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Easy vegan parmesan cheese, made in minutes with cashews, sunflower seeds or hemp hearts. It is oil-free, gluten-free & delicious. It is a versatile option for topping pasta, soups, pizza, popcorn, salads, and so much more.
Easy & Delicious DIY Vegan Parmesan Cheese
This dairy-free parmesan cheese is so darn good. It’s easy to make, too. Give yourself about 2 minutes, tops, from start to finish. Oh, it’s also all-around fabulous. Even die-hard cheese lovers will find it hard to resist!
It’s just that good.
Ingredients
The exact amounts of each ingredient are indicated in the recipe card at the end of the post. Toggle between US Customary (volume) and Metric (weights) for preferred measurement option.
You only need 4 ingredients and a few minutes to make it.
- Raw cashews, raw sunflower seed kernels or hemp hearts
- Nutritional yeast
- Onion powder
- Salt
Nutritional yeast lends cheese-y flavor and onion powder delivers extra umami goodness.
Use Cashews, Sunflower Seeds, or Hemp Hearts
You can make the cheese with either raw cashews, raw sunflower seed kernels, or hemp hearts (shelled hemp seeds).
Sunflower seeds and hemp hearts are ideal options for anyone with tree nut allergies. They have a mild to neutral flavor (close to pine nuts) and also happen to be packed with nutrition. Use what works for you!
How to Make Easy Vegan Parmesan Cheese
Note that the complete directions are also in the recipe card below.
Step One: Grind All of the Ingredients
Simply place all of the ingredients in a food processor or clean coffee grinder:
Blend until the mix resembles fine bread crumbs or almond meal.
That’s it! This magical topping is perfect for sprinkling on all kinds of foods, including pasta, casseroles, soups, popcorn, breads, pizza and whatever else you think needs a shake of yum.
How to Store Easy Vegan Parmesan Cheese
IStore in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 weeks, the refrigerator for 2 months, or the freezer for up to 6 months.
However, it rarely lasts that long at our house :).
Happy eating!
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Vegan Parmesan Cheese (nut-free option)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup raw cashews or sunflower seeds OR 2/3 cup hemp hearts
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, more or less, as desired
Instructions
- Place all of the ingredients in a small food processor or clean coffee grinder. Process until finely ground into what resembles fine bread crumbs or almond meal.
- Use as you would traditional Parmesan cheese.
Good day. Can I omit the nutritional yeast and is there anything to replace it with please?
Hi Cali,
You could leave it out, but then it’s pretty much just nuts or seeds. That’s fine, though, as a tasty topping in place of Parmesan cheese. You could add some garlic powder and a little bit more onion powder for umami flavor.
Both are my favorite Raw Cashews and Hemp seeds ❤
Yay! Hope that you enjoy, Angela.
Make this all the time, thank you for a great recipe. The onion powder is key. I made some without it (I was out) and it was not the same, went to the store to get more and added it in.
This is a great recipe, Camilla, thank you. I made it with macadamia nuts, it is fantastic. Love it on tomato soup.
So good! making this for years. My food processor broke so I used 3/4 cup blanched almond meal. It works great, too, and no processing required, simply stir it.
This is the best vegan parmesan cheese recipe, thanks, my family loves it.
Thanks so much for the hemp heart option, my kids cannot eat tree nuts! Just bought some, will try this asap!