When I went vegan, I figured that cream cheese was just gonna be one of those things I lived without. I tried a couple of store brands, including Tofutti (umm, tastes like tofu to me), and Daiya (so chalky I can’t even get it down!), and Trader Joe’s Brand (I can’t remember why I hated that one, so I guess I blocked it from my memory). In short, commercial vegan cream cheese substitutes just do not do it for me. Nor did blending cashews with lemon juice. I mean, that tasted good, but it didn’t have that hip tang. I gave up for a while. Years, actually. I put hummus on my bagels and soyrizo in my jalapeno poppers. Then one day, I discovered that you can make easy cultured cashew cream cheese with nothing but nondairy yogurt and cashews. WTF? Was it seriously that easy this entire time?
Yes. Yes it was. It sure freaking was. I have wasted no time playing catch-up on all of the cream cheese I missed out on eating during those dark days. This stuff is so superior to anything else I’ve tried. It’s sublime. Not only is it delicious vegan cream cheese… it just IS cream cheese. It takes exactly the same as the cow-derived variety, with none of the cruelty or digestive sadness. One of my good friends eats dairy foods. I fed him this stuff and he was even more excited than I am. He asked me for the recipe and now slathers it on his bagels too. I may not have turned him vegan yet, but I’m pretty sure there’s one more happy cow out there thanks to this amazing vegan cultured cashew cream cheese.
I’m a little intimidated by fermented foods. I took a few stabs at making rejuvelac for the Artisan Vegan Cheese recipes, and it didn’t work so well for me. Beyond that, the process made me incredibly nervous. So take it from someone who is far from a whiz with culturing and fermenting things: this cashew cream cheese is extremely easy to make. And unlike rejuvelac, you will already know what the end product is supposed to smell and taste like! You know what yogurt is like, and you probably know what dairy cream cheese is like. You’ll be fine! If you’re nervous, start with a half batch (assuming your blender is small enough that it can blend that volume of ingredients smoothly).
Here is the super simple recipe! (Pictured on homemade bagels). Finally a vegan cream cheese that doesn’t taste weird or have a bunch of funky ingredients. Just cashew cream and a little patience :).
Simple Cultured Cashew Cream Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 cups raw cashews soaked overnight in filtered water (raw macadamia nuts also work - but will take a lot longer to blend)
- 2 tbsp plain, unsweetened non-dairy yogurt (see notes)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt (plus more to taste)
- filtered water as needed to blend
Instructions
- Prepare a clean and dry glass or other nonreactive container. I use a Pyrex container. It may not be strictly required, but it's best to sterilize all of your equipment with boiling water before getting started.
- Drain the liquid off of the soaked cashews. Add them to a blender or food processor and blend until completely smooth. If you aren't used a high-powered blender, it will take several minutes for the cashews to break down and release oils in order to become a smooth mixture. Stop to scrape down the sides as needed; you can also add filtered water a tablespoon at a time if you're having trouble blending.
- Note: if your blender has warmed the mixture very much, it's best to take a break now and wait for it to cool down (we don't want to kill the yogurt cultures with heat). Then, add the yogurt and salt and pulse to combine.
- Transfer to the clean container and cover. Let sit out at room temperature for 24 hours. Use a clean utensil to taste the mixture, and add more sea salt to taste; let it culture for another 12-24 hours if you want a stronger tang.
- Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 weeks. (Note: length of storage time may depend on the culturing conditions and brand of yogurt used).
- (Optional step) This recipe makes cultured cashew cream cheese with a texture more like "whipped" dairy cream cheese. For a firmer texture like block cream cheese, press out the liquid using cheesecloth.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe source: Miyoko Schinner via Your Vegan Mom
Other troubleshooting:
The cultured cashew cream cheese won’t actually culture at all: The ambient temperature in your kitchen may be too cool. Try moving the mixture to a warmer location, or adding a bit more yogurt.
The cashews won’t get smooth: You really do need to soak them overnight first, and use RAW cashews. And have patience: it can seem like all they’re doing for 5 minutes is getting grainy, but keep blending and they will eventually start to release their oils and get smooth. It’s basically the same chemistry as making nut butter.
The mixture doesn’t taste like anything, not even yogurt. More salt! This definitely needs plenty of salt to bring out the flavor.
Zach says
Hello! A couple of questions because it’s not clear in the directions…
1. Do these need to be soaked at room temperature or in the fridge?
2. In the directions you said you drained the cashews before blending, but in the comments you said you also rinsed. Are you suppose to drain AND rinse? And should we be rinsing with filtered water? You should update your directions to reflect whatever is true.
3. I’m assuming you combined the cashews, yogurt, and water before processing?
4. Disinfect, sanitize, and sterilize mean very different things. I’d double check your language just make sure you’re using the correct terms because it can make a huge difference in the process and different information will come up if someone is unable to boil their equipment like you.
My apartment is quite warm right now since it’s Summer and I don’t have AC in every room. I’m worried that it’s too hot and not going to work for me. I’m worried that soaking them at room temperature allowed too much bad bacteria to foster on the raw cashews. They SEEMED fine when I opened them this morning…but I guess I’ll find out. I’m hoping that it just culture’s faster because of the warm weather. I’ll check tonight after work. I sterilized every piece of equipment in a Clorox solution that is recommended for dishes.
Thanks for the recipe! Crossing my fingers on this!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Zach. Drain them, and rinse them in filtered water. I processed the ingredients together with each other. Culturing can definitely take more or less time depending on the ambient temperature, and that includes this recipe. I don’t pretend to be an expert on the science or safety of culturing and am only providing a cultured recipe template here, so I would expect results to vary depending on the individual circumstance, but I do hope it turns out well for you.
Laura says
I made this cream cheese with both macademia nuts and cashews to see how they faired. Macademia nuts definitely got tangier faster, maybe I put a tad too much yogurt in that one. Either way the cashews worked well, even with my terrible blended. (I knew I wouldnt be able to get it perfectly smooth)
I DID make this for cheesecake and can confirm it works with both nuts.With a little tapioca starch it formed right up into a good texture I made the macademia nut one into dark chocolate to cover some of the yogurt taste which hide it well. I made them sugar free with stevia, a good bit of vanilla and lemon juice and it was very tasty. I think if I had gone with real sugar where I could add enough to get it really sweet without that stevia taste it would have been nearly indistinguishable from real cheesecake! Thanks for the recipe and getting me brave enough to ferment my own food 🙂
Christi says
It’s not vegan if your using yogurt ,you might as well just have the real cream cheese🤔 confused.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
The recipe very explicitly states to use non-dairy yogurt. This is also mentioned multiple times throughout the overall post.
Karen says
I have spent more time than I care to admit attempting to find where/who sells/how to buy So Delicious Plain Unsweetened Cultured Coconut Milk as an ingredient for your Vegan Cream Cheese recipe. Each and every attempt has concluded with “this site can’t be reached.”
I am frustrated, and to cite the colloquial, I am fed up. PLEASE provide a solution.
Laura says
Sprouts and whole foods carry it by me
Carolyn says
You’re actually looking for So Delicious Plain Unsweetened Cultured Coconut Milk Yogurt. It’s a non dairy yogurt. I hope this helps.
Gutiere says
How long does it take to blend with Vitamix or Blentec and on what program/speed?
Thanks!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I’m not familiar with the specific settings of Vitamix and Blendtec, but with a high-powered blender it shouldn’t take more than 2 or 3 minutes of blending.
Teresa says
My husband happened to buy me the exact yogurt you recommended, so I was able to give this a try! (Plain unsweetened vegan yogurt can be so hard to find)
I tasted it after 24 hours and it wasn’t quite ready, but I could tell it had gotten a little of that cheesy tang, so I left it another 8 hours and it was perfect! I am so addicted to this cream cheese. I put the Everything Bagel Sprinkle mix from Trader Joe’s on it with some sprouted bread and it’s delicious.
I was getting tired of having peanut butter and jelly every day for breakfast, so now I’m basically eating home-made cashew butter instead and I have fresh fruit with it. I’m going to keep making this from now on, it’s fun to do. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Brittany says
Hi Shannon! I have a couple questions for you. I just left the cheese to ferment but it isn’t white, and I had to blend it for over 30 minutes to get it to be “smooth”. Even at that point it still didn’t look like cashew “butter”. I absolutely used raw nuts from the bulk bin at Good Earth, and soaked overnight. I probably added about 4TBS of filtered water. My ninja blender got really hot and there was steam!
Can you point me in the right direction? I’d really appreciate a video of your process- there’s quite a few videos of people making cashew butter but they don’t soak the nuts and often they add oil :/
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Wow, this sounds very unusual! It usually takes closer to 5 minutes of blending for me, but I’m not totally sure what went wrong.
Soaking the cashews and then rinsing them well and discarding the soaking water usually ought to lead to a pale white color once water is added.
I am really hoping to make a video for this (and many others) recipe soon, your request has been noted!
This recipe can definitely be finicky for some people because culturing is such a delicate process and cashews can vary a lot on age and quality. I’m really sorry you had a difficult experience with it. Hoping to keep making it more ironclad over time!
Leah says
Hi Brittany! I also made this in a small blender (ninja sized but definitely no ninja-like capabilities) and I just wanted to suggest making sure you’re scraping the sides and clearing around the blades every time it looks like it’s not spinning correctly. It took me a while to get it creamy, but only because at the beginning of the blending process, I couldn’t let it run more than 5-10 seconds before having to take it out, shake it up, and go again because the blades were just spinning without blending. If your ninja got hot and to the point where it was steaming, it sounds like you let it run too long without stopping to shake it, scrape the sides, clear around the blades, add a bit of water, etc.
I only let it run longer than 3-5 seconds if I can visibly see the mixture inside rotating like a smoothie would.
Carly Butler says
Can you strain it in a cheese cloth after culturing ? I made it but want it to be thicker
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Yes that does work.
Natalie Savoie says
Hi!
when you say ”cover it” do you mean in an airtight container or with cheese cloth?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
It doesn’t have to be necessarily completely airtight but should be a cover that prevents any ambient debris from getting in. Several layers of cheesecloth should work. But a lid is also fine 🙂
Stephany says
Hey Shannon!
I know this kind of defeats the purpose but I couldn’t find any non flavored unsweetened vegan yogurt of any kind. Three grocery stores later, I just bought the dairy yogurt. Besides eliminating the vegan factor, do you think this would produce similar results?
Thank you!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I think it ought to work similarly yes.
Susan says
This never got “tangy”. I also suspect it upset my gut. So, not tasty and made me feel unwell – I won’t make it again.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Sorry to hear about your experience Susan, the culturing process can be a finicky and it sounds like some bad bacteria may have gotten in. I definitely don’t recommend eating it if there is an “off” taste.
Courtney says
Sorry is this has been answered, i can’t look through all of the comments. I have probiotic powder that I use to make coconut milk yogurt. Would that work instead of yogurt? Thanks!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hey Courtney! I have every reason to believe that this will work as a substitution. However, I don’t know what to recommend in terms of quantity. Definitely let me know if you try it.
Robert Bonner says
This is a great recipe! I just tried it this week. I made one batch direct from the recipe and one with roasted garlic and chives. I served one with fresh chives and one with fresh bruschetta, both on sea salt triscuits…wow!
Karen says
If I wanted to flavor this with lemon and jalapeno, should I add the lemon and jalapeno before or after the ferment process_
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
After!
Keith says
I made this recipe once and it turned out fine…this time it ended up with pink specs all over the top. Should I dump and start over? I just read your comments about Trader Joes cashews, that’s what I used.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Yes, pink specs is a telltale sign that bad bacteria has gotten in there. I definitely wouldn’t eat it. I’ve found that this can also happen if I use old yogurt. Sorry to hear that happened.
Kristen says
Just an FYI-the first ad that popped up here was for bacon 😐. Thought you’d like to know. And I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Kristen, thanks for letting me know! Yeah, that does happen from time to time. I do not have control over individual ads on the site, unfortunately. A mixture of factors determine which ads appear to each visitor. I try to exclude specific non-vegan brands when I see them but it’s not possible for me to stop all of them from slipping through.
Paige says
Something went very wrong. I put my cashews in filtered water overnight, but I didn’t have time in the morning to blend them up so I left them soaking all day. I wonder if this is where I went wrong.
I also blended them for a good 15 minutes because it seemed like it was still grainy. I finally put everything together in my container and what I have now smells and tastes just like raw dough. It’s a tan color, and has that yeasty, salty dough smell. It’s also expanded quite a bit. This is most definitely not cream cheese. I used raw cashew pieces from WinCo’s bulk bins.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Paige – yes, it does sound like something went wrong. It sounds like bad bacteria contaminated your culture somehow. Unfortunately it’s a bit hard for me to troubleshoot this with you but usually if this has happened to me it was when I didn’t sterilize my container meticulously. I’m sorry that you didn’t have a good experience with this, culturing can definitely be tricky.
Rachelle says
Also want to add that I just made the best Alfredo sauce with some of the cashew cream/coconut yogurt mixture (I took some out before culturing it). Warmed it slightly in a sauce pan and added in nutritional yeast, a little unsweetened coconut milk, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika and..wow! Tastes exactly like dairy Alfredo sauce! A-mazing! 👌
Rachelle says
Thanks for the recipe! I’m excited to see how it turns out. I’m missing cream cheese on my bagel and all of the dairy free store bought ones don’t taste anything like the real thing! I’m making a little less than 1/2 recipe. Does that mean it’ll take less time to culture or would you still recommend 24 hrs?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hey Rachelle! you should still culture for the full period of time even if not making a full batch.
Ashley Pellizzaro says
Hi! This looks great! Can I use natural coconut yogurt?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Absolutely!
Deborah says
Hi,
For the culturing step, do you put towel over to cover or something more air tight?
Have you used this to bake with? I wanted to make vegan cream cheese cup cakes..
Thanks
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Deborah, yes this does work for baking! If your recipe is very delicate you may want to use the strained version of this for best results. Any cover that keeps out ambient bacteria is fine. I loosely cover mine in a clean glass tupperware using the lid.
Pam says
Where do I find the ingredients for the cashew cream cheese?
I live in a town so small . . .
Tell me where I can get this stuff & I’ll drive to the store.
I’ll order through internet, if I have to.
Prefer a brick & mortar location.
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Pam, so for the raw cashews, you have several options, they may be in the bulk bin at some natural market in your area that you can drive to, if there is such a thing, but are unlikely to be found at a regular supermarket in small towns. You can order them online (Amazon, or Nuts.com which I recommend).
For the yogurt, there’s a chance a natural grocer might have it but it can be tough to find unsweetened and unflavored vegan yogurt. You could also purchase a yogurt starter or probiotics online to use for this. However I give the disclaimer that I have not tested this recipe using anything other than actual yogurt. Other commenters may have experimented with probiotics but I don’t have a clear picture yet of how well it works.
I’m sorry that this is creating a difficulty. I know that some of these ingredients are tough to find in certain areas and so I try my best to share a variety of recipes here, some made with more everyday ingredients.
Lydia says
Hey,
Weird question but I made this yesterday and followed the directions. I put it in a mason jar with the lid on. When I opened it it kinda popped and the contents are very fluffy. The taste is interesting, definitely tangy. The lid popping is that normal?
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Lydia! Yes, the fermentation process does create air bubbles which may have been released when opened if you were culturing in an airtight container. I usually cover my container loosely so this hasn’t happened to me but it sounds reasonable. As long as it doesn’t taste “off” then you should be safe.
teresa martin says
This is very very good!! And very easy to make. No coconut – Yeah!
teresa martin says
This recipe is awesome. I tried another one that was instant (not cultured) and did not even come close to this. I love this recipe.
Tamara says
Hi Shannon, recipe looks great and simple. How much does this yield? Thanks! (I hope you’re enjoying vegan restaurant week in Bmore! )
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Tamara! Volume-wise this makes approximately 2 cups, depending on how much filtered water you end up adding.
Vegan restaurant week is happening at home in Baltimore but I’m in vegan heaven Portland, Oregon for work travel! I think there’s some kind of irony there. I hope the event is a big success though, and that you’ve been enjoying it if you attended!
Romina says
Thank you, thank you, thank you so much! I’ve tried so many vegan cheese recipes and this is the first one my 3 year old will eat. Super easy to make!
Heidi says
Do you put cheese cloth or a lid on while it ferments?
Thanks!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
I loosely cover mine with a lid.
DEE says
Hi I have read both loosely covered and tightly covered with a lid whilst culturing. Can you please clarify 😀
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Oh my, I can see how my past responses are confusing 😀
I use a lid that is designed to cover the container tightly, but I position the lid slightly loose so that a little bit of air can escape. Hope this helps.
Taryn says
AMAZING! Too good, and too simple 😀 The first time I made it, it was delicious but took forever because I made used a regular blender. The second time, I used an immersion hand blender- far faster and more wieldy, for anyone experiencing the same issue. 🙂
Caitlin says
Hi! I currently have this in the instant pot on yogurt setting. However, it just occurred to me to ask if this would be safe to eat while pregnant? I am 25 weeks and really craving a bagel and cream cheese. I do t care for any of the store bought options and was looking forward to eating this in the morning!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
Hi Caitlin! Gosh, I really don’t know the answer to this question although I wish I did. Perhaps I’ll have to learn it eventually :). Are fermented and cultured foods considered safe for pregnancy in general?
Next time I make this I’ll make a not-cultured version and add some other tangy ingredients to give a “cultured” flavor without having to keep it out at room temp. I’ll post that variation here when I do.