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Home ยป Entrees ยป Meltable Vegan Mozzarella

March 25, 2012

Meltable Vegan Mozzarella

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Fresh Vegan Mozzarella Pizza

The first time I tried Daiya was at Pizza Pi in Seattle, Washington, about two years ago. I hadn’t had cheese or anything cheese-like for the past four or five years, so biting into that first slice of amazing dairy-free Daiya-laden pizza was sort of shocking and weird, but in a very good way. Trying out this soft and slightly gooey fresh soy- and nut-free homemade vegan mozzarella brought back that same kind of omgwhatisthisamazingness feeling, although the taste of this cheese is very different from Daiya’s flavor and texture. To give this mozzarella its uniquely soft and velvety texture, I tweaked the the original recipe by adding in some tapioca flour and slightly increasing the amount of coconut vinegar, which reduced the agar’s ability to fully gel and set. This final texture is perfect for dolloping on to a pizza and, when removed from a piping hot oven, is beautifully melted and releases an amazing cheesy aroma.

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Fresh Vegan Mozzarella Pizza

FRESH VEGAN MOZZARELLA PIZZA


  • Author: olivesfordinner.com
  • Yield: 1 cup mozarella
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Ingredients

  • 1 can good-quality coconut milk
  • 1 tsp coconut vinegar
  • 2/3 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp agar powder
  • 1 TB tapioca flour

Instructions

  1. Place the coconut milk into a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk until well-emulsified. Add in the vinegar, salt and agar and whisk frequently for about 15 minutes, or until a small boil occurs. Reduce the heat immediately, then whisk in the tapioca flour and heat for 5-10 minutes more.
  2. Transfer to a flat-bottomed glass pyrex dish to slightly gel for about an hour.
  3. Place small dollops of the cheese onto a homemade or prepared pizza crust with other desired toppings and bake on a pizza stone at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Did You Make This Recipe?

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Filed Under: Entrees, Pizza Tagged With: coconut milk

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tami says

    March 25, 2012 at 2:40 pm

    Absolutely gorgeous!

    Reply
  2. Jennifer says

    March 25, 2012 at 11:51 pm

    This looks amazing! I'll have to try out the mozzarella recipe, too.

    Reply
  3. IJustMadeThatUp says

    March 26, 2012 at 2:20 am

    This looks fantastic, but I'm not sold on coconut flavoured cheeze … is it a strong coconut flavour?

    Reply
  4. chow vegan says

    March 26, 2012 at 3:10 am

    OMG! That looks incredible! I usually don't miss cheese and don't care but your mozzarella pizza is making me wish I could eat it right now. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  5. erinwyso says

    March 26, 2012 at 11:25 am

    IJustMadeThatUp: No, this doesnt have any coconut flavor at all — that's what makes this cheese so amazing. The high fat content just gives it a rich, super-creamy (non-coconuty)flavor!

    Reply
  6. Angry Asian says

    March 26, 2012 at 5:32 pm

    please tell me that regular vinegar can be substituted for coconut vinegar?

    i miss cheese and i miss pizza. badly.

    Reply
  7. erinwyso says

    March 26, 2012 at 6:43 pm

    Angry Asian: hmmm, I am not sure you can sub regular vinegar here — the coconut vinegar has such a distinct flavor to it. I hope you can try it out — the taste and texture is seriously amazing!

    Reply
  8. Caitlin says

    March 27, 2012 at 2:03 pm

    i love your techniques and ingredients. you are amazing and this cheese look delicious!

    dayv doesn't care for daiya, but i use it sparingly on a lot of his food because it's the closest cheese substitute out there. i will really have to try this out!

    Reply
  9. erinwyso says

    March 27, 2012 at 9:58 pm

    Thanks Caitlin! You can cut back the vinegar to a 1/2 tsp and up the tsps of agar to about 7-8, and you'll have the perfect Daiya alternative you can shred on a cheese grater! It does taste very different from Daiya — I hope you and Dayv enjoy it!

    Reply
  10. Richa says

    March 30, 2012 at 8:23 pm

    i have to try this mozarella.. it looks so delicious! we havent had cheese in a long time now tooo.. i dislike daiya for the weird oily chewyness

    Reply
  11. Emma says

    April 5, 2012 at 2:33 am

    Incredible! I can't wait to try this

    Reply
  12. Mary Banducci says

    May 29, 2012 at 6:58 pm

    Thank you for the inspiration!
    I tweaked it a little (and provided a link back to you) in a Grilled "cheese" + Basil Polenta Sandwich! http://sweetroots.blogspot.com/2012/05/vegan-grilled-cheese-and-basil-polenta.html

    Reply
  13. erinwyso says

    May 29, 2012 at 10:26 pm

    I'm so glad you liked the mozz, Mary! Your photos are gorgeous — now I want to make your polenta sandwiches!

    Reply
  14. Talbot says

    June 10, 2012 at 9:45 pm

    I just finished whipping up a batch of this, but after an hour of set time, I have a mostly liquid product with bits of agar suspended within. Was I supposed to grind the agar flakes to a finer consistency? They were quite coarse.

    Reply
  15. erinwyso says

    June 10, 2012 at 10:08 pm

    Talbot — it may be your agar. Although this doesn't need to be super-firm (it will melt on the pizza anyway), the bits of agar left over means they didn't dissolve the way they should have. If you use the same agar batch again, I would increase the cook time, then add in the tapioca flour at the very end. You may even want to strain the final product to avoid seeing the bits in your mozzarella.

    Reply
  16. erinwyso says

    June 10, 2012 at 10:12 pm

    Talbot, I updated the directions to include this step. Agar can be pretty hard to work with, as the batches vary in quality. Hopefully this will avoid any future mishaps!

    Reply
  17. Anonymous says

    June 12, 2012 at 7:17 am

    Erin, thank you so much for the quick reply. I made a new batch today, and it was a huge success! I endorse this recipe 100 percent. Everyone should be making this!

    Couple of notes:

    I ground my agar down to a finer consistency for better dissolution, and made your recommended adjustments for a slightly firmer cheese. Those who want the firmer version should probably use agar powder, rather than flakes.

    Also, I went ahead and strained that first, "failed" batch, and was shocked at the result: an awfully good vegan yogurt! So this was like two recipes in one. I could not be more thrilled. Tomorrow night will see some delicious tzatziki sauce in my house!

    Reply
  18. erinwyso says

    June 12, 2012 at 10:21 am

    Anonymous — thanks for the update! I am intrigued with this "mistake" and will have to now try this out myself! I love it when things like this happen. Enjoy your yummy vegan tzatziki!

    Reply
  19. Anonymous says

    June 20, 2012 at 9:55 pm

    Thank you so much for this recipe! Can't wait to try it but never heard of coconut vinegar before, plus used up my tapicoa flour last night. As soon as I can find the ingredients I will be trying this out….I miss cheese so much. (I have to be gluten-free, caisin free, soy free, and shellfish free)

    Reply
  20. Elle says

    July 27, 2012 at 8:51 am

    Erin, did you end up trying to replicate Anonymous' 'mistake' that resulted in yoghurt? If so, I'd love the recipe! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
    • erinwyso says

      July 27, 2012 at 9:50 am

      I have not … yet! But this recipe is fun to experiment with — just a slight modification with ratios can result in completely different results like Anonymous had.

      Reply
  21. jahdmrs says

    November 30, 2012 at 9:20 am

    Hi, this looks great. I am only 4 months into being vegan and miss cheese sooooo much. I am also trying to cut out wheat. Trouble is so much wheat free and vegan recipes have tapioca in them. I really don't like its smell or taste (makes me feel yucky). Is there anything else I can use instead of tapioca in this recipe. I would so like to try it. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
    • erinwyso says

      November 30, 2012 at 11:04 am

      Hi jadmrs! I hope you find the coconut cheeses on my site helpful as you totally transition away from dairy-based cheeses. I think that you would be able to sub arrowroot powder here for the tapioca. Start with 1/2 TB of it, then slowly increase as needed to get a gooey consistency. Arrowroot is totally tasteless, should it should not interfere with or impart any other strange flavor here — good luck!

      check out more homemade vegan cheeses here: https://olivesfordinner.com/search/label/homemade%20vegan%20cheese

      Reply
  22. nalani says

    December 22, 2012 at 2:23 am

    Do you think this cheese recipe would be good for lasagna? OR would another cheese recipe you have be a better fit?

    Reply
  23. erinwyso says

    December 22, 2012 at 1:42 pm

    nalani, This cheese would be perfect on top of a lasagna, with tofu ricotta between the layers. I made a lasagna last year that is pretty tasty if you want to check it out:

    https://olivesfordinner.com/2011/01/field-roast-and-daiya-lasagna.html

    enjoy!

    Reply
  24. Vegan Cocina says

    January 6, 2013 at 8:57 pm

    Tried this recipe today and substituted the coconut vinegar with apple cider vinegar. It was absolutely AMAZING. So delicious! Will make this again. Thank you!

    Reply
    • erinwyso says

      January 6, 2013 at 9:00 pm

      Glad you enjoyed it — thanks for your feedback!

      Reply
  25. Anonymous says

    March 22, 2013 at 1:52 am

    Does it taste like coconut? I can't imagine it tasting like cheese, but I'd love to try it some time!
    Your blog is amazing, by the way. I hope you always leave it open for everyone to read:)

    Reply
  26. coconutandberries says

    May 1, 2013 at 7:31 pm

    I made this yesterday and have just finished off the leftover pizza this evening and wanted to report back on how fabulous it was. The taste, texture and appearance were so much like I remember dairy mozzarella to be like it was bizarre. I used agar flakes and just tripled the amount and had no problems. Thank you for the recipe.

    Reply
    • erinwyso says

      May 1, 2013 at 7:59 pm

      Thanks for letting me know, and so glad you enjoyed!

      Reply
  27. ascensionhouseorganics says

    June 30, 2013 at 4:19 am

    i just tried this with cornstarch in place of tapioca flour & white balsamic instead of the coconut vinegar. i added a tsp of applewood liquid smoke as well… yum!!! perfect for my detox pizza. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  28. Melomeals says

    November 2, 2013 at 2:10 pm

    I'm super pumped about this.. I just experimented adding nutritional yeast and smoked paprika. It's setting up now. I used 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar and increased the agar to 1 tsp.

    Reply
    • erinwyso says

      November 2, 2013 at 3:47 pm

      I'm so excited you are trying this out, Melody! I would love to hear how it turned out.

      Reply
  29. Anonymous says

    November 10, 2013 at 4:03 pm

    This recipe is so good! I made it for calzones and the result was perfect. So creamy and delicious! Not only was it wonderful in the calzones, but it was tasty by itself. I tend to be very picky about vegan cheese that is cracker worthy, but the texture of this one is so smooth i could just eat it straight out of the bowl.

    Reply
  30. David Ortiz says

    January 26, 2014 at 3:51 am

    Great Recipe i used Balsamic vinegar instead of coconut vinegar

    Reply
  31. Anonymous says

    May 4, 2014 at 5:46 pm

    I just tried the recipe for coconut milk mozerella. I even found the coconut vinegar at whole foods. I couldn't resist after 2 hours in the frig. The consistency is more like jello that is not yet firm. I cut a small piece and it collapsed before I could get it out. I dipped a cracker in, it tastes ok, but basically is nto firm. Any suggestions?

    Reply
    • erinwyso says

      May 4, 2014 at 6:37 pm

      This cheese is supposed to be sort of gooey so you can dollop it onto pizza. If you want it more firm, just add in a little more agar powder and be sure to boil it to activate it.

      Reply
  32. Anonymous says

    May 30, 2014 at 12:42 am

    this recipe is wonderful. I've tried it melted on sandwiches, on pizza and both ways it is very tasty. Have you ever tried making it with light coconut milk?

    Reply
    • erinwyso says

      May 31, 2014 at 3:52 pm

      Thanks for trying it out, and glad you like! This recipe is completely dependent upon a good amount of fat, so I am not sure using a light coconut milk would work here.

      Reply
  33. Anonymous says

    August 19, 2014 at 12:59 am

    Is it possible to make this a day ahead of time and refrigerate?

    Reply
    • erinwyso says

      August 19, 2014 at 3:40 pm

      Yep!

      Reply
  34. Anonymous says

    November 26, 2014 at 12:21 am

    I will definitely give it a try. I've tied several brands of vegan cheeses here in the US and so far they've all disappointed me. Daiya cheeses taste horrific to me ๐Ÿ™

    Reply
  35. Gina says

    January 15, 2018 at 3:00 pm

    I am so excited about trying this. I haven’t been able to have cheese as the store bought kind contains xanthan gum which I can’t tolerate. I could only find agar flakes not the powder. Do I simply put it in my food processor? I hope that is not a stupid question. I am a newbie at cooking from scratch but I’m trying thanks to multiple new food sensistivites.
    Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.

    Reply
    • erinwyso says

      January 16, 2018 at 6:49 am

      Hi Gina, not a stupid question at all! If you have the flakes, you can grind them in a food processor, but a coffee grinder would be best if you have one. You can also purchase agar online in powder form (Amazon sells Telephone brand in small packets, which is great). I hope you enjoy the recipe!

      Reply

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