This vegan pimento cheese recipe was adapted from the “Country Life Vegetarian Cookbook”.
Special Diet Notes: Vegan Pimento Cheese
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, and vegetarian.
For nut-free vegan pimento cheese: swap the cashew pieces for sunflower seeds
Pimento Cheese
Author: Alisa Fleming
Ingredients
- 1½ cups water
- 5 tablespoons agar flakes
- ¾ cup cashew pieces, may substitute sunflower seeds for nut-free
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds or 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1¼ teaspoons sea salt
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes
- ½ cup diced red pepper or pimentos
- 2½ tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Put the first two ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Place the agar mixture and the remaining ingredients in a blender. Blend all ingredients on high 1 - 2 minutes until creamy, stopping the blender once or twice to stir the contents and scrape down the sides. Pour the “cheese” into a mold and chill overnight. Un-mold the cheese and use sliced or shredded in place of commercially made cheese in your favorite recipes, or enjoy with crackers, breads, or fruit. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 7-10 days.
Variations:
To make different flavors, fold in one of the following before pouring cheese into mold:
- ¾ cup finely Chopped Olives
- 2 Tablespoons Toasted Sesame Seeds
- 1½ Tablespoons Caraway Seeds
- 2 Tablespoons Dill Weed Powder
- or 1 Tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons Onion Flakes and 2¼ teaspoons Dill.
