I am forever experimenting, trying to emulate and improve upon my own recipes. After developing my first vegan buffalo mozzarella several years ago, I was thrilled and happily served it to countless people, who seemed as thrilled as me. Then came the person – an omnivore – who was brutally honest. “The flavor is good, very close to the real thing, but the texture is nothing like buffalo mozzarella.” My heart sank. Other omnivores had found it delicious, I said to myself, yet I knew deep down that this one discerning individual was right. The texture needed improvement.
The article I penned for the fall 2012 issue of VegNews afforded me the opportunity to revamp the recipe. As often happens, I am unable to sleep at night as I ponder how to create something, and one night, I was saved by an idea. The next day, I got to work, and the 3 am inspiration proved to be the ticket. Since then, for my cooking classes and demos, I’ve simplified that recipe even further, still deriving good results.
Word got out that since the publication of Artisan Vegan Cheese that I’ve come out with a new and improved recipe. Every week, I get people asking me if I will share it. Well, here it is. The texture is, according to the discerning omnivore, much improved. In fact, pretty darn real.
Easy Buffalo Mozzarella (adapted from Miyoko’s recipe in VegNews)
1 cup plain, unsweetened soy yogurt
1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for 3 – 8 hours and drained
1 cup water, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
3 tablespoons tapioca flour
1 tablespoon agar powder
Combine the yogurt, cashews, a half cup of the water, and salt in a blender and process until emulsified. Transfer to a container, cover loosely, and set aside for 12 to 24 hours until slightly tangy. Whisk in the tapioca flour.
Combine the agar and remaining half cup of water in a small saucepan. Whisk together. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. Pour in the yogurt mixture and mix well with a whisk. Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is smooth, glossy, and stretchy.
Prepare a large bowl of ice water. Using an ice cream scooper, drop balls of the cheese into the ice bath. Let sit for 20 to 30 minutes until firm.
I think this version is out-of-this-world excellent. I didn’t try the first recipe, so this updated one is all I can speak to, after tasting it at last week’s class. Dairy mozzarrella is a very recent taste for me, but this dairy-free version is just not any different. In fact, I brought home a tiny bite for my partner to taste at home, and I insisted on his undivided attention to taste it. What you’ve done for the world of vegan cheese is nothing short of a meaningful service to veganism, seriously! Thank You! I can’t wait to start tinkering and making these recipes at home…
Enjoy your adventure into vegan cheese making! Thanks for the compliment!
I’m glad I found this in time. The Buffalo Mozzarella was my next one on the list to try from your book
I loved the chevre I made, and I am now aging some harder Gruyere, but I can’t stop tasting it – hope some will be left in 48 hours.
Have fun!
Would it be possible to make this without soy? I was looking at getting your book but I am unable to eat soy. Are there many recipes that use it? Thanks!
Most of the recipes don’t use soy. You could use another unsweetened yogurt in place if you can find one. Good luck.
I’ve been using these recipes for a couple of months now with my own homemade cashew or coconut yogurt with NO problems whatsoever. Go for it!
Thanks!
I started that first batch of yogurt using Purely Decadent’s coconut yogurt and it worked fine. There’s some sugar in it, but 3 tablespoons in 4 cups of milk is pretty watered down and I’m sure it’s completely gone now that I’m on my 5th batch. And (if you can find it) chickpea miso tastes wonderful. So the recipes work out really well soy-free.
Ooh. This DOES look better than the mozzarella I tried and I just made yogurt yesterday. Once I make this I’ll have some basic cashew cheese and gruyere all on hand. Sounds like party time!
Sounds yummy! What is the best way to store it and how long will it keep in the fridge?
Thanks so much!
Keep it in brine (salted water) or a vinaigrette in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
Were I to use carrageenan in this, would it melt?
It would melt a some. But not as well as the meltable mozzarella in the book because there’s no oil. Unfortunately, that’s another critical ingredient for that sensation we call melty!
I would love to make it, but I have a question: when you write “set aside for 12 to 24 hours until slightly tangy” – do you mean in the refrigerator?
Just on your counter.
Thanks!
OMG! This was amazing and so simple!! It was amazing to see it go from liquidy/yogurty to thick and gooey and cheesy. Absolutely BRILLIANT recipe! The taste was spot on. I think that with store bought vegan cheeses, there are so many additives and/or strange ingredients to make it shelf stable, that it winds up tasting funny. This was perfection. I’d imagine that it’d make an amazing cheese sauce as well!
Thank you! (times 1 million lol)
I see you’ve switched from rejuvelac to yogurt as your culture–interesting! if I already have some rejuvelac on hand, is it still possible to achieve this superior texture you speak of? or is the yogurt a pretty crucial change?
It’s a completely different recipe! The yogurt is really critical for the texture.
This is not vegan. Yogurt comes from a cow and is therefore an animal product. Vegans don’t eat anything that isn’t plant based. I don’t doubt that this is good, however, I felt the need to point this out.
I am referring to plant-based yogurt, specifically soy yogurt. You can buy this commercially, and there’s a recipe in my book for it as well.
Yogurt doesn’t come from a cow. Yogurt comes from milk, and milk can come from plants OR lactating mammals.
I have guar gum, potato starch, and corn starch on hand, do you recommend any of those as alternatives to the tapioca?
Thanks!
Tapioca is best, but potato starch can work, too. Cornstarch doesn’t get stretchy. You could experiment using a combination of guar gum and cornstarch.
Thanks!
Tapioca flour is hard to find here in Sweden – would it be possible to substitute with something else? (And how much of that something…)
Any help is much appreciated!
Can you get glutinous rice flour or potato starch? They also provide a stretchy consistency. Use the same amount.
This turned out (mostly) fabulously! A cautionary tale: if you can’t finish the recipe once the base is cultured and you have to refrigerate it overnight, let it come up to room temperature before adding it to the gelled agar. Otherwise, the agar solidifies immediately once the cold cheese base hits it and doesn’t fully reconstitute during the next cooking process. The resultant cheese balls looked and tasted great, but had little hard nodules of agar in them. Not entirely unpleasant, but a surprise if you aren’t expecting it. And another note: the base tastes very salty initially, but when you add the tapioca flour and cook it with the agar gel, it completely changes and tastes very mild. My kitchen chemistry set arrived (kappa carrageenan & more agar), so it’s on to more AVC recipes tonight!
I should have read this comment before making the recipe. Yes, I found it awefully salty and was afraid that it might remain like that. And yes, not a good idea to whisk in the cold mixture. But anyway, it is tasty and nothing I would throw out
Does this recipe work on pizza?
Some say it does. It softens, but there’s no oil, so it doesn’t really melt. For a meltable cheese, use the Meltable Mozzarella in my book. That makes for a great meltable buffalo mozz!
I made these and it came out great!!! Can I store in the fridge with olive oil/herbs instead of the salt brine? If so, do they need to be completely submerged in the olive oil? And, do you think they will last as long as they would if they were in saltwater? Thanks!
I think it was you I ran into at VegFest today! Hope you can come by tomorrow for my talk and samples!
Hi Miyoko,
Do you drain the yogurt in this recipe like your other versions call for? Thanks so much!
No, that’s what makes it easy. Draining it makes it a little richer, but I’ve found that this way is still delicious!
Thank you!
Hi Miyoko, I have your Japanese cookbook and just love it! I ordered the vegan cheese book and I cannot wait for it to come. I live in a place where it’s next to impossible to get vegan yogurt, I can order most things online but sadly not vegan yogurt. Do you have a substitute? Thank you
There are vegan yogurt starters that can be substituted that you can order online. Here’s a link for one. I researched it, and the culture is vegan. http://cheeseandyogurtmaking.com/yogurt-culture-for-yogurt-making.html
Here’s another source for non-dairy yogurt starters: http://www.culturesforhealth.com/vegan-dairy-free-yogurt-starter.html
Since seeing this recipe a while ago I have been very much looking forward to making it and I must say they were exquisite!! Creamy and pillowy soft, just perfect for a salad caprese or sandwich. These little dreamy bites could fool any cheese eater. Guessing these would come out even more delicious with homemade yogurt, that will be my next project!
Thank you Miyoko, I can’t wait to get your book!
Hi Miyoko,
I tried the “Better Buffalo Mozzarella” recipe and loved it.
So when I came across this recipe, I was really excited about making it stretchier in texture.
Yet for some reason, after adding the xanthan gum, the flavor got starchy (I was aiming for just stretchy).
It wasn’t close to edible so I had to throw away the entire batch.
Is there any way of reaching the desired stretchy quality, without ruining the consistency and flavor?
Thanks
~
I meant this recipe:
http://www.godairyfree.org/recipes/meltable-mozzarella-vegan-cheese-alternative
Anna, the xanthan gum wouldn’t make it starchy. What happened was most likely that when you added the xanthan gum, it thickened up too much so that you were unable to finish cooking it properly. If you don’t cook it long enough, the tapioca won’t be properly cooked and will remain starchy. Most likely, if you had just used it for pizza, it would have finished cooking in the oven and gotten stretchy. Adding the xanthan gum does make things harder to stir and cook, so you have to be extra vigilant to make sure that it is cooked long enough to cook out the starch.
Thanks, Miyoko! Do you think that dissolving the xanthan gum and tapioca in hot water prior to adding them to the yogurt mixture, would solve this issue? If so, how much water would you use, to avoid making the cheese too runny?
Thanks again
Oh and by the way, I’d like to make the yogurt myself for that recipe.
Is there a difference between Rejuvelac and Probiotic culture for that matter?
Do you get a good result using the former?
You can’t use rejuvelac or a probiotic culture for homemade yogurt. You have to use yogurt cultures. You can start with a commercial soy yogurt as the culture. Follow the instructions in my book.
You don’t need to dissolve them. I would just add the xanthan gum at the end, or omit it entirely. I generally don’t add it.
Hi Miyoko I noticed you said you were at VegFest, was that the one in Brighton? I was there but I’ll be honest I don’t remember seeing you
are you going to be at the London/Bristol VegFests at all this year? Would be great to meet you!
I have been to many VegFests all over the US, but not the UK. Would love to be invited to London, though! Love that town!
I was pleasantly surprised at how well this worked out. The final product looks just like fresh mozzarella, has a creamy mouthfeel, and there is no detectable cashew or otherwise “off” taste. The texture of mine came out a touch mushy, but I’m thinking that I may not have cooked it long enough with the agar gel (or maybe I didn’t cook the agar gel long enough to begin with)?
The taste of my batch was very cheesy… Ironically enough, maybe even a little too much so. I’m a new vegan and had dairy buffalo mozzarella as recently as a few months ago, so the taste is pretty fresh in my mind. What I remember is that the dairy version really doesn’t have much flavor at all– it’s not tangy or anything, just salty with a creamy aftertaste. This vegan version captures the creaminess perfectly, but the tanginess of my batch–while delicious and complex– reminded me more of a mild white cheddar or even parmesan. I did a little research, and from what I can tell it seems that dairy mozzarella isn’t really cultured for very long. I let mine sit out on the counter for 20 hours or so, so maybe next time I’ll only culture it a few hours and see if the taste is more mild.
I may need to make a few small tweaks to end up with a perfect batch, but I am now completely convinced that it is possible to make delicious vegan cheese. Thanks for sharing, Miyoko!
Thank YOU, Sara, for sharing your comments! Makes my day when a reader has success in making my foods!
Hello! I am making this right now, and I am about to put the cheese into the ice bath. In your recipes in the book, it says that the ice bath should have salt in it, and when you put the cheese in it, you can keep it there for storage. Should this ice bath have salt, and can I leave it there until I eat it? Also, is it ok for the cheese to be warm or hot before going in the ice bath or should I let it cool a bit?
Chelsea, put it in right away or it will cool and solidify in your pot! The ice water can have salt in it, or not – the important thing is to store it in ice water so that it doesn’t get diluted in flavor. Hurry, now, before it gets hard!
Thank you so, so much for responding so quickly. I got it in the water before it hardened too much. I think it will be ok. Should I store it in this water, or take it out and do something with it?
Haha never mind, I just read your first response and got my answer! I will let you know how it turns out– I am going to make this one and your meltable mozzarella from the book and try them on Friday in a caprese salad and some pizza
Thank you so much for what you do!
Hello, Miyoko!
I just tried the “Better Buffalo Mozzarella” recipe and I wasn’t expecting it to be perfect on my first attempt, but it came out yummy. Here are some doubts, though… First, is there any noticeable difference in taste if I use (as I did) plain homemade almond yogurt? Also… it felt awkward working with the ice cream scooper to shape the balls, should I use a spoon to push out the balls? If the yougurt or the cashew mixture cultures for too long, would it alter the taste also? I also noticed from the image above that your mozzarella balls are whiter. Cashew’s quality maybe? Thanks!
You can use almond yogurt – there won’t be a noticeable difference in taste, although it may come out a little softer. You might want to increase the agar or tapioca a tad bit.
Not sure about the ice cream scooper – are you using the kind with a lever? It should come out easily if you do. Otherwise, you can use a spoon to push out the balls. If you let it culture to long, it will get tangier. Mozzarella is fairly mild, so you don’t want it too tangy. I don’t know why your balls would be darker unless you used roasted cashews. Mine are always pure white. What color was yours?
Thank you , Miyoko! Well, my buffalo mozzarella was cream in color. My ice cream scooper has no lever. I guess I’ll add more tapioca next time. Some of my cheeses made with agar sometimes come out with a subtle bitterness and a little “sandy”. Could it be that the agar mixture is not simmering long enough? Thanks!
I just purchased your book this week and while waiting for my rejuvelac to finish up I made this recipe. All I can say is wow!! I am newly vegan (2 months) and this turned out incredible. I can’t wait to get going on the recipes in your book!
I’m glad it worked out, Kerry! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Hi there Miyoko,
First of all thanks a million for continuously researching and experimenting with vegan food and for sharing all this with us, especially newbies like myself! I was so inspired by this recipe and I cannot wait to get home to finish it today. However, I was not able to track down agar agar here in Dubai. I found ground arrowroot, however according to different responses on forums online one cannot substitute this for agar. Second option I got was ‘vege-gel’ from Dr. Oeteker. The ingredients are dextrose, carageenan, locust bean gum and acidity regulators (one sached, 6 g, will set 570 ml of liquid). Do you think I can use this as a substitute for agar or leave it out altogether? Last think I have in my kitches is guar gum, but can see from your earlier responses that this is not a good option either. I did find tapioca flour though.
Excited to receive my copy of your book as well!!
Hi, Rie. Nice to hear from someone all the way in Dubai. By the way, Rie is a Japanese name. Are you Japanese?
Vege-gel is probably the closest thing to agar agar as it contains carrageenan. However, since it has dextrose as the first ingredient, it would make your cheese very sweet. Guar gum, arrowroot, etc., aren’t really equivalents to agar at all. Without agar, your cheese won’t set. I think you have two options: either order agar online (make sure it’s powdered), or try with vege-gel and see how sweet your cheese gets. My guess is that you can add it directly to the cheese mixture and boil, without first dissolving in water.
Do you have any Asian grocery stores in Dubai? They would most likely have agar. Let me know how it goes.
Hi Miyoko and thanks for the quick reply! I just got home and am about to try it out with the vege-gel. Do you have any recommendations on the amount I should use? Very excited to see the result! I am sure I can find agar somewhere here, I just need to go to a few of the organic shops. I will definitely try the recipe again regardless, with agar powder.
I am actually Norwegian.
I wondered for many years where my name came from, my parents could not tell me since they just “invented it”. 
It is evidently quite common in Denmark as well. It was a few years back that I discovered, via Facebook (!), that many Japanese women were called Rie (I actually had a Facebook group with lots of Japanese members).
Two sachets of veg-gel and the “dough” is not thickening.
Looks like it didn´t work. Guess I have to make vegan lasagna tomorrow, the sauce could work as a vegan alfredo sauce. Nothing goes to spill!
Miyoko,
I have been working my way through your book and I am having so much fun, thank you!! I made the mozzarella recipe from the book first and then came across this one last week so I tried it out. This one came out wonderful! The one from the book tastes good but the texture of this one is lovely. I am attending a vegan pot luck this weekend and I am bringing a cheese tray including the air dried cheddar, Boursin, air dried Gouda, and this mozzarella. There will be some non vegan participants as well as some who have been vegan for years so it should be fun. I will let you know how it goes. I hope you expand your teaching circle one day, I would love to attend a workshop.
Good luck! Let me know how it goes. I frequently serve non-vegans with great results! Hope it goes well for you, too!
This recipe is amazing! Thanks SO much
Is there anything that could be used to replace nuts (I’m allergic…) Many thanks and keep’em coming!
Lella, check out the meltable mozzarella recipe in my book. There are no nuts in that!
Hi,
So I tried this recipe and it came out grainy and not light, did I under cook it? Can I reheat it and add more Tapioca?? Thanks!!
I’m not exactly sure what you mean by “not light.” If it was grainy, you probably didn’t puree the mixture long enough. There is a learning curve to all of this. Since I don’t know what your cheese is like, it’s hard for me to say whether or not to add more tapioca. You shouldn’t have to. Tapioca makes it stretchy and gooey; too much is not a good thing. Put if it’s starchy (as opposed to grainy), you probably didn’t cook it long enough and the tapioca starch is undercooked.
Hi Miyoko, thanks a lot for this recipe! even my carnivore husband liked it in caprezza salad (-:
Still, it wasn’t as perfect as I thought it would be for two reasons – it wasn’t solid enough, and only now I see that I should have used agar powder instead of agar flakes, can you tell me what is the conversion rate?
Also, it had a bit of an acidic after-taste (I could sense it only when trying the raw cheese but disappeared in the salad). Is it due to a too long incubation time of the yogurt with the cashews on the counter? I used 20 hours, but its kinda warm here in Israel, will incubating for a shorter duration solve this or is this normal?
Thanks!
It’s hard to use the flakes for this recipe because you need more liquid, which would affect the texture of the yogurt. The conversion rate is usually 1:6 – you need 6 times the amount of flakes, so instead of 1 tablespoon, you’d need 6 of the flakes. It would be very hard to get that amount to dissolve in just a small amount of water. As for the acidic taste, you may have cultured it too long. Unfortunately, there’s no exact recipe for the length of time to culture, as it depends on the ambient temperature.
Thanks! the challenge now is to find agar powder instead of flakes… (-:
You can buy them online easily (Amazon, etc.) or at Asian grocery stores.
Can I use home made cashew yogurt instead? If so, how do I modify the first step? Also I can’t get agar anywhere. Will xantham gum work instead?
Yes, you can use cashew yogurt.Can you order agar online? Xanthan gum will only get so stiff beyond which it gets gummy.