This spreadable vegan cheese is a genius way to use up the pulp left over from making home made almond milk.
It's taken me a long time to come around to enjoying almond milk, and the number one reason is that I hadn't tried making it myself. Now that I've acquired a taste for it, I don't mind the store bought stuff but to begin with I found it lacking in body and flavour.
Then I tried making my own almond milk from scratch. Trumpets and fanfare! Life changing moment right there. Home made almond milk is SO MUCH NICER than its store bought counterpart. It has the body and creaminess that I'm looking for in a plant based milk, no nasty additives (what is up with the length of the ingredients list on some brands?!) and it really is delicious.
Home made almond milk is also incredibly easy to make, you simply soak a cup of nuts overnight, drain them then blend with four cups of water and strain (preferably using a nut milk bag, or pantyhose in a pinch). That's it. No recipe required. But if you want one, I'd recommend this brilliant Nut Milk 101 by Liberty at Homespun Capers.
I like my almond milk with a pinch of salt and just a touch of maple syrup and vanilla, not so much that it tastes like a sweet milk - but just enough to round out the flavour. I mostly enjoy almond milk on muesli or to drink from a glass (iced coffee, anyone?), so lightly sweetened suits me perfectly. If I was going to use it for savoury cooking I'd simply leave out the flavourings.
Once I realised I actually love almond milk, the next question on my mind was its cost. Really, it's not cheap. In New Zealand all nuts are pretty pricey, and the cost of home made is usually more than the cost of a litre of store bought. Every time I made it, a certain someone in my home would mutter and mumble for days about the cost and why couldn't I just buy it from the supermarket like everyone else. The answer to that problem is making it a two for one deal.
When you're done straining almond milk, you're left with a pile of soft, fine almond pulp.
The first few times I made almond milk I just threw this stuff away (I know! such a waste!). Inspired by this recipe from Dearna at To Her Core, I now make a sort of cheese out of it which is sharp and cheesy tasting, firm but spreadable and lovely on crackers or in a salad.
There's around a cup of pulp left over from making the milk (depends how tightly you pack it), which makes a good amount of cheese to enjoy over the next few days. It's tasty, frugal and makes home made almond milk all the easier to justify.
This recipe is very versatile - add other spices or flavourings to the mix or roll it in seeds, nuts or herbs of your choosing. Leave out the coconut oil if you prefer, I like the firmness it provides once chilled as otherwise this cheese can be very crumbly.
Get the recipe
INGREDIENTS
- Pulp left over from making 1 litre of almond milk (about 1 cup)
- 1 clove garlic crushed or finely grated
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder substitute with mustard from a jar if necessary
- ¼ teaspoon salt
INSTRUCTIONS
- Mix all ingredients together well.
- Roll into a log, or 3-4 balls. I like rolling mine into three balls, as I find one ball is a good portion size.
- Cover and store in the fridge. The cheese will keep for a few days.
RECIPE NOTES
Inspired by Homemade Dairy-Free Cheese, Three Ways by To Her Core.
Mandisa
Trying this with oat pulp soon
Joanne
This was delicious! Thank you for this recipe. I just started making my own almond milk and didn’t know what to do with the 2 cups of pulp. I baked a cup of this cheese in the oven to dry it out and I’m going to use it as Parmesan and sprinkle on salads and pasta.
Amber
Sounds fantastic Joanne 🙂
Greg
I looked up "almond pulp"in an app called MyFitnessPal. It shows 327 calories in one cup. I cannot confirm its accuracy, but it seems reasonable.
Sylvia
My cheese is really soft - can’t roll into log. I make my almond milk with Euro strainer and it’s too moist. How can I get it to be more crumbly and harder for cheese log?
Amber
Hi Sylvia, I don't know what a Euro strainer is sorry so can't offer any specific advice with that. I use a fine mesh nut milk bag and my hands to squeeze out all the liquid, which leaves the pulp quite dry and easy to hold together in a recipe like this one. Maybe you could try putting your pulp into a piece of thin cloth like muslin or similar, to squeeze out any excess liquid 🙂
Sylvia
That’s a great idea.
D Larson
I really enjoyed this recipe I do not think I would call it a cheese, but rather a nut garlic spread. I think it will go well with stuffed celery, lettuce cuts, etc.
Jennifer
Love this idea! I wanted my "cheese" to have a creamy texture so I added 1/2 raw cashews with 1/2 cup water and blended until thick and creamy and added two acidophilus pills ( I smashed them into powder first) then left it out on the counter over night and by morning I put it in the fridge, The longer I leave it in the fridge the more tangy the flavor gets. It is also perfect for using as ricotta in a vegetable lasagna.
Amber
I'll have to give that a go, sounds great 🙂
Annie
I’ve made this from a similar recipe and it always comes out crumbly. Using your recipe I added more coconut oil, a little more than you suggest. But it’s still a little crumbly. The taste is lovely and I can kinda press it onto a cracker with a knife, but definitely not spreadable. Should it be like hummus consistency?
Amber
Hi Annie, mine always comes out a little crumbly too. It is fairly firm, and sliceable but delicate/crumbly if that makes sense? (Definitely a lot firmer than hummus). Sometimes I also just break it into crumbly chunks to add to salad 🙂
Pooja Anand
Hi Amber 🙂 When you say a few days, how many days specifically would you say it stays good for? Thanks so much! Hugs from Canada!
Amber
Hi Pooja and greetings to Canada! I don't know specifically how many days, sorry. The longest I've kept this for would be three days (by which time we've eaten it) and it's still been perfectly fine.
Efraim
I assume you are using refined coconut oil so it won't taste like a coconut?
Amber
Yes, I use refined coconut oil which does not have a strong flavour or aroma. My preferred brand is Blue Coconut, which is widely available in New Zealand.
Ronda
It would be helpful if you would give a cup measurement for the almond pulp because I make small amounts of almond milk. Also, nutritional info would be helpful. Specifically calories?
Amber
Hi Ronda, I've added the cup measurement to the recipe - about 1 cup (give or take) of almond pulp is left after making 1 litre of almond milk. I'm unable to provide nutritional information for this recipe as no nutritional profile is available for the almond pulp. I'm guessing a lot of the goodness of the nuts will have been removed in the milk making process and the pulp will mostly be fibre, but there's no way to estimate that sorry.
bicikl kutija
I don't have coconut oil on hand. Do you think it could be replaced with coconut butter? Or maybe some other type of oil?
Amber
Coconut oil helps set the cheese so yes, I think coconut butter would probably work too - it'll probably just taste a little more strongly of coconut.
Margaux
The garlic made this cheese taste really weird. I notice in the original recipe ('inspired from') they don't mention garlic. Is there a reason you included it?
Amber
Hi Margaux, I included garlic because I like it and enjoy this flavour combination. Sorry you didn't enjoy it.
BEcky
Are you dehydrating/ drying the pulp first or using it directly after finished with making the milk?
Amber
Hi Becky, I'm using it straight after making the milk 🙂
Stefani Akins
So... I'm told almond pulp freezes beautifully so I feel my cheese balls are safe. 🙂 I asked some folks for ideas what else I could do with the pulp and was directed here: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/what-to-do-with-leftover-almond-pulp/. It also turns out that there is a recipe for "cookie" crumbs that could be used to make pie crusts or streusel in one of my books.
The soy milk came out very nicely. Overall, the process takes very little time, I estimate about an hour or an hour and a half total. I plan on using the milk for making yogurt in the next few days. THAT should be interesting... I don't have a yogurt maker.
Stefani Akins
Almond milk done! 🙂 This is going to make a lot of cheese, do you think the cheese balls would freeze? I'm by myself this week, there's no way I can eat all that in a few days.... the soymilk recipe I have is really no more involved than making almond milk because no soaking is required. I'll let you know how it goes...
Amber
I haven't tried it, but I can't see any reason it wouldn't work well. Let me know how it goes 🙂
Stefani
What a splendid idea for leftovers! Here in the US mid-West, I have the same problem: nuts are expensive, the store-bought stuff is cheap (relatively speaking) and often comes with coupons for added incentive, and I also have a grumbler in the home... however, I just ran out of almond milk yesterday, so today is milk making day! I'll be doing almond milk and creamer, as well as soy milk. Leftover soy mush will be processed according to methods found in Miyoko Schinner's book, but I'm now also super excited about your cheese. Thank you!
Amber
I've never tried making my own soy milk, but it's definitely on my to do list. It just seems so much more involved, when making almond milk is so incredibly easy and delicious! Happy milk making day 🙂
Jessica A McNeil
Costco has great prices on bulk almonds!
Kal
Yep, like $20 CAD for I think 9 or 10 cups of almonds.
ebeccia1
Such a clever idea! I typically make crackers from the almond pulp. I should definitely give this cheese a try!
Amber
Crackers are such a good idea too, I'll have to give that a try myself!
Elena franco
I just made my first batch of almond milk since 2000! Yummy! Ifogot how good it is! I agree with you, soooo much better than store bought! Can’t wait to make the cheese! Today! Muah! For cheering my kitchen today! I’m on day five of eliminating sugar and gluten. I feel good but eating needs excitement and I’m adding these.. almonds milk chees and crackers to my repertoire!✌️??. Elena
Amber
Enjoy 🙂