Creamy Almond Feta Cheese–Only 5 Ingredients
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You only need 5 simple ingredients to make this delicious Almond Feta Cheese. It tastes amazingly like the “real thing” and pairs perfectly with crackers or veggies and even doubles as a tasty spread.
You'll love it whether you're avoiding dairy or not!
This recipe for almond feta cheese makes it easy to get the great flavor of feta cheese that you love–without the dairy.
Now, I am not opposed to dairy, per se, but my son has a life-threatening allergy to cow's milk, so it is not an option for him. This is one of his favorite things that I make with our raw almonds and boy, is he thrilled anytime I make it and I think you'll love it too.
This recipe is a slight modification from one by Ricki Heller, who has a lot of great gluten-free and sugar-free recipes.
This almond feta is quite good whether baked or not. In fact, we almost never bake it. We just eat it as is.
Should You Use Blanched Almonds to Make Almond Feta?
The original recipe for this vegan cheese called for blanched almonds.
You can use blanched almonds to enhance the color of the finished product (it will look white, like feta, but in order to blanch almonds, you need to boil them, which causes them not to be raw anymore.
Almost all almonds in the U.S. are not raw (in fact, even if your almonds are labeled “raw,” they almost certainly are not), but I coordinate a large purchase of raw almonds in the early winter months every year so mine are truly raw.
In any case, to keep the enzymes intact in my soaked and dried almonds, boiling them is not a great option, and since the recipe tastes great without blanching, I just choose not to do it.
This would be a great spread on Focaccia Flax Bread, plain or served as a sandwich with grated carrots on it or served with fresh vegetables. Yum!
Almond Feta Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups almonds
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 12 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (only 6 tablespoons are required; up to 6 additional tablespoons can be used for drizzling)
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
- dried parsley (or other herb to taste; fresh parsley can be used as well)
Instructions
- Soak almonds overnight or up to 24 hours. Drain and rinse.
- In a high-powered blender (like the Vitamix), blend the almonds, lemon juice, 6 tablespoons of olive oil, garlic, and salt until very smooth. You might wish to add the salt gradually to adjust to taste. Alternatively, you can use a food processor, processing as long as is necessary.
- Preheat oven to 200F. Line baking pan with parchment paper. Spoon the cheese onto the parchment and shape into a disk approximately ¾-inch thick.
- Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until the top is stiff and dry. Cool and chill if you would like to serve it cold, or for a warm cheese dish, immediately top with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with herbs.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It may vary depending on ingredient brands, substitutions, and preparation methods. Optional ingredients are not included. Net carbs are typically calculated by subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols (such as erythritol) from total carbohydrates. This information should not be relied upon for medical or nutritional purposes.
I'd love to hear what you think about this—let me know by commenting below!
Almond Feta. . . Incredible! But first of all, surprising. I never thought this dish would be this good, and I never even baked it. Adrienne, now I understand why until recently you never got around to baking it – it was “gobbled up”. Did you find baking it to be useful?
Thanks, Vernon! I am so glad you enjoyed it! You know, it’s funny – we haven’t had this in awhile and my son was asking me why not :-). I don’t even remember baking it and his memory is typically so good – he said that he thinks we did and that it was good. I can’t believe I don’t recall – now I guess I’ll have to give it a run :-). Do you ever use nutritional yeast? I haven’t in years but am thinking about getting some again and trying some other “cheese” recipes.
I called California Almond. Talked with Mike one of the owners. He says, “No PPO!, and the Dry Express Steaming process does not damage the enzyme and that they do indeed sprout. They are family owned.” If one wants to call with more questions, here is the number 888-521-7020. It is a sales line, but generally an owner will answer and they appreciate questions. I look forward to making the Almond Feta Cheese.
That is very interesting. So it appears that they steam them to take care of any bacteria issues, but the enzymes remain intact. I’ll have to look into it. I am very happy w/ my totally raw almonds, however, and it appears that the issue w/ the salmonella outbreak was a dirty processing equipment issue. But this is a nice option. Thanks for the info.
No. . . I don’t sell almonds, just looking for a good solid healthy Pacific Coast source. I have ordered from them. All went well. I will contact California Almonds with some questions. I will ask them about your ‘sprouting after steaming’ puzzle, and verify if in fact they do not PPO their almonds. Can you think of any other questions?
Looks like you asked everything. I checked and their prices are pretty good. I sent off a question to a “really raw” almond person to see what their thoughts are on this. Very interesting.
Adrienne. . . California Almonds say this about their almonds: “No additives or other ingredients. Just the best tasting nonpareil almonds (no shell) in a 1 pound clear package.
It is required by law that almonds grown and sold in the United States must be pasteurized. The almonds we sell are pasteurized by H2O Express with dry steam. The almonds are put into a sealed chamber where the temperature, pressure and steam are controlled by a computer system. The almonds are not cooked. They will sprout when you soak them in water. We also randomly test for taste and sprouting. (Link deleted by Whole New Mom due to it not working anymore)”
Would these pass the Adrienne Almond Test?
Hello Vernon. So you yourself sell almonds? I am totally fine w/ them if they don’t have the PPO on them. I must say that I am puzzled about how they can sprout if they are pasteurized. Can you shed some light on that for me and my readers? There are almonds that I used to buy that were steamed but they have PPO now. There are also flash frozen almonds in a health food store here, but they are a fortune. Interested in hearing more.
Being dairy sensitive, I gotta try this recipe! I never ate Feta cheese before I found out I was sensitive to dairy, but this might spruce up those sometimes boring meals.
Hope you like it as much as my son does!
I live in Grand Rapids, MI. I am interested in being included in your bulk order for raw almonds. Do you also order other kinds of raw nuts?
I look forward to hearing from you!
Sharon Metzner
Hi! Sharon, we order sometime around October or November. There are other nuts available at that time as well.
I also have a co-op out of my home were we get nuts as well and other items. You can contact me through the Contact Me page and I can get more details to you.
Look forward to hearing from you!
Thanks, Adrienne. Yes, I meant because I hadn’t seen this. I like to say “thank you” when someone makes reference to my blog! I don’t always get the info, though, unless there’s a pingback or trackback sent. Thanks for asking about the candida–yes, it’s much better (about 95% back to where I was before). 🙂
I just saw this link to your post via my stats page–sorry I never knew about this before! And thanks for the mention. 🙂 Your cheese looks great (and so pretty baked!) 😉 I love it “raw” OR baked, either way. Of course desserts are another story. . . I just take time for them, whether I really have it to give or not!
Hi Ricki!
I actually had come across your blog about 2 years ago when I discovered that I had candida. I really have enjoyed several of your recipes but time has been short so I haven’t been experimenting as much! I am not sure what you are apologizing for, though….that you didn’t see my link to your blog? No worries, whatever the case! I saw you on wholeapproach.com as well. I hope your health is good.
Adrienne,
I bought almonds from you a year ago. How do I tell if they are still good? They have a brown outside covering. Does this stay on? I want to soak them overnight to make the feta cheese tomorrow.
Thanks,
Jen
Hi Jen!
Could you tell me where you had them stored? I would just taste one and see how they are. If they were in the freezer they are certainly fine. If in the fridge, probably fine. One other almond purchaser had them out of the fridge and she said hers were fine, but that’s not where I recommended to keep them :-). Regarding the covering, as I mentioned in my post, I just left the covering on, but you can take it off if you’d like by blanching.
Let me know if you need anything else!
The skin pops right off after soaking. No need to blanch. I just eat the skin (I believe it is high in fiber), and the dogs love it too.
I’m just baking this “cheese” right now. It tastes good raw, looking forward to seeing what it’s like baked…and what my dairy free 4 year old thinks.
Hope you like it!
This is such an interesting recipe! Thanks for posting it. I just bought some almonds today and now I’m thinking they are probably not truly raw (Costco).
Rachel,
No, they are not raw. In fact, if I were you I would take them back. The ones at Costco (yes, I verified it with them 🙂 ) have been pasteurized with PPO (propylene oxide), a probable human carcinogen.
If you’d like some of the truly raw ones we may have extras or I can still order more perhaps.