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.
Cashew cream is simply incredible and can be used in a variety of ways. From topping your vegan chili to adding it as the base for your favorite mashed potatoes, this recipe is so versatile and so delicious.
This is the basic version, the ‘classic’ version really, which is great because the flavor doesn’t clash with anything, it goes with everything!
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.
Ingredients You’ll Need:
Ingredient Notes
- Raw cashews – are ideal for this cashew cream. Roasted cashews would also work but they would add roasted flavor which may not be suitable, depending on how you want to use the cream.
- Water – you can be flexible with the amount of water and add more water for a thinner consistency.
- Lemon juice and salt – are both optional ingredients but make the cashew cream taste really good if you want to use it as a standalone thing.
How To Make Cashew Cream
This simple 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 and the salt. I love using the lemon juice and salt when I want the cashew cream to be a standalone thing that tastes great as is.
How To Use Cashew Cream
- Use it to replace dairy-cream.
- Put a dollop on top of savory dishes like chilis, stews or soups. You can also use it in cooking.
- Use it as a pasta sauce. Add additional flavorings like black pepper, crushed garlic, hot sauce, nutritional yeast or fresh herbs.
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup and ½-1 teaspoon of vanilla extract for a sweet cream.
Cashew Cream Q&A
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 15 minutes in hot water. Add the cashews to a bowl and pour over boiling water from the kettle and leave to soak for 15 minutes. Then drain them and carry on with the recipe as normal.
Even in a strong blender like a Vitamix (highly recommended) you need to blend it for a bit to get a smooth consistency. So it’s not a case of 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 of the blender and then blend again. Then check the texture. When there is no graininess at all, then you know you’re done.
Keep it stored in a covered container in the fridge for up to a week.
Yes you can! Freeze it and then let it thaw in the fridge overnight and then use as normal.
More Cashew Recipes
- Sliceable Cashew Cheese
- Cashew Cheese Sauce
- Vegan Cream Cheese
- Vegan Heavy Cream Substitute
- Cashew Milk
- Vegan Sour Cream
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Cashew Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup Raw Cashews (150g)
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice Optional
- ½ cup Water (120ml)
- ½ 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 ¼ 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 15 minutes, then drain and rinse and continue with the recipe.
- 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!
- This recipe was first published in April 2018. It has been updated with extra tips but the recipe itself is unchanged.
While I am not vegan, this sounds like an amazing versatile cream. I am trying to feed the family Whole Foods and healthier foods so I am thrilled about using this! Thank you!!
Thanks Kristin, hope you’ll love it when you try it! 🙂
Thanx for the recipe, Alison. Cashews are getting to be incredibly expensive here in Canada. Any tips on buying cashews at a relatively affordable price? For me, at their current price, they make great cashew recipes somewhat untenable.
Hi Ken, sorry to hear that they are getting so pricey. Slivered almonds or blanched almonds (soaked first) can also make a good non-dairy cream, though the texture is a little more coarse than with cashews.
I’ve made cashew cream for many years. I add apple jiuce instead of water, it makes the most delicious slightly sweet cream, perfect on crumble! I love all your recipes, thank you.
Oh that sounds amazing! Thanks so much for sharing!
Has anyone ever tried this with oats, or beans (what kind?) instead of cashews?
Or a mix of both?
Thank you! I have so many recipes I want to make that call for heavy cream and this worked out beautifully!
I’m wondering if I could use this as a sauce for an apple pizza (changing the salt for a good sugar and no lemon)? Any ideas ?
Sure, I think that could work great!
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!