I honestly couldn’t be more excited to share this Vegan Stretchy Melty Grilled Cheese.
It’s easy to make, uses natural ingredients (including one almost magical one!), and the texture is the closest thing to real cheese that I’ve ever tried. If you don’t believe my words, let me convince you with these photos…
I’ve experimented with vegan toasted sandwiches in the past, but hadn’t tried making anything with “cheese”, as I didn’t think anything would measure up to the melty, stretchy phenomenon that is real melted cheese!
I did consider using something like tofu ricotta or cashew cheese, but didn’t like the fact that I knew it wouldn’t melt properly like normal cheese.
I wanted to create something using entirely natural, neutral-tasting ingredients that I could use as a base for adding more flavours, and of course something that would have that essential melty, stretchy texture.
It seemed impossible at first…then I started thinking about mochi…mochi are Japanese sticky rice cakes, which are made from pounding rice until it becomes sticky and glutinous (don’t worry, despite the name it is still gluten-free).
It is sold in many different forms, one of them being in small, hard blocks. When these blocks of mochi are melted, they become incredibly sticky, stretchy and gooey…like real cheese!
And that was when I realised that melted mochi would be my magical secret ingredient – the perfect thing to create a Vegan Stretchy Melty Grilled Cheese!
You can buy mochi in Asian supermarkets, some local health stores, or online – just make sure you get the hard, firm type that’s sold in blocks.
One word of caution: melted mochi is extremely sticky, so once you have removed the sauce from the pan, please soak your pan in boiling water immediately – otherwise you’ll have a very tricky washing-up situation on your hands!
But obviously I knew I couldn’t rely on mochi alone…and so I decided to add some boiled potatoes, which also become extra starchy when blended, also contributing to the overall stretch factor of the cheese.
Amusingly, the idea to combine mochi with potatoes to create a melty, stretchy vegan cheese came from my Japanese grandmother.
She always used to make these things called imomochi, which are these savoury mochi “cakes” made with potatoes – the texture is naturally melty, sticky and stretchy, just like the dairy-free cheese that I was after!
In terms of flavour, you can’t really get any more bland than mochi and potatoes, which means they’re the perfect ingredients for vegan cheese, because they work as a great base for adding other flavours.
Just like with my Vegan Mac and Cheese, I decided to flavour the cheese with miso, which adds an umami-rich, salty, fermented flavour, nutritional yeast for cheesiness, and a touch of vinegar for a slightly sour cheddar-like flavour. Incidentally, all of the ingredients I used happen to be oil-free and nut-free too!
I was a bit worried that using potatoes and mochi to make a cheese to go between two slices of bread would mean the whole thing would be far too starchy and heavy, but it surprisingly doesn’t taste overly starchy at all.
I think the contrasting textures of the crisp toast and the gooey cheese prevents this. However, if you’d like to make this grilled cheese a little healthier, you can use white beans instead of potatoes – I’ve tested this too and it’s equally delicious, more nutritious and has more protein + fibre too. I’ve included both options in the recipe below.
Obviously as this particular grilled cheese requires cooking potatoes and mochi first and then blending them, it’s a little bit more effort than your classic grilled cheese…but, if you’re dairy-free and missing cheese, you really gotta try it! Also, a big batch keeps well in the fridge for up to a few days – just pop in the microwave or reheat on the stove before using.
I really hope you’ll love this Vegan Stretchy Melty Grilled Cheese as much as I do! It’s melty, stretchy, sticky, melts in your mouth and is absolutely perfect for sandwiching between slices of warm, crispy toast!
Looking for more dairy-free cheese recipes? You might like my:
- Vegan White Bean Mac and Cheese
- Vegan Stretchy Melty Cheese Nachos
- Vegan Stretchy Melty Cheese Quesadillas
Looking for more great sandwiches? You might like my
- Lazy Falafel
- Mediterranean Chickpea “Tuna” Pittas
- Chickpea Mayonnaise Salad Sandwich
- Hummus Toasted Sandwich
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
If you’d like to see how to make this, check out this 40-second video here:
Helpful tools to make this Vegan Stretchy Melty Grilled Cheese:
measuring jug
food processor
blender
hand-held stick blender
Vegan Stretchy Melty Grilled Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 slices of bread (gluten-free if necessary)
For the cheese:
- 1 medium to large-sized potato, peeled and diced*
- 70 g (2.5oz) mochi (the hard firm mochi sold in blocks)
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 heaped teaspoon miso (ensure gluten-free if necessary)**
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- Optional: 1/4 teaspoon (Dijon) mustard
- Salt + pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Boil potatoes until soft enough to pierce with a fork
- Drain away most the water (leaving just 100ml/a little less than 1/2 cup) and keep the potatoes in the saucepan
- Place the mochi underneath the potatoes and cook on a low heat for a further 5 minutes or so until mochi has melted and become sticky
- Turn off heat and add nutritional yeast, miso, vinegar, mustard and salt + pepper
- Use either a blender, food processor or hand-held stick blender (this is the easiest option as you can just do it in the same saucepan) and whizz until completely smooth
- Toast your slices of bread and spread a generous amount of the sauce over half of the slices, then sandwich them together***
- Best enjoyed immediately, but leftover cheese keeps well covered in the fridge for up to a few days - just pop in the microwave or reheat on the stove before using
Video
Notes
*If using white beans instead of potatoes, sub the potatoes with 150g/5oz tinned white beans - make sure they've been drained and rinsed. There's no need to boil them first, so just cook the mochi in 100ml (a little less than 1/2 cup) water for around 5 minutes until soft and melty, then add the white beans and continue to cook for another couple of minutes until heated through
**If you have trouble getting hold of miso, you can substitute with soy sauce (or tamari), and add extra nutritional yeast and salt if necessary
***I was lazy and just toasted my slices of bread and spread the cheese sauce between them, but you can alternatively use a grilled cheese maker or a frying pan
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Pam
This looks great but I can not have nutritional yeast. Any suggestions to what to use in stead nutritional yeast?
Rhian Williams
Thank you! It can be omitted without problem!
Zoé
Wow sounds epic! Is the mochi from the Asian Shops just made of rice or do they add sugar and weird ingredients in it? Would to try it but would love to keep it healthy. Thank you so much!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much! It should be made with 100% rice – all the ones I’ve used are! Hope you get to try this!
agnes
This looks amazing. What’s the consistency of the ‘mochi-cheese’ once cooled & refrigerated? Does it harden like a cheese block (so that it’s slice-able) or is it more like cream cheese or soft cheese? Am wondering if we can take it camping to make grill cheese over a campfire… it’d be helpful if it wasn’t oozy straight away.
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much! It doesn’t harden like a cheese block, it is quite firm but has a more ‘gloopy’ consistency. For a sliceable vegan cheese which would be good for grilled cheese over a campfire, I’d suggest checking out my vegan brie (also made with mochi!): https://www.rhiansrecipes.com/vegan-brie-cheese-gf/ hope that helps! Would love to hear how you get on!
Ida
Love this recipe! Makes the best vegan grilled cheese sandwich. I’ve been missing them for years but this totally hit the spot. Also, made great cheese for our baked vegan chili cheese fries that we sometimes make. I will also tell you that In my quest to always find easy ways to cook for my family, I often try to see if food freezes. So I froze some cheese for later use and it worked out ok, but this cheese is better freshly made. Just plan to eat a few cheesy meals when you make it-which in my house is not a problem at all 🙂
Rhian Williams
Aw thank you so much for your kind words, I’m so glad you liked this recipe! The chili cheese fries sound incredible I’ll have to try those sometime!
hack rules of survival 4/3
This is a topic that’s close to my heart… Cheers! Where are your
contact details though?