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Home > Vegan Recipes

Vegan Parmesan Cheese Recipe

8/19/21 by Nicole | 8 Comments

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5 from 6 votes. Leave a review!

Vegan parmesan cheese is incredibly quick and easy to make. With just three ingredients it turns common vegan kitchen staples into a ready-to-use dairy substitute!

In my house we call this recipe “sprinkle cheese” because it’s the perfect topping for meals that could use a boost of cheesy and salty flavor!

Small white bowl filled with vegan cashew parmesan (golden brown-yellow crumbly mixture) sitting on white-grey marble. Top left corner shows two small wood dishes, mostly cropped out, filled with cashew and nutritional yeast. Bottom right corner shows a wood spoon filled with the crumbly parmesan cheese.

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Is Parmesan Cheese Vegan?

Typical parmesan cheese is made from dairy and is not vegan. While true parmesan cheese is a very hard cheese sold in a wedge or block, many people use grated parmesan in recipes or as a topping for different meals. True parmesan tends to be expensive, so people tend to be more familiar with the finely ground parmesan.

This recipe for vegan parmesan is meant to replicate finely ground parmesan that’s perfect for sprinkling! It has a rich, cheesy and salty flavor that nicely resembles the less expensive parmesan that I (and many others) grew up with.

Straight on view of a small glass jar filled with vegan cashew parmesan cheese with a wood spoonful of the crumbly parmesan sitting in front of the jar. Some cashews sit to the right of the jar with a small wood dish of additional cashews blurred in the back right corner and a second wood dish blurred further back.

Vegan Parmesan Cheese Ingredients

This plant-based parmesan recipe only requires three simple ingredients and uses cashews as a base!

  • Cashews: These tasty nuts are high in fat content and quite soft, making them easy to grind in a food processor. They create a delicious crumbly texture and add a satisfying richness to the vegan parmesan. You could also use blanched almonds or, for a nut free option, sunflower seeds area great choice. Pretty much any type of nut or seed (or nut and seed combo!) can work. I find sunflower seeds the easiest (and least expensive) alternative to cashews.
  • Nutritional yeast: As a staple ingredient in my vegan kitchen, this flaky and golden yellow seasoning is packed with flavor. It’s the easiest way to make vegan foods taste cheesy! I use nutritional yeast in all my cheese substitutes or whenever recipes could use a boost of flavor.
  • Salt: Dairy-based cheese is salty. One of the biggest mistakes when making vegan cheese substitutes is not using enough salt; you’ll end up with something bland that just isn’t convincing as a non-dairy parmesan alterative.
Top view of a small glass jar filled with nutritional yeast, a small wood dish filled with salt and a larger glass bowl filled with cashew pieces, all sitting on white-grey marble.

How to Make Plant-based Parmesan

This recipe is incredibly easy to make but you’ll need a food processor or small, single-portion blender. I find a food processor creates the best, most even texture.

If you don’t have a blender or food processor, this could work with almond flour which is just finely ground almonds. The final texture of your parmesan will be very fine, but it also requires no effort. Use about ¾ cup of almond flour, not a full cup, if you go this route.

Step 1: Blend Ingredients

Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until the cashews are finely ground. It’s best to scrape along the bottom of your food processor and around the blade a couple times between the pulses.

Top view of a food processor filled with cashew pieces along, nutritional yeast and salt.

Keep in mind that cashews can quickly turn into cashew butter if they’re over-blended. It’s better to have larger pieces than to blend too much and create a clumpy mixture.

If using a single-portion blender, you’ll need to pulse and then shake the blender in between pulses for the best results. Again, don’t over-blend!

Top view of a food processor filled with a crumbly cashew mixture. A hand holding a metal spoon stirs the mixture in the top portion of the image; hand and spoon are blurred in motion.

Step 2: Serve

This delicious golden cheese powder is ready to sprinkle on anything you like! Some of my favorite recipes for adding vegan parmesan cheese to include:

  • Hummus pasta
  • Vegan Caesar salad
  • Summer vegetable tian
  • Vegan hamburger helper
  • Pumpkin and leek risotto
  • Tofu parmesan (a vegan “chicken” parm!)
Small white bowl filled with crumbly vegan parmesan cheese (ground cashews) with a wood spoon resting in the bowl. Bowl sits on plate with the parmesan dusted on the right and left side.

How to Create a Balanced Vegan Meal

This parmesan recipe is meant to be added as a topping for meals. Its primary purpose is adding flavor to whatever you eat!

Cashews and nutritional yeast provide some nutrition, including plant-based protein and healthy fats. However, you’ll likely use a small enough amount that it won’t add too much protein or fats to the overall meal.

For a balanced meal you’ll still want to look to include a good source of plant-based protein, carbohydrates, fats and vegetables!

Top view of a small white bowl filled with crumbly yellow-brown vegan parmesan (cashews and nutritional yeast) which sits on a white-grey marble background. A wood spoon of parmesan sits to the bottom right of the bowl with a small wood dish of salt in the bottom right corner. Two small wood dishes sit in the top left corner, filled with cashews and nutritional yeast.

Dairy Free Parmesan Variations

As noted above, this recipe can be made with any nuts, seeds or combo of nuts and seeds you like!

Sunflower seeds are, in my opinion, the best alternative to cashews especially if you need a nut-free option! Almonds, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds or walnuts are also tasty choices.

Keep in mind that the nut or seed flavor will still be prominent once blended with other ingredients. Sunflower seeds, blanched almonds or hemp seeds are the most neutral tasting choices.

Bowl filled with crumbly vegan parmesan cheese (golden brownish-yellow color from the ground cashews) sits behind a wooden spoon filled with the crumbly cheese substitute. Bottom right corner shows a small wood dish filled with salt and back left corner shows two small wood dishes filled with cashews and nutritional yeast.

How to Refrigerate Leftovers

Store extra parmesan in the fridge, ideally in an airtight container. Honestly, I don’t use an airtight container; instead, we store our parmesan in a shaker container that has holes in the top. This makes it so quick and easy to grab and sprinkle whenever we want some parmesan.

This is a recipe I always keep on hand, and I’m not over exaggerating. There’s some in my fridge right now and we’ll make a new batch as soon as it’s gone.

It’s hard to say how long this recipe will last in the fridge as I’ve never had a batch go bad. It should last a very long time (many weeks to a few months) simply because all ingredients are all shelf stable.

Grinding the cashews will shorten their shelf life but storing it in the fridge extends that time. Always use caution if you aren’t sure if something has gone bad or not and when in doubt, throw it out.

Straight on view of a glass jar filled with vegan cashew and nutritional yeast parmesan cheese. Cashews and a wood dish filled with nutritional yeast sit to the right of the jar.

If you make this recipe, please rate and comment below to help others benefit from your experience!

Square cropped image of a small white bowl filled with vegan cashew parmesan (golden brown-yellow crumbly mixture) sitting on white-grey marble.

Vegan Parmesan Cheese (Dairy Free)

This vegan parmesan cheese uses 3 simple ingredients and couldn’t be easier to make. It’s the perfect addition to any meal that needs a boost of rich, cheesy and salty flavor!
5 from 6 votes. Leave a review!
Prevent screen going dark
Prep Time 5 mins
Total Time 5 mins
Servings 16 Servings
Calories 57 kcal
Cuisine Vegan

Equipment

  • Food processor (or small blender)
  • Measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup cashews , unsalted (raw or dry roasted)
  • ¼ cup nutritional yeast
  • 2 teaspoon salt
Prevent screen going dark

Instructions

Step 1: Blend Ingredients

  • Add all ingredients to a small blender or food processor.
    1 cup cashews, ¼ cup nutritional yeast, 2 teaspoon salt
  • Pulse the ingredients together until your cashews are finely ground.
  • Do not over-blend the cashews as they will begin to turn into cashew butter and the parmesan won’t sprinkle well. Keep the contents moving and scrape around the blade between pulses.

Step 2: Serve

  • Transfer the mixture to a shaker container or jar for storage.
  • Serve this easy and delicious vegan parmesan cheese over any meal that could use a boost of delicious cheesy flavor!

Video

Notes

To make a nut-free version of this recipe, substitute the cashews for raw, hulled sunflower seeds.
Accuracy of nutrition information cannot be guaranteed (certain ingredients may not have all nutrients listed in the database); amounts may vary (and will vary depending on brands of ingredients used); all nutrition fact values rounded to the nearest whole number.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 Serving (1/16 of recipe)Calories: 57 kcalCarbohydrates: 4 gProtein: 2 gFat: 4 gSaturated Fat: 1 gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1 gMonounsaturated Fat: 2 gSodium: 293 mgPotassium: 88 mgFiber: 1 gCalcium: 5 mgIron: 1 mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

More Vegan Cheese Recipes

Like this recipe? You should also try:

  • Close up of crumbly vegan ricotta cheese in a bowl lined with cheese cloth.
    Vegan Ricotta Cheese Recipe (Almond and Tofu)
  • Square cropped image of the top view of a glass bowl of tofu feta cheese cubes sitting on a white-grey marble background. To the right is a wood spoonful of tofu feta and above that a half lemon and jar of tofu feta. Top left corner shows a quarter of a bowl of chopped lettuce.
    Vegan Feta Cheese (Tofu Feta Recipe)
  • Square cropped image of a black bowl filled with beer cheese dip sits on wood board with pile of pretzel bites stacked on the board behind the bowl. Glass mug of golden beer sits to the back left of the board with two pretzel bites in front of the mug
    The Ultimate Vegan Beer Cheese Dip
  • Close up of a log of vegan cashew goats cheese covered in crushed walnuts.
    Vegan Goats Cheese Recipe (made from Cashews)

About Nicole Stevens

Nicole is a vegan Registered Dietitian (RD) and founder of Lettuce Veg Out.

She helps people thrive on a vegan diet with balanced recipes and easy-to-understand nutrition science.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Angela

    September 24, 2021 at 10:11 am

    Its absolutely amazing. Looks so delicious and yummy!

    Reply
    • Nicole Stevens

      September 25, 2021 at 9:27 am

      Thanks Angela! Truly something I keep in the fridge at all times!

      Reply
  2. Fiona

    June 24, 2021 at 3:44 am

    I'd like to try this, I'm guessing i DO NOT soak the cashews 1st right? Sorry, new vegan here !

    Reply
    • Nicole Stevens

      June 24, 2021 at 7:20 am

      Don't apologize! You're right, do not soak the cashews!

      Reply
  3. Michelle

    January 07, 2021 at 4:23 pm

    Do you have any suggestions for nut-free alternatives to mix with the nutritional yeast? I am allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. I can eat seeds but have no comparison as far as whether they taste like nuts. I can also eat quinoa which I’ve heard described as nutty and I know can be toasted.

    Reply
    • Nicole Stevens

      January 07, 2021 at 4:39 pm

      I've mixed sunflower seeds into this before but haven't ever done straight sunflower seeds. Hemp seeds may also work (or a combo of sunflower and hemp seeds if you have that around). That would be my best guess as to an alternative!

      Reply
  4. Paula Done

    May 03, 2020 at 12:43 pm

    It’s absolutely delicious, my kids go wild for it! (Aged 6 and 2)

    Reply
    • Nicole Stevens

      May 04, 2020 at 7:27 am

      Thank you! It's a favorite in my house too 🙂

      Reply

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Hi, I'm Nicole! As a vegan Registered Dietitian, I empower vegans to live a balanced life and gain confidence in the kitchen.

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