The BEST vegan feta cheese recipe (with almonds)
This tangy vegan feta can be used on salads, in wraps, or on a mezze platter with olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, hummus, artichoke hearts, and pita. It's baked in the oven and made with almonds. (No tofu here!) The result is a creamy yet crumbly, decadent dairy free cheese.
Servings: 10 people
Calories: 100kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup blanched almonds soaked if necessary
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons olive brine or sauerkraut juice
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ cup water
- 1 clove garlic
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Put all of the ingredients in a high speed blender. Blend until smooth, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides for even blending, if necessary.
- Line an 8-ounce mini cocotte or ramekin with parchment paper. Use scissors to cut off any excess paper from around the edges. Then pour in all of the almond cheese mixture from the blender. Use a spoon to smooth the top of the spread.
- Put the cocotte or ramekin into the oven. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. You'll know it's done when the top starts to crack and brown slightly, like a perfectly done toasted marshmallow.
- Remove from oven and allow it to cool slightly before removing the cheese from the cocotte or ramekin. You can serve the cheese warm. But for the most feta-like experience, put it into the refrigerator to cool in a covered container. It will continue to firm.
- When you're ready to use it, crumble the almond cheese in your hands into rough feta shapes.
Video
Notes
For the almonds, you can either use store-bought blanched almonds, or remove the skin from raw almonds before adding them to the blender. For more information, check out this post on how to blanch almonds.
There is enough liquid in this recipe that if you have a high speed blender & shorter blender container, you don't have to soak the almonds first.
However, if you have a standard blender or if your high-speed blender container is tall, I recommend soaking the almonds in hot water for about 15 minutes before blending. Then drain and continue with the recipe as written. Or you can grind the dry blanched almonds in a clean coffee grinder until it has the texture of flour. Then add it to the blender & continue with the recipe.
(I don't recommend replacing the almonds with store-bought almond flour, however, because the amounts won't translate the same. A cup of dry almonds don't equal a cup of almond flour.)
If you have a tall Vitamix container, I recommend making a double batch since there's not a ton of liquid in this recipe and once it starts blending, it can fall below the blade otherwise. With a double batch, I recommend evenly dividing the mixture between two 8-ounce cocottes or ramekins for baking.
(I almost always make a double batch. It's not much more work, it blends easier, and you get twice the amount of feta.)
For a more pronounced olive oil flavor, add an additional Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.
If you're short on time, the almond cheese can be served straight out of the blender, like a spread. However, I recommend halving the amount of salt if serving it that way. Crumbled out of the oven, the ½ teaspoon amount of salt tastes like you'd expect feta to taste. However, when it's a creamy spread, the salt is more pronounced, so you can use less.
For the olive brine, use the liquid that's right in the jar of olives. I use Castelvetrano olives, which have a lighter, brighter flavor. However, any olive juice can be used. Or use the juice from a jar of sauerkraut or pepperoncini for a more neutral flavor that still adds cheesiness through its umami.
The feta will keep in the refrigerator in a covered container for two weeks.
This baked cheese also freezes well. To freeze it, put the crumbled cheese in a freezer safe container. Then whenever you want some of it, you can use a butter knife to break it up in the container to free it loose.
Let it thaw in the refrigerator, or use the defrost function on the microwave. It won't need much time at all (usually less than 30 seconds). You don't want the cheese to get warm - just softened. The texture will be slightly more dense after freezing; however, it's barely noticeable.
Recipe inspired by Vegetarian Times recipe for almond feta cheese with herb oil.
Nutrition
Calories: 100kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 119mg | Potassium: 82mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 1mg
