Cream Cheese And Cheddar Cheese – Made From Chickpeas

By Ariel Grossman, NoCamels March 22, 2023 2 minutes

Courtesy Nimrod Genisher / ChickP

Israeli startup ChickP has developed two new dairy-free cheeses that are made of chickpea protein powder.

The company says its cheddar cheese and cream cheese prototypes match their real counterparts in appearance and flavor, and are highly nutritious. The cream cheese formulation is made of a few simple ingredients, including its isolate, water, coconut oil, and starch.

Its patented chickpea isolate – a powder that has a 90 percent protein content, and is free of the chickpea’s natural components that can taste off – has already been used for other prototypes, like ice cream, egg-free mayonnaise, and a chickpea-based coffee creamer.

ChickP says it has been able to mimic the tangy flavor of cream cheese and cheddar cheese via fermentation with lactic bacteria, just like the traditional milk-based process.

“We insisted on applying only traditional processes for our winning cheese analogs,” said Maor Dahan, application manager.

“Our formulas contain no stabilizers or gums. We explored a range of cultures to find the strains that work best with our formula. On top of that, the synergy between the chickpea isolates and starch helped create a rich, smooth, creamy textured spread on par with real dairy cream cheese and awards hearty complete protein fulfillment.”

ChickP is also developing prototypes for other kinds of cheeses, like parmesan, mozzarella, and emmental.

ChickP’s cream cheese alternative. Courtesy Nimrod Genisher / ChickP

Liat Lachish Levy, CEO, said: “Flexitarians dominate the consumer market for dairy alternatives. They are eager to eat vegan alternatives as long as those alternatives can level up to real dairy’s sensory and nutritional attributes.

“These are precisely the gaps the industry is striving to close. While some cheese analog producers succeed on the sensory points, this often comes at the expense of the desired nutritional balance—and vice versa.”

ChickP is currently cooperating with global alternative dairy producers, as well as traditional dairy manufacturers that have begun to offer dairy-free products. It provides them with raw materials, recipes, and technical expertise.