A SUPER EASY vegan cream cheese recipe you can make at home!
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The Best Vegan Cream Cheese Recipe
Oil Free
Paleo
4 Ingredients
Keto Option
Soy Free – NO Tofu!
Spread it over bagels, muffins, or this Healthy Banana Bread.
While regular dairy cream cheese contains close to 30% of the RDA for saturated fat in just 2 tbsp, this version has less than half that amount (plus more protein!), so it’s a great option for both vegans and omnivores who want to lower the amount of saturated fat they consume in general.
How To Use Cashew Cream Cheese
I’ve also been using it in recipes that call for regular cream cheese, and so far it’s worked in everything I’ve tried – including this Vegan Cheesecake Recipe!
And while it definitely doesn’t taste exactly like Philadelphia cream cheese (and isn’t supposed to), you can use it in many of the same ways as you would regular cream cheese.
Try it plain, or I’ve also listed three variations of the basic recipe below… because why eat plain cream cheese when you can have strawberry!?
If you’re short on time or would prefer a dairy free cream cheese without cashews, the following brands make vegan cream cheese you can buy in stores (some of which are nut free): Trader Joes, Tofutti, Daiya, Kite Hill, Follow Your Heart, Heidi Ho, Violife, Go Veggie, and Miyoko’s.
You can find some of these at health food stores and Whole Foods, but they’re also becoming increasingly available at places like Target, Walmart, Publix, Kroger, and other regular grocery stores.
Vegan Cream Cheese Flavors
Strawberry Cream Cheese: Blend in 1/2 cup strawberries, and optional 1/8 tsp vanilla extract and sweetener of choice to taste. If desired, stir in extra diced strawberries after blending.
Everything Bagel Cream Cheese: After blending, stir in 2 tbsp Everything Bagel seasoning.
Chive & Onion Cream Cheese: Blend in 1 tsp onion powder. After blending, stir in 3-4 tbsp chopped chives.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese: Omit the water from the base recipe. Blend in 2 tsp cinnamon, 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract, sweetener of choice to taste, and 1 can pumpkin puree.
Also Try This Coconut Whipped Cream
Vegan Cream Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup raw cashews or macadamia nuts (150g)
- 1/4 cup water OR nondairy yogurt
- 1 1/2 tbsp white or cider vinegar
- salt (see note below)
Instructions
- *Salt amount will depend on your personal tastes and the flavor you’re making, as well as if you’re eating the cream cheese plain or using it as part of a cheesecake or frosting recipe. If using as a spread, I like 1 tsp, but some people will want less. Recipes for different flavors are listed earlier in this post!For smoother results, I like to soak the cashews in hot water for 2-6 hours then drain and pat dry before starting the recipe. To make the vegan cream cheese, simply blend together all ingredients, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. The longer you process, the smoother it gets. If you have a Vitamix, it should only need a few minutes, or a food processor will take around 10 minutes to become super smooth. (I haven’t tried a regular blender.) Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to a week or frozen to use at a later date.View Nutrition Facts
Notes
Ways To Use This Cream Cheese:
Pumpkin Cupcakes – with Cream Cheese Frosting
Spice Cake – With Cream Cheese Frosting
Pumpkin Swirl Cake Bread – from the Hello Breakfast ebook
Wow this looks awesome! Can’t wait to try.
I also wanted to say I am so glad I found this website. 🙂 I love baking and I’m looking to be healthier and possibly lose some weight so I am happy to have found healthier alternatives.
I would LOVE to create a Sriracha or peanut flavored cream cheese. OMG! I am freaking obsessed with vegan cream cheese in general. Anything that complements bread is just fabulous to me!
That sounds amazing!
This is going to be my breakfast tomorrow. I made the cream cheese tonight and did the strawberry version. It taste great.
I need to try it with the macadamia nuts. I have made this with cashews, and it was awesome, but I think macadamia nuts would have a fattier taste. Am I right?
I haven’t tried it with macadamias but I do love them as a sub for cashew cream in general.
Currently trying with a mix of both since it’s all I had on hand! I’ll post an update when I’m done.
I was skeptical about this recipe, but only because I had never made anything like this before. Adopting a dairy-free lifestyle is a hard challenge for me when cheese, cream, etc are some of my favorites that I have to let go. I tried the pumpkin version of this recipe and used a blender with a small food processor attachment. Blending the nuts (I did soak them) was not difficult, except I had to do it in batches because of the size of my mixer. It only took about 5 min to get everything combined and into a nice creamy cream cheese like consistency. I put in a teaspoon of monkfruit sweetener, just for a touch of sweetness. The result was delicious!! I absolutely love it and am grateful to have found this recipe. Thanks much!
Do you happen to have nutritional information?
Hi, full nutrition facts are linked right under the recipe, in the recipe box 🙂
Gosh, I’ve looked multiple times, but still can’t find it. Maybe because I’m looking on my iPhone?
That’s ok. I ran the recipe through my Weight Watchers app. The hard part was figuring out how much the recipe makes (1 cup). It has the same point as dairy cream cheese—2 points per TBSP
Thanks for trying to help.
Vegan cream cheese with chives and garlic powder.
Hmm that’s so strange! It is definitely there for me, right under the ingredients and instructions, but sorry I should have just given you the actual link right away! https://lett-trim.today/nutrition-cashew-cream-cheese/%3C/a%3E%3Cbr /> Your cream cheese photo looks delicious and so creamy 🙂
Did you use water or nondairy yogurt when you made this cream cheeses? Thank you so much for this recipe, can’t wait to try!!
Katie or at least one of her recipe testers will always have tried each option that’s listed for a recipe. Either will work here 🙂
I have a terrible time when I click on PRINT RECIPE. It prints on two sides, a couple of lines on page one and the rest on page two. I need the recipe to print on ONE side of an 8 1/2″ x 11 piece of paper; as a result of this terrible print result I am no longer looking at your recipes let alone try to print them.
i made this as a vegan “labneh” omg its so good, i did’nt use as much yoghurt to make it & used fresh herbs,za’atar & oil as per usual with labneh, so unfrekinbelievably good, even my tata (grandmother) was impressed
That sounds so amazing!
Can you add the cream cheese to a sauce for pasta? Thanks
You can!