cheese spread

Better than Cheddar Chedda’ Cheese Style Spread

If you’ve been following my story, you know I struggled to give up cheese when first introduced to the idea of eating more plants and fewer animal products.  I tasted many vegan kinds of cheese, some were great, and some… not so much.  If you are out there searching for your vegan cheese match, with so many on the market, I am convinced you will find one.  Keep trying; there are delicious ones on the market.  Or make your own, like this Better than Cheddar Chedda’ Cheese Style Spread.  With all the options, I don’t miss dairy cheese one bit!

We are no strangers to homemade cheeses, we have prepared several homemade cheese-style recipes for our meals over the years, like Vegan French Bread Pizzas with Tofu Ricotta, Vegan Skillet Lasagna, and even our Basic Cashew Cheeze.  All of these recipes turned out pretty freakin’ tasty.  But nothing compares to this Better than Cheddar Chedda’ Cheese Style Spread.  Oh my gosh!  The consistency and the flavor are the perfect complements to crackers, pizza, burgers – you name it – this Better than Cheddar Chedda’ Cheese Style Spread makes whatever you put it on just a little bit  – well, Better!

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Better than Cheddar Chedda’ Cheese Style Spread

Wow! That title is a mouthful, but I promise, you will want to make enough of this spread to fill your mouth, top your crackers, and every meal you make this week, or perhaps to eat it right off the spoon (it tastes good that way… #sorrynotsorry).  This recipe was inspired by my love of cheese, the tasty nut-based cheeses we buy at whole foods, like Kite Hill, Treeline, and Heidi Ho, and by some whipped cashew spread recipes in the Vegan for Everybody Cookbook* (which I highly recommend).

We use cashews for the base of many of our sauces and spread recipes, Cashew Dill ColeslawVegetable Ranch Appetizer Pizza, and our Basic Cashew Cheeze, however, we don’t normally soak the cashews.  We have a Vitamix* and a super powerful food processor* and we never really felt as though we needed to soak them.  But after trying the Whipped Cashew Dip with Roasted Red Peppers and Olives from the Vegan for Everybody cookbook, we fell in love with the texture of the spread using soaked cashews.  Now you’ll often find a bowl of cashews immersed in water adorning our countertop.  Not a believer, try your favorite cashew-based recipe, with soaked cashews, I promised you’ll notice a difference in the texture; think creamy and dreamy cashew sauce, spread, or dip.

Oh, FYI, you can soak them from 6-24 hours.  We found 8-12 hours to be perfect (and honestly we don’t ever plan far enough in advance to have anything ready 24 hours before we cook – hehehe).

Let’s Whip it, Whip it Good

If you are like me, you are now singing Whip It, by Devo.  Sorry about that.  Although that is a fun song and I love it in Raising Helen, I digress,  so I suppose we should get back to whipping it! We use our Cuisinart 14 Cup Food Processor* for this recipe.  We choose to use this over our super awesome Vitamix because it is easier to get every bit of this thick and creamy spread out of the food processor because I am not wasting a drop. Not. A. Drop.

Since the cashews are soaked you can just toss all the ingredients in and turn it on.  We like to add the liquid – lemon juice- while the food processor is running, because  – well honestly, I don’t even know if it makes a difference, but it is supposed to make it more creamy.  We run the processor until the Cashew Cheddar Spread is super creamy and smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.  You can watch the whole process in our recipe video, click the image below.

Special Ingredients

Soaked cashews and lemon juice seem to be popular in these cheesy cashew spreads along with the powerful and flavorful nutritional yeast (or flaked gold as I have been known to call it here).  We wanted to be sure we pulled in that cheesy color as well as a hint of sweetness so we added some grated carrots.  The magic ingredient that takes this from basic cashew cheeze to The Best Damn Better than Cheddar Chedda’ Style Cheese Spread is the barely-there hint of smoke from the addition of smoked paprika.  It provides this savory balance that I’ve yet to have in a creamy cheesy style spread.  It is the best!

So grab your cashews and get them into some water so you can make this in 8-12 hours.

Better than Cheddar Chedda' Style Cheese Spread

Better than Cheddar Chedda' Style Cheese Spread

Soaked Cashews, lemon juice and some secret ingredients take this creamy cashew dip to another level.  Sure to please any palate.  

Ingredients

  • 2 cups raw cashews, soaked
  • 1/4 cup grated carrots
  • 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 2 tablespoons brown or red miso
  • 6 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Soak your cashews for 6-12 hours in a bowl of water
  2. Drain cashews and add all ingredients, except lemon juice, to the food processor
  3. Turn on food processor, slowly add lemon juice while the processor is running (this give it an even creamier texture).
  4. Serve with crackers, or use in place of cheese on burgers, bagels, pizza, tacos, etc.  (keep refrigerated).
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
 

How to use this Better than Cheddar Chedda’ Style Cheese Spread

Top your favorite crackers,

Smear it on a burger, bagel, or sandwich,

Dollop it on a pizza or smear it directly on the crust and then add the sauce and toppings,

Thin it out a bit and drizzle on tacos.

The options are endless!

To be honest, this Chedda’ Style Cheese Spread can be used anywhere you want a cheesy, creamy spread.  So snap a pic and be sure to tag us @veginspired and #veginspiredfoodie, so we can find your recreation.  We love to see your remakes.

Until next time,

Eat More Plants & Live VegInspired!

XO, Kathy