How to Make Vegan Herbed Cashew Parmesan

A simple guide for How to Make Vegan Herbed Cashew Parmesan. It's great sprinkled over pasta dishes, pizza, roasted veggies, and so much more!

Next up, in the how-to series here on the site is vegan parmesan. Let me start by saying this is not my recipe, just my variation of it. I'm not sure who came up the idea of cashew parmesan, but the vegan community is so glad it exists. This stuff is AMAZING!

It's super simple to whip up and a little sprinkle will take a ho-hum dish to the next level. 

Jump to:

• ingredients
• instructions
• Substitutions
• equipment
• storage
• top tip

ingredients

So, the basic recipe is made with cashews, nutritional yeast, salt, and a little garlic powder with the amounts of each ingredients varying depending on the source. When I first started making it I stuck with the basic recipe adjusting the amounts of the ingredients to our liking. A little more nutritional yeast and a little less salt. Now, my basic recipe includes the addition of dried herbs, which we love! The herbs really add another layer of delicious flavor.

• cashews
• nutritional yeast
• salt
• garlic powder
• dried herbs

See recipe card with quantities.

instructions

This vegan parmesan is super simple to make. Combine everything in the bowl of your food processor and pulse until a crumbly with only small pieces of cashews visible as pictured.

Substitutions

• Nuts: You can also use almonds. To make nut free use hemp seeds instead of cashews. You won't need to pulse in the food processor if using hemp seeds. Just stir to combine.
• Herbs: You can use Italian seasoning, which contains all the herbs listed in the recipe, to make things even simpler.
• Nutritional yeast: There isn't a substitute for nutritional yeast. It is a necessary component and can't be omitted as this is what gives the "cheesy" flavor.

equipment

You will need a food processor for this recipe, but otherwise it's really simple. Everything goes in the bowl and gets pulsed until the cashews are in small pieces.

You could try using a blender, if you don't have a food processor.

storage

Store vegan parmesan in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.

top tip

Obviously, the main component of this recipe is the cashews, which can get expensive. Since everything is going into the food processor it doesn't matter if the cashews are whole so look for cashew pieces. We find ours at Trader Joe's and the cost is usually a few bucks less than the whole ones I've used here.

That's it, it's that simple! Sprinkle your fresh vegan parm over pasta dishes, pizza, roasted veggie, or anywhere you'd use conventional parmesan - the possibilities are endless!

If you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out! Leave a comment below or snap a pic and tag it @weelittlevegans on Instagram so I’ll be sure to see it!