Sliceable Pistachio Cheese

Did you know you can make homemade vegan cheese using pistachios in 20 minutes? It will have a beautiful green color, a nutty, cheesy flavor, and a perfectly sliceable texture. Enjoy it on toast, or make a spectacular vegan appetizer for Christmas by adding cranberry jelly.

As far as appetizers go, we love them to be simple but delicious. It is incredible when you know that you can make gorgeous and tasty appetizers without special culinary tricks. That is why we love this Mediterranean grazing board or this falafel platter for celebrations, but for Christmas, we want something spectacular like this pistachio nut cheese.

What is a nut cheese?

Nut cheese is a dairy-free cheese you make by soaking and blending various nuts and heating them with agar-agar to get a sliceable cheese-like texture once cooled.

Nut cheeses, however, rarely mimic the taste of dairy cheese exactly. It would be best if you enjoy them on their own merits because they are indeed,

• delicious,
• flavorful, and
• unique.

You can make nut cheese with any nut: almonds, cashews, walnuts, macadamia, etc. We chose pistachios to create a festive, vegan Christmas appetizer. Pistachios and cranberries are a match made in heaven and are screaming Christmas from miles away. If you pick this mini silicone bundt mold, it will look like a little Christmas wreath, right? 

Ingredients

To make pistachio cheese, you need only nine ingredients. 

• Pistachios → Try to buy unshelled pistachio nuts, since peeling them is time-consuming. If you want a vibrant green color at the end, pick green peeled pistachio kernels.
• Dairy-free milk → Many vegan cheese recipes use water, but adding our homemade cashew milk makes it creamier and the nutty taste less harsh.
• Lemon juice → For a tangy taste
• Nutritional yeast → For a cheesy taste
• White miso paste → For a tangy taste
• Garlic powder
• Salt
• Agar-agar powder → You require a powerful thickener. Starches will not work well here.
• Spirulina or spinach powder → For extra green color (optional)

🛒 You can find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Instructions

Preparations

• Peel pistachios. Use a fine mesh sieve to wash off the salt if you buy salted ones.
• Boil water in a kettle. Soak pistachio nuts in hot water for 5 minutes to soften them. You can soak them overnight.
• Dissolve miso paste in hot water.

Blending

1. Use a blender and add soaked pistachios, dairy-free milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, garlic powder, and salt.
2. Blend until smooth. You don’t necessarily need a high-power blender, we used our immersion blender, and it was perfect.

Thickening

3. Add the blended pistachio mixture to a small saucepan. Bring it to medium heat. 
4. When it is hot, add the dissolved miso paste and stir to combine. 
5. Add the optional spirulina or spinach powder for a green color boost here. Finally, add agar-agar and stir to combine. 
6. After 5-6 minutes of cooking, pour the pistachio cheese mixture into a silicone mold while it is still hot. It sets pretty quickly after that. 

Top tips to use agar-agar

While there are many thickeners, the most popular vegan alternative for gelatin is agar-agar powder. What both have in common is that they require heat to activate them. To properly melt agar, boil it at 212 °F (100 °C) and simmer it for 3 to 5 minutes. 

Unlike starches, where you can see the liquid thickening on the stove, you will not see any change in texture with agar. However, agar sets quite quickly(!!!) at 90–104 °F (32-40 °C). Prepare your mold in advance, as you will not have time to search for it later!

Variations

You can make pistachio cheese for any occasion or as an everyday snack. Or you can turn it into an impressive appetizer for Christmas, like in the pictures. We used our quick homemade cranberry jelly recipe.

1. Make the cranberry jelly and pour ¼ cup hot jelly into a 5-inch mini silicone bundt cake mold. 
2. Wait until it sets before starting the nut cheese. 
3. Make the pistachio nut cheese per the instructions below, and add the hot mixture to the solid jelly. 
4. Wait until it sets. 
5. Serve and enjoy!

Top tips

• Hand blender or Vitamix – You will get an extraordinarily smooth nut cheese texture if you have a Vitamix. However, you need to double or triple the recipe to make it work there. If you want to make only one nut cheese bundt, you can still have the perfect texture using a hand blender.
• Milk or water – Adding water would be a more frugal approach, but the difference between using milk or water is significant.
• Sliceable or spreadable – If you add one tablespoon of agar-agar, you get a nut cheese that is easy to slice. If you want it closer to a cream cheese consistency, add one tablespoon of cornstarch instead. 

FAQs and substitutions

Can you use other nuts?

Yes, you can. This recipe will work with almonds, walnuts, macadamia, or cashew, although the color and the taste will likely differ. 

How to store it?

You can store it in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. Use an airtight container or cover it with a piece of plastic wrap.

Can you freeze it?

No, it will lose its texture.

Allergen info

This Pistachio Nut Cheese recipe is dairy-free, and egg-free.

• Vegan – All suggested ingredients are supposed to be vegan.
• Nut-free – That is a tricky question since it is a recipe using pistachio nuts.
• WFPB-friendly (whole foods plant-based) – No oil or sugar is used. All ingredients are compliant with this diet.
• Gluten-free – All proposed ingredients are supposed to be gluten-free. Always check the packaging for cross-contamination info.
• Soy-free – Miso paste is made of fermented soybeans. Use extra nutritional yeast in its place if you need to skip it. All other ingredients are supposed to be soy-free.

More vegan cheese recipes

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UPDATED: This recipe was originally posted in Dec 2019. More info, tips, and details were added, and it was republished in Nov 2022.