Cashew Cream Cheese
By: Alissa - Connoisseurus Veg!
Method and Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water 4-8 hours, drained and rinsed
- 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- Stir-ins of choice, such as chives, roasted garlic, veggies, strawberries, sun-dried tomatoes, or roasted red peppers
- Place the cashews, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, and salt into the bowl of a food processor.
- Blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add a tablespoon or two of water to thin the mixture as needed.
- Taste test and add additional salt and/or lemon juice if you like.
- Add any stir-ins to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped and well blended.
- Serve immediately or store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.
TIPS FOR MAKING AWESOME VEGAN CASHEW CREAM CHEESE…
- Be patient when blending! It can take a while, especially if you don’t have a high-powered blending device. But it’s totally doable!
- In other recipes that use cashews in place of dairy I might suggest boiling the cashews if you don’t have time to soak them. I don’t recommend that here. Boiled cashews don’t blend up quite as smooth as soaked, and since this cheese is almost all cashews, the texture will be noticeable.
- I’ve had a lot of people ask me if cashew cream cheese can be substituted for dairy-based cream cheese in cheesecake recipes. The answer is maybe, but I wouldn’t risk it. You’re better off just following a recipe for vegan cheesecake. Unless you’re using a small blending device, I don’t recommend cutting down on the batch size. You might not be able to get it all to blend.
- This stuff is freezer friendly! Stick it in a sealable storage container and freeze it for up to 2 months.
Course Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword dairy-free, vegan cheese
Prep Time 10 minutes
Soak time 4 hours
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 8
Calories 99 kcal
