritional yeast is not the same as baker’s yeast, so it isn’t going to make anything rise, the yeast cells are not alive, and I promise it’s not as scary as it sounds! It adds a great flavor to almost any savory dish and is completely vegan.

Does it keep?

This recipe will store in the fridge for about 2 weeks. Keep it in an air tight container or sealed mason jar for best results.

Tips to make it perfectly

Whether you use a food processor blender, make sure it is completely dry before adding in the ingredients. This will make sure there are no clumps that form and it is smooth like regular parmesan.

This recipe is great in pesto, mac and cheese, but it’s also delicious sprinkled on top of my kale caesar salad!

I like using cashews for this recipe because they have a neutral flavor and keep the color looking like parmesan, but you can also use almonds or even sunflower seeds for a nut free option.

Enjoy with these recipes!

• Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
• Nut Free Pesto Pasta
• Tomato Basil Cream Sauce

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