Sprinkle this flavorful, homemade vegan Parmesan cheese on everything! It takes less than five minutes to make.
Did you know that conventional parmesan cheese isn't just not vegan. It's not even vegetarian. Like a number of other cheeses, it's made with rennet, which is an animal-derived enzyme.
Luckily, it's incredibly easy to make flavorful vegan parmesan cheese at home! This recipe takes just a few minutes with the help of your blender, and it adds a flavor punch to everything from pizza and pasta to salads and potatoes.
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How to make it
What's great about this vegan parmesan cheese recipe is that it's really flexible. You can use any nuts and seeds that you like to make the base, so you can make it nut-free, if you need.
We usually use pecans but I've also made fairy dust with:
- cashews
- almonds
- sunflower seeds
- walnuts
The other great thing about this recipe is that it takes about three minutes to make in the blender. Just toss all of the ingredients into the blender, then pulse until you have a crumbly mix.
Why call it 'fairy dust'?
This "fairy dust" is a basic vegan Parmesan cheese recipe with a few bonus additions to make it great.
SPEAKING OF MAKING IT GREAT.
Y'all, my kid is obsessed with this one Pizza Hut training video from the 80s. My husband is a nostalgia blogger, so he spends time each week looking up old commercials and other vintage videos. For some reason, this one really resonated with my kid:
In case you don't have time to watch, I'll sum up: The training video walks you through how to make a Pizza Hut pizza, including sprinkling on "Fairy Dust."
Obviously, the next time we made pizza at home, my kid wanted to sprinkle fairy dust on top. This beefed-up vegan parmesan sprinkle is our vegan version of fairy dust, and we are obsessed with it.
How to store vegan parmesan cheese
Your fairy dust will keep for a few weeks in your pantry in an airtight container. I like to store it in a half-pint wide-mouth mason jar with this cool shaker lid on top.
You can use a regular jar, but this way, my family doesn't stick their gross fingers into the jar to grab a pinch of fairy dust 18 times a day.
Serving suggestions
Use this simple vegan parm anywhere you'd sprinkle or grate dairy parmesan cheese. I love it....
- sprinkled onto my macaroni and cheese before baking.
- on pasta, like my red pepper pesto fettuccini.
- on a baked potato.
- over veggies, like roasted broccoli or sauteed kale.
- as a topping for baked ziti.
- on salads.
Any time you want to add a bit if texture and a burst of flavor to a savory dish, that jar of fairy dust is your friend. We try to always keep some in the pantry.
I tend to double or triple the recipe below, because I'm truly obsessed!
Ready to make some vegan parmesan sprinkles? Let's get down to the nitty gritty. Let's get this show on the road!
Frequently asked questions
A reader recently asked for clarification on whether raw or roasted nuts/seeds will work in this recipe.
In general, with harder nuts or seeds -- like almonds or pumpkin seeds -- either raw or roasted will work. For softer nuts and seeds -- like cashews or sunflower seeds -- I'd go with roasted.
This cheese is made from nuts or seeds of your choice plus nutritional yeast, spices, and salt.
This vegan parmesan sprinkle is zesty and salty with a rich, cheesy flavor. It doesn't taste exactly like dairy parmesan sprinkles, but it gives the same vibe. I actually like it better, because of all the seasonings!
This cheese does not melt.
More cheesy recipes
📖 Recipe
Vegan Parmesan Cheese Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup nuts or seeds of your choice - pecans, cashews, sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds, etc.
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Put all of the ingredients into your blender, and pulse until you have a crumbly mix.
Equipment
- Blender or food processor
Mary
We love this very much but I am slightly confused about the ingredients - in your FAQs you mention lemon juice as an ingredient but it doesn’t appear in the recipe and I can’t really imagine it should be in the recipe as it would turn everything to a paste? Anyway, without the lemon juice, it is amazing - thank you!
Becky Striepe
Oh dear! That should say salt, and I must have been exhausted when I wrote lemon juice instead. Thank you for telling me, so I can correct the FAQ!
Mary
This is far away the best vegan ‘parmesan’ we have made (and we’ve followed a lot of recipes) - it’s hard not to eat it all straight out of the jar!
Becky Striepe
Haha I'm glad that I'm not the only person who has that problem, Mary! Thank you for coming back to rate and share your experience!
Cathy
Mine turned out mushy - i used a Nutribullet - maybe I processed it too long? Which blade did you use? I used roasted and salted pecans......turned out more like a seasoned nut butter....
Becky Striepe
Yes, it does sound like you processed for too long. With a high speed blender like that, you just need to pulse a few times. It should only take a few seconds. What you could do with the mushy stuff is keep processing until you do have a nut butter, then use it as a spread to make garlic bread! Just mince some fresh garlic to sprinkle on top of crusty bread slices, spread on the over-processed Fairy Dust, and toast it.
CAH1
Great idea for the mushy stuff!
Becky Striepe
lol gotta have some crunch!
Heatha
Could I freeze this? I’m single so I don’t think I would use it before it went bad! :)
Becky Striepe
I haven't tried freezing it, so it's tough to say. You can halve the recipe, though, if that would work for you!
DavetteB
Just future reference, the shaker tops from Parmesan cheese canisters will fit regular mouth canning jars, they have a shaker side and a wide side for a spoon. If you don't use the powder cheese, you probably have a friend that does ?
Becky Striepe
That's great to know!
Marge Teilhaber
Every ingredient is totally freezable so I will triple this recipe and pretty much store it in the freezer. I'll report back! Also, this could be used as a broth base, no? 1C fairy dust to 4 or 5C water????
Becky Striepe
Ooh let me know how freezing and using it as a broth base goes for sure! My only concern with using it for broth is that the nut meal might be a bit gritty. It might soften, if you boil for a bit, though!
Karla
I used half hemp fiber and half almond flour, and just whisked it together instead of using a blender. Left out the garlic and onion for low fodmap. The color was a little darker from the hemp, but it is good!
Becky Striepe
Ooh that's good to know that you can modify it for low FODMAP! Thank you for taking the time to come back and comment!
Debbie
Raw or roasted nuts??
Becky Striepe
Great question! I'll add this info to the post, as well. Either is fine for harder nuts, like almonds. For something softer, like cashews, I'd go for roasted.
Shelley
Could you use almond flour?
Becky Striepe
Oh, that's a good question! I'm not sure, because I've never tried it. If you did, I wouldn't do it in the blender, because you'd likely end up overblending. You can definitely use whole almonds, though.
Janet
OMG,OMG!! This is by far the best Vegan parmesan cheese ever I mean ever!! You just have to make sure you use good quality nutritional yeast (my brand is "Sari Foods" brand) not "Braggs" sorry folks. And no I don't get paid lol. Keep up the wonderful work your doing with your receipes!!
Becky Striepe
That is wonderful to hear! Enjoy it, Janet.
Cadry
I didn't realize that Dave is a nostalgia blogger! I enjoyed reading through his site. The Halloween post was especially fun. I always marvel at how good kids have it nowadays with fancy Disney-worthy costumes, while we were wearing hard plastic masks & bibs with a character's picture on it.
I'm loving the looks of this fairy dust! I used to make something similar with nooch, walnuts, and salt. But nowadays, I tend to just sprinkle on some nutritional yeast and call it a day. Your version sounds so much more flavorful!
Becky Striepe
He doesn’t talk about his blog nearly enough. He works so hard on it! That Halloween post is great. I have clear memories of shopping for horrible costumes at toys r us as a kid.
And thank you! Darrol is obsessed, and I’m so glad we found a non-ketchup condiment that he likes with veggies. Haha
Amu Estes
This looks so good! I need it!
Becky Striepe
You do!
Anne
Truly magical! Hard to keep my spoon out of it! ??
Becky Striepe
Haha the best kind of problem! Thank you for coming back to rate and comment!
Kathy Hester
I made some tonight for my pasta and it was delicious!
Becky Striepe
Hooray! So glad you dug it, Kathy!
Sarah De la Cruz
We love homemade vegan parm! We use hemp seeds in our vegan parm for a nut free option, because, you know, I'm obsessed with hemp! I love the addition of Italian seasoning in this—such a good touch!
Becky Striepe
It makes it super special!
Dianne
This really does look magical! I want to sprinkle it on just about everything!
Becky Striepe
Thank you! You should do that!