Vegan Parmesan Cheese (4 Ingredients!)

Made with just 4 pantry staple ingredients and 10 minutes of hands-on time, you'll want to have this Vegan Parmesan Cheese on hand all year round!

But really, what meal couldn't benefit from a little sprinkling of salty, garlicky, vegan parmesan cheese?!

I can't think of one!

This simple, homemade vegan parmesan cheese is such a great condiment to have on hand to sprinkle on anything and everything.

While we love my simple vegan nacho cheese sauce for things like burrito bowls and easy mac and cheese, this vegan cashew parmesan cheese is a more subtle condiment that pairs perfectly with almost every meal.

We especially love adding this vegan parmesan to Vegan Caesar Salad, One-Pot Creamy Marinara Pasta and Easy Vegan Baked Ziti.

Let me show you how to make it!

Ingredients You'll Need for Vegan Parmesan Cheese

You're in luck, because this recipe only requires 4 pantry-friendly ingredients, which I'll list out below:

• Raw cashews
• Nutritional yeast
• Garlic powder
• Sea salt

Definitely use raw cashews in this recipe as that will allow you to control the salt content.

What is Nutritional Yeast?

And if you've never heard of nutritional yeast, don't let the name weird you out!

Yes, it sounds a little strange, but nutritional yeast is an amazing pantry staple to have on hand if you want to eat a more plant-based diet.

Often called "nooch," nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast.

This species of yeast is the same yeast that is used to brew beer and bake bread.

Nutritional yeast comes in both flakes or powder form and you should be able to find it at your local grocery store or in the bulk section of your health food store.

How to Make Vegan Parmesan Cheese

Good news!

This recipe for vegan parmesan cheese comes together in just minutes.

All you need is a food processor and you'll be good to go.

To make this easy cashew parmesan cheese, simply place the raw cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic powder and salt into a food processor and process everything together until a fine sand-like texture forms.

Transfer the parmesan "cheese" to an airtight jar and store it in the fridge for whenever you need it!

Done and done!

How to Make Vegan Parmesan Cheese Without a Food Processor

During the year I was living in my sister's basement apartment, I didn't have access to a food process.

However, I really wanted some vegan parmesan cheese to put on the marinara pasta I was making later that evening.

As I was racking my brain for what to do, it came to me to use almond flour instead of raw cashews!

Almond flour is already the perfect texture for this vegan parmesan cheese, so all I did was add the nutritional yeast, garlic powder and salt to 1 cup of almond flour and stir everything together well.

Voila!

Almond flour parmesan cheese!

So I guess both almond flour or raw cashews will work in this recipe. Just use which ever you have on hand.

How to Store Homemade Vegan Parmesan Cheese

I love this cheese because it seems to last for ages in the fridge.

To store this cashew parmesan cheese, simply place it into an airtight jar or container and store it in the fridge for up to a month...although mine has never gone bad!

Best Ways to Enjoy Vegan Parmesan Cheese

This salty, cheesy parmesan cheese can be used however you would use regular parmesan cheese.

I'll list out my favorite ways to use it below:

• On top of my One-Pot Creamy Marinara Pasta or Vegan Baked Ziti
• Sprinkled on top of vegan pizza
• Stirred into mashed potatoes
• Sprinkled on top of perfectly baked potatoes
• Used to make a simple, comforting pasta dish with just noodles, olive oil and vegan parmesan cheese
• Spooned onto Vegan Pizza Soup
• Sprinkled on top of Vegan Caesar Salad

Basically anything Italian or tomato based would benefit from a sprinkling of these easy vegan parmesan cheese!