Transform a block of tofu into crumbly feta-style cheese in two days!
This is one of my top-searched recipes. If you’re coming here for the first time, please take a look around. I have more than 350 recipes, many of them plant-based and/or dairy-free.
It takes about two days to make this tofu cheese, but it’s well worth the wait. The method couldn’t be easier, and the finished product can stand in for blue cheese in this iceberg wedge salad, feta in this spinach salad as well as fish sticks in vegan fish tacos.
Want more great dairy-free recipes? Check out my Twelve Terrific Dairy Substitutes, available on Amazon Kindle.
One of the coolest things about having a food website and being a health coach is that it opens up your world to new people, people you probably would never meet otherwise. One of these cool people is a San Diego musician, voice-over actor, and vegan named Jeff Smith. Learn more about Jeff on his website.
After running into Jeff at Trader Joe’s (in the tofu aisle, where else?) Jeff told me that he was fond of making “cheese” from their super-firm tofu. After trying it a couple of times to make sure I understood the process, I’m sharing his recipe with you. Jeff’s wife Sally has a great recipe for vegan tartar sauce here, with some more suggestions on how to use the tofu cheese.
Suitable for:
vegan, gluten-free, reduced-sugar diets
Not for:
low-sodium or migraine diets (tofu and miso are both triggers)
How to make tofu cheese
Ingredients
- 16 ounces tofu super-firm or extra-firm, pressed
- 1/4 cup miso any color
Instructions
- To make your tofu cheese, buy the firmest tofu available. If you can't find super-firm, then wrap the block of tofu in a clean kitchen towel and press the tofu under a heavy weight for 30 minutes to remove more of the water, or use a TofuXpress.
- The tofu's firmness depends on the type of coagulant used and how it is pressed.
- Slice the block of tofu lengthwise into thirds as evenly as possible, to make 3 slabs.
- Spread a thin layer of miso paste on all sides of each piece, and then lay them in a container with some space between them. Cover loosely with waxed paper.
- Let sit out on the counter for 24 hours. In hot weather (above 75F/24C), the cheese may be ready in one day. In cooler weather, it takes two or three days.
- The miso paste, a fermented product generally made from soy beans, ferments the tofu, changing its texture and color a bit as well. The way to check for doneness is to taste it, scraping off the miso first. If it no longer tastes like tofu, but instead has a crumbly, feta-like texture and taste, it's ready.
- You may get some mold growing on the outside, which is natural. Before eating, scrape or wipe off the miso and discard it. Refrigerate it with the container covered when it's done, and use within a few days. Scrape off the miso marinade before eating. If it gets slimy, just rinse off the slime, but eat it up right away.
Notes
- 31 calories
- 2 g fat
- 0 g saturated fat
- 1 g monounsaturated fat
- 0 g polyunsaturated fat
- 0 g trans fat
- 0 g cholesterol
- 157 mg sodium (will be lower, but no way to calculate)
- 37 mg potassium
- 2 g carbohydrate
- 0 g fiber
- 1 g sugars
- 3 g protein
- 1 Weight Watchers Points Plus
Do you cook the tofu cheese before eating or can you eat it raw?
Maybe this is a totally silly question, but do you wipe the miso off before eating, or leave it on (assuming there’s no mold)??
Hi Julia, there are no silly questions… yes you scrape off the miso marinade before eating it.
Thanks! I have to buy some sake and then I will try my hand at your recipe and report back!
Great, Julia, good luck and keep us posted!
I just found this site while doing a search for miso recipes. This sounds really great. I can’t wait to try it. Miso seems to be so healthy and I love the taste. Thanks.
Hi Sharon and welcome! Miso is a fantastic fermented food. I have other recipes for fermented foods too… sauerkraut and kombucha. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
[…] lb. (1.25 K) seedless watermelon 2 large (400 g) cucumbers 4 oz. (110 g) tofu feta 1 lime 1 T. (15 ml) citrus-infused olive oil 1 kaffir lime leaf, optional handful orange-mint or […]
I’m on day two! It’s still rather moist – not crumbly, but it tastes a lot like cheese to me! I haven’t had cheese in 20 years, but still – I think I remember. It’s a bit like cheddar, I think – but the texture is still pretty tofu-like.
Great. It cultures much faster in warm weather. If you see mold, scrape it off and put it in the fridge. Enjoy!
I am going away for four days and started to make this recipe today. Can I leave it for fours days and it will still be edible when I come back?
I would put it in the fridge while you are gone, then you can ferment it further when you return. I would not leave it unattended 4 days in the summer or it may mold when you return.
I’m a little late to the party, but I had to tell you how cool this is! I can’t believe how different the tofu tastes. I’m in San Diego too, near the coast, so with June Gloom it did take awhile. I was a little tentative to try it because of it sitting out for almost three days, but it tastes great. I’m going to try the falafel sliders in Chloe Coscarelli’s new book. I think it’ll be perfect with them. Thanks so much!
p.s. I have it in the fridge now. How long do you think it’ll keep?
Thanks Janet! It keeps for about five days, although you have to watch for mold growth. In that case, just scrape that part off, just like you would with cheese. Are you making a tahini sauce for the falafel or using this in the falafel? Keep me posted!
[…] always up for trying new vegan cheese recipes. I met the bloggers at Rau Om through my counter-top tofu cheese post. They told me about their experiments in making tofu misozuke, a Japanese delicacy […]
[…] oz/1/4 C. (80 g) tofu misozuke or countertop tofu cheese* 1/2 C. (125 ml) soy milk* 2 t. (10 ml) apple cider vinegar 1/4 C. (60 ml) lemon juice 1 t. (2 g) […]
[…] If you think you might be interested, here are five recipes I’ve made using the TofuXpress: Crispy tofu sticks with barbeque dipping sauce Vegan hot wings with home-made ranch dressing Spicy tofu satay Asian rice bowl salad Home-made tofu cheese […]
[…] learning how to make tofu “cheese” from Jeff Smith, a local musician and long-time vegan, I learned that his wife Sally makes a vegan […]
Hi there, I have a question about this recipe. Can the container only be covered with wax paper or is it okay to use other things?
Thanks!
Hi Mimi, you could use parchment paper or a paper towel. Waxed paper is good because it doesn’t stick and you can easily wipe it clean. You could use a clean kitchen towel as well. The important thing is that you want it to be able to breathe, as the air circulation and oxygen feed the fermentation process. You don’t want to seal it up, and it gets dried out fairly quickly if it’s uncovered. Let me know if this answered your question and thanks for reading!
Yes, thank you so much! I made this last week and it turned out wonderful! :)
Yay! Thanks for letting me know. :)
[…] our house, when my husband slathers red miso on the tofu and begins the process of making tofu cheese, it’s the beginning of a string of favorite meals! The tofu cheese itself is a fermented […]
We love miso cured tofu (tofu misozuke in Japanese). Pickling things in miso is common enough in Japan, but at least 1 village there figured out that pickling tofu in miso for 2 months to 2 years will result in an exceptionally creamy product, with a texture like a ripe soft blue cheese. We had this variant of tofu misozuke at a sake bar in Japan (it takes to wine just like a good cheese would) and have been working on reproducing that ever since:
http://www.rauom.com/blog/tag/tofu-misozuke/
Wow, thanks so much for the link! I am just now getting introduced to fermentation processes, so this is really fun to discover. I’ll make sure that Jeff (the friend who started me on this path) gets your link as well. Please visit often.
Thanks, Stephanie! Sally had posted a blog about making tacos with these, but I wasn’t sure how to make this essential ingredient. Your photos are helpful, and so pretty. Love that blue-y effect. Can’t wait to try ~ Laura
Laura, you are so welcome. Please come back and report on how your “cheese” turns out, and if you have any other ways of using it.