Plant-based, cashew nacho cheese full of healthy probiotics, and perfect for your favourite chip and sals.
This raw vegan nacho cheese is extremely moreish, but you don’t have to feel bad about tucking into it with your favourite chips on movie night, because it’s full of healthy fats from the cashews and probiotics from the simple fermenting process.
If you’re looking for a raw corn chip recipe to go with this, I have you covered here.
Once made, this will last for up to a week in the fridge, so if you have any left over, it can be used to drizzle over a salad, or used as a dip for crudités.
Feel free to spice this up a little with some cayenne or chipotle chilli powder if that takes your fancy, or throw in some chives and fresh coriander (cilantro).
Raw Vegan Cashew Nacho Cheese
Nutrition (For one serving)
Ingredients
- 2 cups cashews soaked 8 hours
- 1 cup orange pepper juice (about 2 orange bell peppers)
- 1 tsp probiotics
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Blend the soaked cashews, pepper juice and probiotics in a high-speed blender until completely smooth.
- Transfer the mixture into a bowl and cover with baking parchment.
- Put this in a warm place to culture for around 12 hours. Somewhere like on top of a dehydrator (not inside it) or a warm cupboard is perfect.
- You’ll know it’s cultured successfully because the mixture will have air bubbles and a fermented odour to it and slightly sour taste.
- Transfer to a food processor or bowl and add the nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder and salt. Grind or whisk until well combined, scraping down the sides as you go.
- Serve with your favourite chips or crackers and some salsa.
- Will keep covered in the fridge for up to a week.
What is the warmest temperature the area of fermentation should be? Also can it be done outside like in porch/veranda?
I’m in Bali
I’d say anywhere that it doesn’t go above around 25C (77F) will be fine.
I absent mindedly added all ingredients together to ferment. Will that be problematic? Thank you!
I’ve never tried it 🙂 I guess we’ll find out. Let me know how it goes.
Hello Russell,
Is there a nut I can substitute in place of cashews?
Thank you for a great recipe.
Hey Rhondy, yes you can use macadamias or almonds (preferably peeled) but you’ll need to use a little extra water and it won’t be as smooth.
Can you suggest what the best probiotic to use for this kind of fermentation would be?
hey Sarah, you can use any probiotic available as a supplement.
Thanks Russell but the one I use (soil-based probiotic) doesn’t seem to work for fermentation – I think this is because it’s inactive outside the gut. So to be specific I am assuming I just need a bog-standard Lactobacillus probiotic?
Ah, interesting. What brand is that, I’ve never heard of it.
Yes that’s correct, any regular probiotic that is active is what you’ll need.
It’s a practitioner-only product, very powerful and ground-breaking, called Megaspore and developed with joint UK-US microbiome research. Trials and clinical studies over the past 2 or 3 years have confirmed that it can heal gut permeability within 30 days, but it has lots of other benefits too.
Hi Russel@,thanks for another great recipie. I do have one question though , I dont have a juicer so what can I use instead of the orange pepper juice. .
Could I bend them with a little water then strain. Would that work?
Hi Christina,
You don’t need to add water; that method (blending without the water and straining) is exactly what I do 🙂
Russell:
How do you make the orange pepper juice?
LOK
Hey Linda, you juice an orange pepper 🙂
I like to blend in a Vitamix and strain through a nut milk bag.
Sounds great! Does it freeze successfully?
Hey Sarah, yes, you could certainly freeze it.