This creamy cashew cream is great with absolutely everything! It’s the perfect substitute for dairy cream and can be used in a variety of dishes.
So the other night we were making some vegan chili and I wanted to serve it with some plain cashew cream.
- Because it looks nice; and
- Because it cuts some of the spiciness from the chili!
And I suddenly realized that I didn’t have any such recipe on the blog. What an oversight.
Everybody needs a recipe for a basic cashew cream. I mean there are so many uses, it’s not just to put on top of your chili!
You can fancy it up with some crushed garlic or other spices, and fresh herbs for a savory version or add sweetness for a sweet version but the straight up basic version of cashew cream is a total winner of a recipe that can be used for so many things.
So of course it was a must that I get to work putting such a recipe on the blog right away!
How to make cashew cream
This simple 4-ingredient recipe is ready in 5-minutes and is just a total breeze to prepare.
If you have a powerful blender, like a Vitamix, you don’t even have to soak the cashews first.
You just add the cashews to the blender with some water, lemon juice and salt and blend!
The lemon juice does add a tang and if you are wanting to create a perfect blank slate to replace dairy cream in a recipe, then you can leave out the lemon juice. I love using the lemon juice when I want the cashew cream to be a standalone thing that tastes great as is.
How to use cashew cream
You can use this cashew cream to replace dairy cream.
It’s wonderful to put a dollop of this on top of savory dishes like chilis, stews or soups. You can also use it in cooking.
It also makes a wonderful sauce for pasta, though you might want to consider adding in some additions, like black pepper, crushed garlic, hot sauce, nutritional yeast or fresh herbs.
This version is the basic version, the ‘classic’ version really, which is great because the flavor doesn’t clash with anything, it goes with everything!
So you can add to it as you like, or leave it as is because it’s fantastic just the way it is too.
If you want a sweet cream you can add a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup and a little vanilla extract.
Cashew Cream Q&A
Do I have to soak the cashews first? If you have a strong blender like a Vitamix then no, you don’t have to soak the cashews first. I don’t usually soak the cashews for this recipe. But if you prefer the texture of soaked cashews or if you have a blender that is a weaker model then you can soak them for 1 hour beforehand.
Add the cashews to a bowl and pour over boiling water from the kettle and leave to soak for 1 hour. Then drain them and carry on with the recipe as normal.
How do I get the cashew cream smooth? Even in a strong blender like a Vitamix (highly recommended) you need to blend it for a bit to get the smooth consistency. So it’s not a case of only blending it as long as it takes for the ingredients to combine, you need to keep blending until it’s really smooth.
So be patient, stop and scrape down the sides and then blend again. Then check the texture. When there is no graininess at all, then you know you’re done.
How long will cashew cream keep in the fridge? Up to a week in a sealed container in the fridge.
Can you freeze cashew cream? Yes you can! Freeze it and then let it thaw in the fridge overnight and then use as normal.
So I hope you will love our simple vegan cashew cream! It is:
- 4-Ingredients
- Ready in 5 minutes!
- Super easy
- Great with everything!
- So creamy and delicious!
Keep leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge and consume within around 7 days.
More things you can make with cashews!
Cashew nuts are incredible, you can make the most amazing things with cashews as the base, here are a few examples:
- Sliceable Cashew Cheese
- Cashew Cheese Sauce
- Vegan Cream Cheese
- Vegan Mozzarella
- Cashew Butter
- Cashew Milk
What do you think of this classic vegan cashew cream? Let us know in the comments and please rate the recipe too, it’s so helpful! Thank you!
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Cashew Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup Raw Cashews (150g)
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice Optional
- 1/2 cup Water (120ml)
- 1/2 tsp Salt Optional
Instructions
- Add the cashews, lemon juice (if using) water and salt (if using) to the blender jug and blend until smooth.
- The basic cream recipe is really just the cashews and water. If you want a thinner cream then use up to a 1/4 cup more water. The lemon juice and salt add a tang and a little savory flavor, though it's mild. It makes this stand out more as a standalone recipe ready to use as is. If you are really wanting just the blank slate recipe to use in another recipe or to closely match unflavored dairy cream, then start with just the cashews and water only.
Video
Notes
- You don't have to soak the cashews first unless you have a weaker model blender. If you do want/need to soak them then you can place them in a bowl, pour over boiling water from the kettle and leave to soak for one hour. They will then be very easy to blend if your blender is a weaker model.
- If you want a thinner cream you can add more water for a thinner consistency. The consistency in this recipe as written, is for a fairly thick cream which is perfect to dollop on top of various dishes or serve as a sauce with pasta.
- The lemon juice adds a slight tang to this, which I love. But if you are wanting a more bland cream to be used in a recipe, you can omit the lemon juice for more of a 'blank slate' cream that is closer to a plain dairy cream.
- Optional additions to this recipe could be: crushed garlic, apple cider vinegar (for more of a sour cream), maple syrup for a sweeter cream, nutritional yeast (for cheesy flavor), hot sauce for spiciness, the options are endless!
Thank you! I have so many recipes I want to make that call for heavy cream and this worked out beautifully!
Just made the cashew cream and used it in the vegan mushroom sauce. It was yummy!!!
Hi! I made this recipe and blended with an immersion blender. It looked great, last night. I shook it this morning and put a couple spoons into my coffee, and everything was fine until I got to the bottom of my coffee and discovered all this cashew sludge (not as gross as it sounds) at the bottom of my cup. Is this just what is to be expected since it’s made from cashews? Or should it really blend better than that? Does blending in a VitaMix really make that big of a difference in terms of consistency? Thank you in advance!
Hi Kristen, hmmm, I haven’t used this in coffee, but even plant milks can sometimes not mix super well in coffee and can cause curdling, so usually you want to add it first and then gradually add the coffee so that the plant milk comes to the temperature of the coffee and they mix well together. It could be something similar here.
YUM! Perfect in the AMAZING Vegan Mushroom Sauce recipe! (I made it without the lemon juice.)
Awesome! Thanks Theresa!
Thank you first of all for all your wonderful delicious scrumptious recipes…delicious delicious delicious!!!
So I made a sweet potato salad and I didn’t have my usual Kensington Vegan mayo I usually get from Whole Foods; so I made a half batch of this recipe and added onion powder garlic powder and mix in some dill. Sooo good!
So glad it worked out great! Thanks for sharing! So happy you like the recipes. 🙂
I added a 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast to the recipe and three cloves of garlic ! It’s delicious!
I just discovered this recipe and it is truly SIMPLE and DELICIOUS! It can be used for a wide variety of things – I use it as a dip for artichokes, drizzle on roasted veggies, salad dressing, and thin it out a bit for a creamy pasta sauce. I like to use apple cider vinegar if I don’t have lemon and other add-ins like fresh herbs, nutritional yeast, etc to make it the perfect fit with whatever I’m preparing. It’s also such a great source of WHOLE FOOD nutrients with no processed additives. Simply wonderful, thank you, Alison!
Oh, and soaking the cashews in warm water for an hour before blending makes all the creamy difference!
Awesome! Thanks so much for the great review, love all the uses for this recipe! 🙂
Would a mini food processor work?
It won’t get super smooth, it will be more grainy. But it might work. It might be a good idea to start off with just the dry nuts and process until they are very finely chopped and only then add in the other ingredients, while the machine is running if possible. And then I’ve never actually used a mini food processor so I’m not sure how much that changes things, I have only got experience with a medium sized food processor. All the best!
Can you use this cream in a soup that calls for dairy cream? Would you use equal amounts?
Hi Kim, you could, but you might want to thin it out a bit more if you’re using it that way, because dairy cream if it’s not whipped is quite runny. Cashew cream also has quite a thickening effect when added into something like a soup, so I would thin it out more and then use it in the same quantity as the dairy cream amount required. I usually use canned coconut cream to replace dairy cream in a soup, which is more of a similar consistency. All the best! 🙂
Superb sauce!