Vegan Cotija Cheese

Try your very own vegan cotija cheese for a perfectly crumbly, umami-flavored topping on all your favorite foods like tacos, chilaquiles, and more!

5 from 21 votes

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 5

Rest time 12

Total Time 12 15

Course How-to, Side Dish

Cuisine Gluten-Free, Mexican, Vegan

Servings 20 servings

Calories 82 kcal

▢ 1 ½ cups blanched almonds ($1.91)
▢ 1 tablespoon white vinegar ($0.01)
▢ ½ tablespoon nutritional yeast ($0.12)
▢ 1 tablespoon salt ($0.02)
▢ 2 teaspoons agar powder ($0.10)
▢ ¼ cup water ($0.00)
▢ 3 tablespoons refined coconut oil ($0.42)

To begin, soak the almonds in room temperature water for about 10-12 hours, or overnight.
Place the almonds in a high-speed blender or food processor with vinegar, nutritional yeast, and salt. Blend until no large chunks remain, scraping down the sides throughout. Set aside.
In a small saucepan over medium-low, bring the agar and water mixture to a simmer while stirring constantly for 3 minutes, or until it appears thickened.
Add the agar mixture to your blender, then the coconut oil. Blend everything together for another 1-2 minutes, or until the texture is similar to ricotta. Taste and adjust salt as needed (cotija cheese is traditionally quite salty).
Transfer everything to a cheesecloth (or nut milk bag) over a bowl or plate. Bring the edges of the cheesecloth in and twist together to remove any excess liquid.
Transfer to your fridge and let the cheese set in the cloth for at least 6 hours, but preferably overnight. Serve over all your favorite meals like tacos, chilaquiles, and more. Happy eating!

The blend time will vary depending on the quality of the blender or food processor you're using.
If a ¼ cup of water is not enough, add in 1 tablespoon of water at a time until the agar properly dissolves.
If you can't find blanched almonds, regular almonds will work. Just soak them as you normally would until the skins are easily removed.
Optional ingredients are not reflected in the price or calories of our recipes.
We calculate nutritional information for our recipes with Cronometer.
Recipe cost calculations are based on ingredients local to us and may vary from recipe-to-recipe.
All prices are in USD.

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