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Thick and creamy vegan cashew cream cheese made with a handful of simple ingredients. Easy to make and so delicious!
Does anyone else have a weakness for bagels and cream cheese? When I was pregnant with Em, bagels and cream cheese were one of my favorite foods to eat! Especially in the first trimester when I couldn’t stomach anything.
I LOVE a good toasted bagel with cream cheese but I remember being tired and pregnant, sitting at my work desk too nauseous to care about anything, eating the bagels straight from the bag and just dipping them into the cream cheese container. How glamorous!
We were traveling recently and stopped at a bagel shop to grab a quick breakfast. The bagel shop only had a few vegan options on the whole menu, one of them being a “vegan spread” for the bagels. It wasn’t a cream cheese, more like a garlicky nut spread. It was good but I immediately knew as soon as we got home, I wanted to work on a vegan cream cheese recipe. I am so glad I did, because we can’t stop eating this and my husband said this is his favorite cream cheese! And he’s NOT vegan so there ya have it! Dairy-eater approved 😉
Key Ingredients
Raw Cashews- The star of the show, of course! You want to make sure the cashews you are using are raw, not roasted.
Coconut Cream- the addition of coconut cream helps make this vegan cashew cream cheese thick and creamy!
Lemon Juice and White Distilled Vinegar: The combination of these two gives the cream cheese that perfect tang.
This keeps really well in the fridge for several days and gets creamier and thicker the longer it sits in the fridge.
FOR CINNAMON SUGAR VERSION:
Follow recipe as written except omit the onion powder and green onions, and add in 2 tbsp coconut sugar and 2 tsp ground cinnamon!
I hope you enjoy this vegan cashew cream cheese!
If you make this recipe, please leave a rating and comment below and don’t forget to take a photo and tag @wholesome.crumbs on Instagram!
Vegan Cashew Cream Cheese [GF, Oil-Free]
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 & 1/2 cups raw cashews
- 3 tbsp coconut cream canned unsweetened full-fat coconut milk, use the cream on top!
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp distilled white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp + 1/8 tsp salt plus more to taste if desired . I use Himalayan pink salt
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 3 or 4 tbsp chopped green onion or desired amount
Instructions
- First, boil your cashews. Add cashews and enough water to cover them to a pot. Cover with the lid, turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium, tilt the lid and boil for 20 minutes.
- Once the cashews are done boiling, add them to a colander to drain. Rinse and set aside to cool.
- Next, add all of your ingredients, MINUS the chopped green onions, to the food processor and pulse until smooth and creamy. Taste test and adjust vinegar if you want more tang (just be sure to add very small amounts SLOWLY).
- Once you are happy with the taste and consistency, add chopped green onions to the food processor and pulse OR simply stir them in.
- This will be warm, so I recommend refrigerating it for at least an hour before using as it will taste best when cold. This will get more creamy and thick as it sits in the fridge. Store the cream cheese covered in the fridge. Enjoy!
Notes
- The recipe as written provides a nice tang, but adjust vinegar to your liking if you like a stronger tang.
- FOR CINNAMON SUGAR VERSION: follow recipe as written except omit the onion powder and green onions, and add in 2 tbsp coconut sugar and 2 tsp ground cinnamon
I need this for my husband as he is addicted to desserts that need cream cheese.
I love this recipe. This cream cheese is extremely creamy. It reminds me of Miyoko’s cream cheese but is so much better!
Yay! Thank you so much, Cecilia! 🙂