2 Broke Vegans

I used to love melting some vegan pepper Jack cheese on a black bean burger back home, however, to my knowledge vegan pepper Jack cheese is not available here in Europe. So, I decided to make a vegan pepper Jack cheese of my own recently. I made one I was pretty satisfied with! After making it a few times though, I got a crazy idea to take it one step further after Boutique Vegan sent us this BBQ sauce. A whole new recipe was born: vegan pepper Jake cheese! Vegan pepper Jake cheese is mildly spicy with a hint of sweet and tangy underlying the obviously “cheesy” tone. Not only is this recipe quick and easy but it is another installment in our budget recipes category.

Ingredients to make 4 cups or 940 ml of vegan pepper Jake cheese:

1 cup (200 grams or 7 oz) of dried chickpeas which is equal to 2 1/2 cups or 480 grams/17 oz of boiled or canned chickpeas/garbanzo beans. COST: 1.12€/$1.25 for organic/bio or 1.04€/$1.16 for non-organic.
2 Tablespoons of lemon juice. COST: 0.20€/$0.22 for 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. COST: 0.01€/$0.01
2 teaspoons of sea salt. COST: 0.03€/$0.04
35 grams (1.2 oz) of a red pepper (about 1/2 a red pepper). COST: 0.15€/$0.17 for 1/2 of an organic red pepper
15 grams (0.5 oz) or 1/8 cup of jalapeño peppers*. COST: 0.28€/$0.31
1/4 teaspoon of assorted whole peppercorns or dash of cayenne pepper. COST: 0.01€/$0.01
1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder or 1/2 of a garlic clove. COST: 0.03€/$0.04
4 Tablespoons of olive oil. COST: 0.45€/$0.50
4 Tablespoons of nutritional yeast. COST: 0.22€/$0.25
1/4 cup (60 ml) of barbecue sauce (click here for recipe). COST: 0.72€/$0.80
1 1/4 cup (300 ml) of water. COST: 0.01€/$0.01

*You can either dice the jalapeño peppers to stir them into the finished vegan cheese or add them into the blender.

Total cost for 980 grams/34 oz of this vegan cheese is 3.23€ or $3.61. Keep in mind our prices include taxes here in Greece and the U.S. Dollar amount is a conversion of that amount based on today’s exchange rate.

Instructions:

Boil the chickpeas for 30 – 45 minutes. Strain excess water from the boiled chickpeas when done.
Add all the ingredients (except the jalapeño peppers if you diced them) plus the boiled chickpeas into a food processor or high powered blender. I removed the green top and seeds from the red pepper before adding it.
Blend or process until mixture is as smooth as possible.
Serve and enjoy!

This vegan cheese makes a great dip, spread, topping on vegan burgers or baked potatoes or even a great pepper filling as a snack!