Vegan Feta Cheese
Author:When you're craving a crumbly vegan cheese that's tangy, salty, cheesy, and tastes like dreams have come true, the search stops right here with this Vegan Feta Cheese recipe! It tastes like feta cheese, crumbles like feta cheese, melts beautifully, and is cheap, nut-free, and easy to make!
Ingredients
- 12oz (350 grams) extra firm tofu , no need to press
- ½ cup (120 ml) melted refined coconut oil (measured after melting) , it MUST be refined and not unrefined or virgin
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried dill (leaves not seeds) , please note the finished feta does not taste of dill at all - Strangely, it helps the feta flavour.
- 1½ to 2 teaspoons good quality fine sea salt or kosher salt (not table salt)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Add all of the ingredients to a food processor (this recipe does not work well in a blender, even a high-powered one), starting off with only half of the salt. Blend it all up until smooth, then taste and add more salt as needed. Blend to incorporate it after each addition. Remember that this is feta so it should be quite salty. I use the full 2 teaspoons in mine.
For soft, creamy & meltable vegan feta
- Serve straight from the food processor, or pack into a container, cover, and refrigerate for a few hours for a firmer, spreadable cheese. If you want to be able to turn it out for use on a cheese board, line the container with cling wrap so that you can easily remove it once it's set.
For firm, cube-able vegan feta
- Once you have processed the cheese mixture, line a small oven-proof pan/dish with baking parchment. A square or rectangular-shaped pan/dish is best if you want to be able to cut perfect cubes once it's ready. A loaf pan will work well. It doesn't matter if the cheese doesn't fill the container. You just need the cheese to be between 1 and 2 inches deep once it's in there.
- Spoon the cheese from the food processor into the dish and push it down well and evenly. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or overnight). This step is very important so don't skip it.
- Once the cheese has been well refrigerated, preheat oven to 400°F (200 °C). Once heated to temperature, remove the cheese from the fridge and bake uncovered for 35 minutes.
- Remove from the oven. It will be puffy, a bit soft and bubbly but will set again as it cools. Allow to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or overnight) before cubing or crumbling.
- OPTIONAL - The firmer, baked version can be cubed, put in a jar, then covered with extra virgin olive oil and some herbs to marinate.
NOTES
STORAGE & FREEZING - Store feta cheese for up to 1 week in the fridge. I don't recommend freezing the soft, unbaked version of this cheese, but the firm baked version can be frozen for up to 3 months in an airtight container. I like to cube mine first. The frozen cubes only take about 15 minutes to defrost, so they can be taken out and defrosted as needed. If you are making something like a salad for a packed lunch or potluck and won't be eating it for a while, you can add the cubes to it while still frozen.
MEL'S TIP - When I make this recipe, I like to divide my cheese mixture in half and make some of each kind of cheese: soft and spreadable and firm and crumbly. It's really nice to have both types on hand for different applications throughout the week!
NUTRITION
Serving: 50g | Calories: 191kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 17g | Sodium: 420mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin C: 1.7mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 1.4mg
