Are you dairy-free? If you are or you ever have been, you know what I mean when I say comfort foods are the hardest thing to give up. That’s why I created a dairy-free gingerbread cookie recipe. Today, I’m sharing my cashew cream recipe.
It’s not that dairy-free eating doesn’t taste good, or that it’s extremely hard. It’s just that comfort food is nearly always creamy and fatty and delicious – and usually not dairy-free.
RELATED: Beginner’s guide to going dairy-free with kids & Dairy-free caramel sauce
If you’ve never heard of cashew cream before, I’m about to change your life.
What Is Cashew Cream?
Cashew cream is a simple, delicious, creamy quick fix for everything your dairy-free meals are lacking. It’s like a vegan heavy cream substitute.
One of the hardest parts about going dairy-free is finding delicious alternatives for comfort food.
Enter cashew cream: a simple-to-make, real food substitute for anything lacking that fatty, creamy texture you miss.
The best part is that because cashews (use the code STEWARDSHIP for 10% off at that site!) are a neutral flavor, you can add either savory or sweet ingredients to make it into a comfort food dinner or an extra creamy dairy-free dessert! Similar to heavy whipping cream – but dairy-free and vegan!
If you are dairy-free, but your meal needs that creamy, fatty texture, consider trying cashew cream!
RELATED: Sticking with a dairy-free diet long-term.
Why Make Homemade Cashew Cream?
When I was dairy-free (on and off through several pregnancies and breastfeeding babies), we tried really hard to eat real food on a budget. This isn’t always easy with food restrictions, but it can be done!
- It’s fairly easy to substitute butter with olive oil or coconut oil.
- I don’t love drinking milk anyway, and I love the taste of almond milk, so that was no problem.
- We found the perfect baking substitutes in avocado oil, coconut oil, and palm shortening.
- Yogurt was a hard one, but as long as I had almond milk, I was okay.
- Cheese was harder. Generally speaking, I didn’t love the cost, the taste, or the ingredients lists of vegan cheese substitutes.
Cashew cream to the rescue!
With just three ingredients that you can find in nearly any grocery store, you can whip up a creamy substitute for some of your favorite comfort foods and desserts. It’s like vegan whipping cream, but when you add it to pasta and dips, it becomes this creamy, cheesy substitute that is just delightful.
I use it instead of cream cheese in pasta dishes, instead of heavy cream in creamed spinach; you can even use it on dairy-free pizza!
I’m not saying it will fool your family into thinking there is cheese in your food. However, if you are dairy-free anyway, it might be exactly what you need.
You can also try it in the dessert dips below!
Homemade Cashew Cream Is:
- Easy to make (like, so easy.)
- Delicious
- Real Food
- Dairy-free
- Lactose-free
- Egg-free
- Dairy-free
- Vegan
- Grain-free
- Oil-free
RELATED: 20-Minute Plant-Based Dinners
Use Homemade Cashew Cream in Recipes Like These:
A quick internet search will give you a ton of recipes using cashew cream, but here are some ways to use it:
- In dips like this ranch dressing (instead of the classic mayo and sour cream mixture)
- Italian something-or-other
- Stir into spaghetti sauce for a creamy pasta
- In creamed spinach
- Spinach dip
- You can also use it to make oil-free salad dressings and toppings for rice bowls.
- Sriracha Cashew Aoili
- Cilantro lime Cashew cream for tacos
Creamy Vegan Taco Sauce
- 1/3 cup cashew cream
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon each: garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Stir together in a bowl and drizzle on nachos and tacos.
Cashew Cream Dessert Dip for Fruit
- 1 cup cashew cream
- A drizzle of maple syrup, to taste
- A tiny bit of vanilla extract (highly quality tastes even better)
- Pinch of sea salt
Stir everything together, let the flavors meld in the fridge for a few hours, then serve with cut fruit or little cookies (lots of suggestions in this post).
Alternatively, if you know you’re going to use the cashew cream for a dessert dip, blend it with 3 large pitted Medjool dates and omit the maple syrup.
Chocolate Cashew Cream Dessert Dip
- 1 cup cashew cream
- A drizzle of maple syrup, to taste
- A tiny bit of vanilla extract (highly quality is better)
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder (highly quality is better)
- Pinch of sea salt
Try it with chocolate chips!
Stir everything together, let the flavors meld in the fridge for a few hours, then serve with cut fruit or little cookies (lots of suggestions in this post). Or eat it with a spoon, because it tastes like chocolate pudding. 😀
More Dairy-Free Recipes from Steph:
- Pumpkin Oatmeal
- Chocolate Dessert Hummus
- Turmeric Lentil Soup
- Egg-free Brownies (with no weird ingredients!)
- Cajun Sausage Beans & Rice
- Dairy-Free Frosted Sugar Cookies
- Blended Greek Dressing (our favorite dressing – simple ingredients, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, Whole30, vegan)
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Gluten-free, Dairy-free Lasagna
Homemade Cashew Cream Recipe
- Prep Time: 12 hours
- Total Time: 12 hours
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Blend
- Diet: Vegan
Description
A creamy dairy-free and vegan substitute for whipping cream that you can use in savory dips, creamy pasta, pudding-like desserts, and more!
Ingredients
- 1 c. cashews (preferably raw)
- 1/3 c. almond milk, broth, or water
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt (Use the code kitchenstewardship for 15% off of your first purchase), to taste
Instructions
- Soak cashews overnight in water.
- If you’re short on time, you can boil the water first, then soak them for only 1 hour.
- Drain the cashews and pour them into a blender with the liquid and salt.
- Blend for a few minutes until smooth and creamy.
- Use cashew cream in pasta, savory dips, oil-free salad dressing, and dessert dips!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 cup
- Calories: 243
- Sugar: 2 g
- Sodium: 156 mg
- Fat: 20 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 12 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 6 g
Keywords: creamy, smooth
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Cashew cream is such a delicious real food alternative to so many dairy products, I wish I had known about it in the years that I was dairy-free. I hope this recipe helps you eat real food and enjoy your dairy-free meals even more.
Sounds delicious! Can I use coconut milk instead of almond milk?