Sol Canyon Kitchen Cultured Cashew Mozzarella — Three Ways
Makes approximately 1½ cups (325 g), depending on the version
Cultured, creamy, fresh, versatile.
One cultured cashew foundation, expressed three ways — delicate Fresh Bocconcini, structured Melting Mozzarella, and creamy Pourable Mozzarella.
This recipe is 100% plant-based.
There is nothing quite like fresh mozzarella.
Long before I knew what the word vegan meant, I became a vegetarian at eleven years old. That is a story all its own for another day, but strangely enough, cheese was never one of the things that made changing the way I ate particularly difficult.
I simply wasn’t much of a cheese person.
I ate cheese occasionally, usually melted in a grilled cheese sandwich or folded inside a quesadilla, and even then it had to be very mild. As I got older, though, I discovered that there were a few cheeses I genuinely loved — the soft, creamy ones. Mozzarella. Ricotta. Brie. Cheeses that were delicate rather than sharp, with richness and texture instead of an overpowering flavor.
And then there was Sicily.
Many years ago, before I became completely plant-based, I traveled there and remember sitting in little family-style restaurants where fresh mozzarella would arrive at the table sitting in its brine. You simply lifted a soft white ball from the bowl, put it onto your plate, and ate it as fresh as it could possibly be.
I think that may have been the first time I understood what mozzarella was supposed to be.
It wasn’t rubbery. It wasn’t primarily about stretch. It was soft and milky, delicate and moist. There was something wonderfully uncomplicated about it — especially alongside ripe tomatoes, basil, good olive oil, and beautiful bread.
Years later I returned to Italy many times for my homeopathic studies, but by then I was eating completely plant-based. Mozzarella was no longer part of those meals. I learned that a beautiful Italian crust piled with vegetables and arugula could be wonderful without cheese at all.
But I never forgot that bowl in Sicily.
When I first became vegan, there weren’t nearly as many plant-based versions of familiar foods as there are today. Now we can recreate almost anything, but I have always had one requirement: I don’t want something to be merely good for a vegan version.
I want it to be good.
When I develop a plant-based version of a traditional food, I want to understand what made the original special and preserve as much of that character as I can. I want wholesome ingredients. I want respect for the food’s heritage. And most importantly, I want flavor.
That becomes considerably more difficult when you’re talking about eggs and cheese.
For years, the mozzarella I bought was Miyoko’s fresh mozzarella. What distinguished it for me was its cultured cashew base. Cashews have a natural creaminess that can beautifully mimic some of the qualities of dairy, but culturing them changes everything. It brings acidity, complexity, and that subtle fermented flavor that makes something begin to taste like cheese rather than simply a mixture that has been made to look like cheese.
When that mozzarella disappeared, I tried others.
None became its replacement.
Too many were built around achieving firmness, stretch, or melt while forgetting the thing I care about most: flavor. And if my choice is between eating a rubbery piece of flavorless vegan mozzarella and having no mozzarella at all, I would rather have none.
For a while, I simply used my homemade ricotta on pizzas and sandwiches. It is delicious, and I still do. But I missed mozzarella.
Eventually I realized that if I wanted the mozzarella I was looking for, I was going to have to make it myself.
The starting point was non-negotiable: cultured cashew milk.
I already knew from developing my cultured butter what an enormous difference fermentation could make. So rather than beginning with starches and setting agents and asking how I could make them behave like mozzarella, I wanted to begin with flavor.
Then I could build the texture around it.
That thinking eventually led to this recipe — or, more accurately, these three recipes.
They all begin with the same idea and then move in three different directions.
Fresh Cultured Bocconcini is the one closest to my memory of fresh mozzarella: soft, delicate, barely sliceable, and lovely eaten cold or torn into pieces. This is the one I want with garden tomatoes and basil, tucked into a sandwich, or torn over a pizza in generous little chunks.
Cultured Cashew Melting Mozzarella has more structure. It can be sliced or shredded and is there for anyone who wants that more familiar pizza-cheese experience while still beginning with the flavor of cultured cashews.
And then there is Pourable Cultured Cashew Mozzarella, which admittedly sounds a little strange until you use it. The idea originally came from Miyoko Schinner’s pourable mozzarella, and once I finally tried that style of cheese, I understood its brilliance. Pour it over a pizza, lasagna, baked pasta, or vegetables and the heat transforms it into soft, creamy pools.
Three textures. One cultured foundation.
And that is exactly why I wanted them together in one recipe.
The fresh version will probably always have my heart.
Give me a slice of sourdough, a thick garden tomato, a piece of soft mozzarella and perhaps a few leaves of basil, then put the whole thing into the oven until the bread is crisp and the mozzarella has just begun to soften, and I have a pretty wonderful lunch.
On pizza, I don’t particularly want an even blanket of shredded cheese covering everything beneath it. I like little islands of mozzarella. Some bites have more, some have less. Tomatoes still taste like tomatoes. Basil still tastes like basil. The crust remains part of the meal rather than simply something carrying the cheese.
Mozzarella can find its way into so many corners of a plant-based kitchen: Caprese with summer tomatoes, tomato-cucumber salads, grilled sandwiches, focaccia, baked pasta, lasagna, calzones, stuffed vegetables, warm crostini, or simply torn into a bowl with tomatoes, basil, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Or eaten standing at the kitchen counter with a cracker and a garden tomato.
I highly recommend that last one.
And perhaps that is why this became such an important foundational recipe for Sol Canyon Kitchen. It isn’t really about making a substitute for something I gave up long ago. I don’t feel as though I’m missing something from another way of eating.
It is about taking the qualities I remember and loved — the freshness, creaminess, gentle tang, simplicity and generosity — and finding a new way to create them from plants.
I can still picture that table in Sicily: tomatoes, olive oil catching the light, beautiful bread, and those soft white balls of mozzarella resting in their brine.
My kitchen looks different now.
But the feeling doesn’t have to.
This is a small, beautiful thing — made to be torn by hand, gathered around a table, and enjoyed slowly.
INGREDIENTS
VERSION 1 — FRESH CULTURED CASHEW BOCCONCINI
My softest mozzarella — for Caprese, tomato-cucumber salad, sandwiches, tearing over pizza, or eating fresh.
For the Cultured Cashew Base
¾ cup (105 g) raw cashews
¾ cup (180 g) filtered water
⅛ teaspoon TSC thermophilic starter culture, scant
For Finishing the Mozzarella
2 tablespoons (28 g) refined coconut oil, melted
1 tablespoon (8 g) tapioca starch
¾ teaspoon agar powder
½ teaspoon lactic acid powder, only if needed after culturing
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
For the Cold Brine
2 cups cold filtered water
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
VERSION 2 — CULTURED CASHEW MELTING MOZZARELLA
For shredding, pizza, baked pasta, sandwiches, and anywhere you want more structure and melt.
For the Cultured Cashew Base
¾ cup (105 g) raw cashews
⅔ cup (160 g) filtered water
⅛ teaspoon TSC thermophilic starter culture, scant
For Finishing the Mozzarella
3 tablespoons (42 g) refined coconut oil, melted
2½ tablespoons (20 g) tapioca starch
1 teaspoon agar powder
½ teaspoon lactic acid powder, only if needed after culturing
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
VERSION 3 — POURABLE CULTURED CASHEW MOZZARELLA
For pouring over pizza, lasagna, and baked dishes, where it transforms into creamy pools of mozzarella in the oven.
For the Cultured Cashew Base
¾ cup (105 g) raw cashews
1 cup (240 g) filtered water
⅛ teaspoon TSC thermophilic starter culture, scant
For Finishing the Mozzarella
3 tablespoons (42 g) refined coconut oil, melted
2 tablespoons (16 g) tapioca starch
½ teaspoon lactic acid powder, only if needed after culturing
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
METHOD
STEP ONE — MAKE THE CULTURED CASHEW BASE
Step 1 — Soak the Cashews
Place the cashews for the version you are making in a bowl and cover generously with cool water.
Soak for 4–6 hours, then drain and rinse thoroughly.
For a quicker soak, cover the cashews with boiling water and let stand for approximately 30 minutes. Drain and rinse well before proceeding.
Step 2 — Blend the Cashew Base
Place the soaked and drained cashews in a high-speed blender.
Add the amount of filtered water specified for your version:
Fresh Cultured Cashew Bocconcini: ¾ cup (180 g)
Cultured Cashew Melting Mozzarella: ⅔ cup (160 g)
Pourable Cultured Cashew Mozzarella: 1 cup (240 g)
Blend until exceptionally smooth and silky, stopping to scrape the blender as necessary. Take your time here—the finished cashew base should have no perceptible graininess.
Blending can generate considerable heat. If the cashew mixture becomes warmer than approximately 85°F, allow it to cool before adding the culture.
Step 3 — Add the Culture
Add:
Scant ⅛ teaspoon TSC thermophilic starter culture
Stir thoroughly to distribute the culture evenly throughout the cashew base.
Transfer to a very clean glass container and cover loosely. Do not seal the container tightly during fermentation.
Step 4 — Culture Until Mild & Lactic
Keep the cashew base in a warm place at approximately 80–85°F.
Begin checking after about 8 hours. Depending on the activity of the culture and the temperature of the environment, fermentation may take approximately 8–16 hours.
The cashew base is ready when it smells pleasantly cultured and tastes creamy, fresh, and gently lactic rather than simply like blended cashews.
If using a pH meter, begin tasting as the mixture approaches approximately pH 4.8, with around pH 4.6 as the initial target.
Do not deliberately ferment until strongly sour. We are looking for the mild, clean cultured character of fresh mozzarella rather than an assertively tangy cheese.
Step 5 — Taste the Cultured Base
Taste the cashew base before adding the remaining ingredients.
This is an important checkpoint. Fermentation should provide most of the acidity and flavor of the finished mozzarella.
If the cultured base already tastes beautifully balanced, no additional lactic acid is necessary. If it needs a little more brightness, add the lactic acid later in very small increments. The full amount listed may not be necessary.
STEP TWO: CHOOSE YOUR MOZZARELLA
VERSION 1 — FRESH CULTURED CASHEW BOCCONCINI
Step 1 — Prepare the Cold Brine
Combine in a bowl:
2 cups cold filtered water
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
Stir until the salt dissolves, then place the brine in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly while you prepare the mozzarella.
For an especially cold brine, add several ice cubes just before shaping the bocconcini.
Step 2 — Finish the Fresh Mozzarella
Transfer the cultured cashew base to a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Add:
2 tablespoons (28 g) refined coconut oil, melted
1 tablespoon (8 g) tapioca starch
¾ teaspoon agar powder
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
Whisk thoroughly while the mixture is still cool so the tapioca starch and agar are completely dispersed.
Taste the mixture. Only if additional acidity is needed, gradually add:
Up to ½ teaspoon lactic acid powder
The finished cheese should remain mild, fresh, and gently cultured rather than sharply tangy.
Step 3 — Cook Until Glossy & Tender
Place the saucepan over medium to medium-low heat and cook, stirring and scraping constantly with a flexible spatula.
The mixture will begin to thicken as it heats. Bring it to a gentle bubbling boil so the agar can fully activate, then continue cooking for approximately 1–2 minutes, stirring continuously.
The finished mozzarella should be smooth, glossy, cohesive, and visibly soft and creamy.
Do not continue cooking simply to make the cheese firmer. This version is intentionally delicate. It should mound softly from the spatula rather than become stiff or highly elastic.
Step 4 — Shape the Bocconcini
Remove the cold brine from the refrigerator and add several ice cubes, if desired.
While the mozzarella is still warm, use a small scoop or two spoons to gently drop portions into the cold brine.
The bocconcini do not need to be perfectly round. A slightly rustic shape is preferable to making the cheese firmer merely for appearance.
Leave the bocconcini undisturbed in the cold brine as they begin to set.
Step 5 — Chill Until Delicately Set
Refrigerate the bocconcini in their brine for at least 2–4 hours before evaluating their final texture.
Once thoroughly chilled, they should hold together when lifted from the brine but remain very soft, moist, and yielding—easy to tear and only barely firm enough to slice.
For pizza, drain well and tear into irregular pieces before scattering over the sauce.
Makes approximately 300–325 g of Fresh Cultured Cashew Bocconcini.
VERSION 2 — CULTURED CASHEW MELTING MOZZARELLA
Step 1 — Finish the Melting Mozzarella
Transfer the cultured cashew base to a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Add:
3 tablespoons (42 g) refined coconut oil, melted
2½ tablespoons (20 g) tapioca starch
1 teaspoon agar powder
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
Whisk thoroughly while the mixture is still cool so the tapioca starch and agar are completely dispersed.
Taste the mixture. Only if additional acidity is needed, gradually add:
Up to ½ teaspoon lactic acid powder
The finished cheese should remain pleasantly cultured and balanced rather than sharply tangy.
Step 2 — Cook Until Glossy & Gently Elastic
Cook over medium to medium-low heat, stirring continuously and scraping the bottom and sides of the saucepan.
As the tapioca cooks, the mixture will become thicker, glossier, and increasingly elastic.
Bring the mixture to a gentle bubbling boil to fully activate the agar, then continue cooking for approximately 1–2 minutes, stirring continuously.
This version should develop some elasticity and pull, but do not cook it into a stiff or rubbery mass. The goal is enough structure to shred once cold while preserving a creamy, tender melt when heated.
Step 3 — Mold & Chill
Immediately transfer the hot mozzarella to a small glass container or lightly oiled mold and smooth the surface.
Allow it to cool briefly, then cover and refrigerate until completely cold and set, at least 4 hours and preferably overnight.
Step 4 — Shred, Slice & Melt
For the cleanest shreds, grate the mozzarella directly from the refrigerator.
It should be firm enough to shred or slice when thoroughly chilled but more tender than conventional firm block mozzarella.
Use for pizza, baked pasta, sandwiches, casseroles, or anywhere you want mozzarella with more structure and melt.
Makes approximately 1⅓ cups (300–325 g) of Cultured Cashew Melting Mozzarella.
VERSION 3 — POURABLE CULTURED CASHEW MOZZARELLA
Step 1 — Finish the Pourable Mozzarella
Transfer the cultured cashew base to a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Add:
3 tablespoons (42 g) refined coconut oil, melted
2 tablespoons (16 g) tapioca starch
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
Whisk thoroughly while the mixture is still cool so the tapioca starch is completely dispersed.
Taste the mixture. Only if additional acidity is needed, gradually add:
Up to ½ teaspoon lactic acid powder
The finished cheese should taste fresh, creamy, and gently cultured rather than sharply tangy.
Step 2 — Cook Until Creamy & Pourable
Cook over medium-low heat, stirring or whisking continuously.
As the tapioca cooks, the mixture will become glossy and begin to thicken.
Cook only until the starch is fully cooked and the mozzarella develops a smooth, creamy, thick-but-pourable consistency.
Do not cook this version into an elastic mass. It should flow readily from a spoon or small ladle rather than hold its shape.
Step 3 — Cool & Refrigerate
Transfer the mozzarella to a clean glass jar and allow it to cool.
Cover and refrigerate. The mozzarella will thicken somewhat as it chills.
Stir well before using. If necessary, stir in a small amount of filtered water to return it to an easily spoonable or pourable consistency.
Step 4 — Pour, Spoon & Bake
Spoon or drizzle the mozzarella over pizza, leaving some of the tomato sauce visible rather than covering the entire surface.
As it bakes, the mozzarella should soften and settle into creamy white pools rather than forming a firm layer.
Use it the same way over lasagna, baked pasta, vegetables, or other dishes where you want cultured mozzarella flavor and creaminess without needing a sliceable cheese.
Makes approximately 1¾ cups (375–400 g) of Pourable Cultured Cashew Mozzarella.
NOTES
About the Three Mozzarellas
All three versions begin with the same idea: a naturally cultured cashew base that develops the flavor first, followed by different amounts of fat and setting ingredients to create three distinct styles of mozzarella.
Fresh Cultured Cashew Bocconcini is the softest and most delicate — for Caprese, tomato-cucumber salads, sandwiches, tearing over pizza, or eating fresh.
Cultured Cashew Melting Mozzarella has more structure and can be sliced or shredded once thoroughly chilled. Use it for pizza, baked pasta, sandwiches, casseroles, and anywhere you want a more structured mozzarella with a creamy melt.
Pourable Cultured Cashew Mozzarella remains creamy and spoonable and is designed for pizza, lasagna, and baked dishes, where it settles into soft pools as it heats.
The Culture
Use MinusMilk® TSC Thermophilic Starter Culture for these mozzarella-style cheeses. TSC is a vegan, dairy- and lactose-free thermophilic culture intended for plant-based cheesemaking and is particularly suited to cheeses such as mozzarella and halloumi.
This is different from MSC mesophilic starter culture, which we use for cheeses that call for mesophilic fermentation, and MSC PLUS, which contains additional cultures selected for buttery notes.
The small amount of starter may look surprisingly scant, but concentrated cheesemaking cultures are very powerful. More culture does not necessarily produce better fermentation or flavor, so use the amount specified in the recipe.
Buy Culture Here: MinusMilk TSC Thermophilic Non-Dairy Culture
Let Flavor Guide the Fermentation
Fermentation time will vary with the temperature of your kitchen, the activity of the culture, and the cashews themselves.
The cultured cashew base is ready when it no longer tastes simply like blended cashews and has developed a clean, fresh, gently lactic flavor.
If using a pH meter, begin tasting as the mixture approaches approximately pH 4.8, with around pH 4.6 as a useful initial target.
Do not deliberately ferment until strongly sour. Mozzarella should taste mild, milky, and fresh rather than sharply fermented.
Lactic Acid Is a Finishing Tool
Culturing should create most of the acidity and complexity in these cheeses. The lactic acid is there only to make a final adjustment if needed.
Always taste the cultured cashew base first. If it already has the fresh, gently tangy flavor you want, leave the lactic acid out.
If the flavor seems a little flat, add it gradually. The goal is a subtle dairy-like brightness, not obvious acidity.
Cashews & Fat Create the Creaminess
These mozzarellas rely on the balance of cashews, fat, culturing, and gentle setting rather than large quantities of starch.
Use raw, unsalted cashews for the cleanest, mildest flavor.
Refined coconut oil contributes richness, body, and the creamy mouthfeel we associate with mozzarella while remaining neutral in flavor. Virgin coconut oil is not recommended because its coconut flavor will be noticeable in the finished cheese.
Use Regular Tapioca Starch
Use ordinary tapioca starch, sometimes labeled tapioca flour.
Do not substitute modified tapioca starch such as Expandex. Modified tapioca behaves differently and can create considerably more elasticity and chew.
Tapioca is here to provide cohesion and, particularly in the Melting Mozzarella, a little stretch. It should never become the defining texture of the cheese.
Agar Provides Structure — Not Chew
Agar gives the Fresh Bocconcini and Melting Mozzarella enough structure to hold together once chilled. The Pourable Mozzarella intentionally contains no agar.
Resist the temptation to add more agar because the cheese seems very soft while it is warm. Agar continues to set as it cools.
The Fresh Bocconcini in particular is supposed to be delicate.
A beautifully flavored mozzarella that needs to be handled gently is preferable to one that is perfectly round but rubbery.
How the Fresh Bocconcini Should Feel
This is not intended to behave like firm commercial pizza mozzarella.
Once thoroughly chilled, the bocconcini should be just structured enough to lift from the brine, gently slice, or tear by hand while remaining very soft, moist, and yielding.
When heated, the goal is for it to soften into creamy pockets rather than become highly stretchy or rubbery — closer in spirit to a tender fresh mozzarella than a firm pizza cheese.
How the Melting Mozzarella Should Feel
The Melting Mozzarella is deliberately firmer than the Bocconcini but should still remain tender.
When completely cold, it should have enough structure to slice or grate. Once heated, it should soften and melt rather than retain a firm, rubbery shape.
For easier shredding, grate it directly from the refrigerator. If necessary, chilling it briefly in the freezer before grating can make a particularly soft batch easier to handle.
How the Pourable Mozzarella Should Behave
The Pourable Mozzarella is not meant to set into a block. Cold from the refrigerator, it will become thicker, but it should remain spoonable.
On pizza, spoon or drizzle it in small amounts rather than covering the entire surface. In the oven, those spoonfuls should settle into creamy pools of mozzarella with some of the tomato sauce still visible between them.
If it becomes thicker than you want after refrigeration, stir in a small amount of filtered water until the desired consistency returns.
About the Bocconcini Brine
The cold brine helps cool, shape, and lightly season the Fresh Bocconcini.
Because this is an exceptionally tender plant-based mozzarella, we are using the brine primarily for chilling and shaping rather than assuming it should be stored indefinitely submerged in liquid.
For Pizza
Each mozzarella creates a different pizza.
Tear the Fresh Bocconcini into irregular pieces for soft, creamy pockets.
Shred or thinly slice the Melting Mozzarella when you want more even coverage and a little more stretch.
Spoon the Pourable Mozzarella in scattered pools when you want the softest, creamiest effect.
None of them needs to brown deeply to be delicious. The goal is cultured flavor, creaminess, and beautiful melt — not a browned rubbery layer.
Storage
These are fresh cultured cheeses without commercial preservatives and should always be kept refrigerated in very clean, tightly covered containers.
A Final Thought
There is something especially satisfying about making a food you thought you had lost.
For me, fresh mozzarella was one of those foods. I didn’t want a rubbery substitute that merely looked like cheese. I wanted something soft and creamy, with the gentle cultured flavor that makes mozzarella worth eating in the first place.
And perhaps that is the beauty of learning to make these things ourselves. We don’t have to settle for what happens to be available on a grocery store shelf. We can soak a handful of cashews, introduce a little culture, give it time, and make something entirely our own.
One beautiful cultured base becomes three different cheeses — one to tear over tomatoes, one to melt onto pizza, and one to spoon wherever a creamy pool of mozzarella belongs.
Sometimes the smallest things we make in our kitchens are the ones that give us the most back.
Another Small Beautiful Thing.
This is the kind of food that nourishes quietly.
It asks us to slow down,
to listen,
and to remember what is enough.