With the zingy, fresh taste of garlic and herbs, this vegan cheese is tangy and easy to make. We find this vegan garlic herb cheese is perfect for serving at parties or just enjoying as a delicious everyday spread.
Making your own vegan cheese
This gorgeous wheel of garlic and herb vegan cheese is:
- Cheap and easy to make
- Nut free and oil free
- Tangy and flavourful
- Delicious spread on toast or crackers
Cheese is often the last thing to go for many vegans as they transition their diet - it was for us. We’re not a fan of store bought vegan cheeses, finding them too artificial and full of coconut oil and starches.
So instead we’ve learnt to make our own, not trying to replicate the exact flavour of cheese, but rather its role in a dish.
So we make stretchy, melty sauce to go on top of pizza. Nutty, salty vegan parmesan to go on pasta. And this tangy garlic and herb cheese to spread on our favourite bread.
And we think it does the job really nicely - no it doesn’t taste exactly like cheese. But it ticks the boxes of crumbly/creamy and tangy/salty.
And it makes you want to spread it generously on everything!
Our garlic and herb vegan cheese contains:
- Sunflower seeds for the base
- Lemon juice for tang
- Garlic for zing
- Garlic powder for a touch more sweet garlickiness
- Nutritional yeast for cheesiness
- Dried herbs for an aromatic earthiness
- Chopped chives for their freshness
- And salt to bring it all together
Most vegan cheese recipes use cashew nuts, but here we use sunflower seeds. They’re an awesome budget friendly and nut free alternative to cashews.
This cheese costs around a third of the price than if you made it with nuts! And sunflower seeds are super nutritious too.
Variations
You can easily try the cheese as you blend it and adjust the quantities to taste.
You could change this recipe up by:
- Using other nuts or seeds - we're gonna try almond and pumpkin seed next
- And using different fresh herbs in place of the chives - wild garlic, spring onions, parsley or coriander would all be delicious!
Step by step
STEP 1 - Soak the sunflower seeds overnight - then drain and rinse
STEP 2 - Put all the ingredients in a blender
STEP 3 - Process until well blended and scrape down the sides as needed
STEP 4 - Fill a ramekin or dish with a layer of chopped chives on the base, then fill up with the cheese
STEP 5 - When you are ready to serve, run a spatula around the edge of the dish to loosen the cheese wheel
STEP 6 - Flip over onto a plate or board
Shaping tips
To form the cheese you want to find a suitable bowl or dish. You want something with a capacity of around 230ml or 8oz.
We use a straight sided glass ramekin that is 9cm by 4cm on the inside. This is just about perfect with a spoonful leftover to instantly enjoy!
First fill your container with a layer of the chopped chives, then fill it up with the blended cheese.
Smooth over the top with a spatula, cover and store in the fridge until you're ready to serve.
Run a spatula around the side of the container to loosen the cheese, then turn it upside down onto a plate. It should come out with a little encouragement!
You can use a spatula to neaten it up again if necessary, and sprinkle on a few more herbs.
Storage
The flavours of the cheese merge and develop after being left in the fridge for a day. You can keep it in the covered ramekin, or an airtight container, until you wish to serve, for up to 3 days.
We hope you have fun making your garlic and herb 'cheese'! Here's some more fun DIY vegan recipes which you can make at home:
Vegan Sunflower Seed Parmesan Cheese
Vegan Chorizo (our fave on pizza!)
Sophie & Paul
Vegan Garlic & Herb Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 cup (130 g) sunflower seeds soak overnight
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
- ¾ tsp salt
- 3 tbsp chives or other fresh herbs, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Soak sunflower seeds in water overnight. Then drain and rinse.
- Put about half the chives aside, and put all other ingredients in a food processor or blender. Blend until the cheese comes together, achieving uniform consistency.
- Pause to scrape down the sides as often as necessary if all the ingredients get stuck to the side of the blender. Eventually, it will come together.
Shaping
- In a suitable bowl or ramekin, line the bottom with the rest of the finely chopped chives, and add the cheese on top, pressing it gently into the shape. Tip it out onto a plate (go round the side with a spatula or knife if necessary), smooth out the side until you are happy with it, and serve!
- Alternatively, shape the cheese on a plate by hand, or simply serve in a bowl or on a plate, topped with the extra fresh chives.
Storing
- The flavours of this vegan cheese develop and blend together when it's stored in the fridge for a day or two. So it's worth not eating it all up at once!
- Store covered in the fridge to keep fresh and moist. Use up within three days.
Kirsty says
Outstanding recipe, just made it and took all my will power to put it in the fridge for tomorrow. I did not have sunflower seeds so I used half cashew and half pumpkin seeds, also rosemary vs chives. Can’t wait until I make some crackers tomorrow 😁
Sophie and Paul says
Thanks so much Kirsty! Your variations sound so yummy - we'll have to try that 🙂
rose says
so glad to have discovered your website!... great pics/recipes/content!... and all vegan!... brilliant!!!... haven't got around to making any of your recipes yet as i'm still enjoying reading 🙂 but i hope to be an elderflower recipe expert by the end of the week :)... thank you and stay safe!
Sophie and Paul says
Thanks so much Rose! You've brought a huge smile to our faces 🙂 We hope you enjoy our recipes and good luck with the elderflowers - they are a highlight of our spring! Sophie & Paul
Charley says
I'm vegan since a year now and try to find my way and your website is an amazing help for me.
Your chorizo sausages are the heaven on earth!!!
Finally, I didn't mess up the seitan 🙂 and had ping pong balls for a year.
I will give this a try I used Cashew nuts before and it isn't it for me.
The texture is to coarse.
The last time I did it was with coconut cream and this was awesome the same taste and texture as "normal cream cheese".
Please keep doing what you are doing.
have a nice day
Charley
Sophie and Paul says
Hi Charley! Thanks so much for your kind words 🙂 We are glad that we can help you make the vegan experience easier and better for you! And we're delighted that you love our Vegan Chorizo Sausages too.
About the cheese, it's worth noting that you'll find with this recipe it's designed to be a crumbly cheese rather than totally smooth like cream cheese. Blending time and the power of your blender will make a difference to the texture. What we like about using sunflower seeds (or other seeds and nuts) is that they add nutritional value and protein.
If you're looking for something smoother, coconut cream or silken tofu will give you more of that. Hope you can make this recipe work for you 🙂
Best wishes, Paul & Sophie
Rose Dyson says
I absolutely love this!... easy and cheap and great with your crackers recipe... but also perfect on jacket potatoes, served on top of a bowl of your soups, with your campfire bread, etc. etc.
You are now my favourite vegan website... great ideas and photography and clear, easy to follow recipes ... thank you Sophie and Paul 🤗
Sophie and Paul says
Hi Rose, aaww, thanks so much for your comments! We were so flattered we didn't know how to reply for a while there 😊
So glad you love our 'cream cheese' recipe! And so great to hear you've been making it to go with some of our other recipes. Serving it on top of soup hasn't occured to us before, but what a great idea!
We're so grateful to have you on board! Lots of love, Sophie and Paul ❤️