Easy Cashew Cream

Cashew cream is a fantastic dairy-free cream sauce that you can use in 100 different ways. We love it as an alternative to traditional sour cream, cream cheese, heavy cream, milk, yogurt, and more.

I’m always blown away by the versatility of cashew cream, and I think once you make it yourself, you’ll be spooning and stirring it into so many dishes. We love it as the base for homemade vegan queso and dairy-free Alfredo sauce, the creamy layer for lasagnas, and even for making mac and cheese.

Our family loves cashews, and while we are not 100% plant-based, we all can get behind this cashew cream recipe.

Key Ingredients

• Cashews: We use raw cashews (not roasted) for this recipe. Whole cashews or broken cashew pieces are both great (I love checking the bulk aisle to see if the store sells broken cashew nuts for a discounted price). I do not soak my cashews when making this recipe. Soaking nuts makes them easier to blend and might help make the nutrients more available. There’s no downside other than the extra step, so feel free to soak them if you prefer.
• Water: Without any liquid, your cashews will blend into cashew butter instead of a creamy “sauce-like” cream. I use hot water, but you can use non-dairy milk as a substitute.
• Lemon Juice and Salt: Most often, I use cashew cream for savory dishes, so I like adding a spritz of lemon and seasoning with salt. If you plan to use it for a sweet cream (see variation below), you may not need this.
• Optional: Once you have the base, you have a lot of leeway with other ingredients. Nutritional yeast adds a cheesy quality, herbs add freshness, garlic or spices add punch, and you can even take it to a more sweet place with a sweetener and cinnamon or baking spices. I’ve shared a few our our family’s favorite variations below to give you some ideas.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Cashew Cream

Tip 1: Soaking is optional. As mentioned, we do not soak our cashews before blending. Since we have a high-powered blender (most blenders are these days), soaking the cashews isn’t necessary. That doesn’t mean that soaking the nuts is a bad idea. Soaking cashews before blending is suggested for two main reasons:

1. To soften the nuts, making them easier to blend into a smooth and creamy sauce
2. To break down the outsides of the nuts for easier digestion

With our blender, cashews quickly turn into a smooth sauce — you can see this in action in our video for this vegan queso (which uses cashew cream as the base). My guess is that your blender will do the same, but know that if you are concerned, you can always soak the cashews first. We added instructions in the recipe below.

Tip 2: Use a 2:1 ratio of nuts to liquid. For a creamy, sour cream-like consistency, use 2 parts cashews to 1 part liquid (in our case, that’s hot water). Feel free to change the ratio depending on how thick you’d like the cream. More water makes it thinner and more drizzly, while less makes it much thicker and scoopable.

Tip 3: Blend on high. Once your cashews and liquid are in the blender, hit blend and let it go, stopping to scrape down the sides a time or two until the nuts turn into a smooth cream.

Since you’ll be blending hot water, remember to remove the blender lid insert and cover the hole with a dishtowel. This will allow steam to escape and prevent too much pressure from building inside the blender. (I learned this the hard way in culinary school when I blended a hot soup without removing the lid insert. The blender pretty much exploded, and soup was everywhere!)

Tip 4: Season to taste. Once you have a smooth cream, you can season it however you like. For our basic recipe, that means a spritz of lemon juice and a pinch of salt, but I have shared a few variations below.

How to Soak Cashews

Remember, soaking is optional; however, if you’ve decided to soak your cashews before making cashew cream, you’ll need to follow one of these methods:

1. Quick-soak method: Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, turn off the heat, then add the cashews. Allow the nuts to soak for 30 minutes, drain, and then use.
2. Overnight soaking method: Add cashews to a bowl of water and soak for 6 to 8 hours. Drain, then use in the recipe. Be careful with this method since cashews soaked for too long can take on an unpleasant flavor. Changing the water after a few hours can help.

How to Use Cashew Cream

Cashew cream is such a versatile dairy-free alternative. As you can see from the photos, its texture is very similar to dairy. Depending on how much water you use when blending the cashews, you can achieve a consistency that mimics milk, heavy cream, and even sour cream. Here are some of our favorite ways to use it, although I’m sure there’s more. Remember, cashew cream can be substituted for almost any dairy in almost any recipe!

• Instead of sour cream, use cashew cream to top baked potatoes, chili, soups, or tacos. I especially love a dollop on top of vegetarian chili.
• Make vegan queso! Everyone we’ve served it to immediately wants the recipe.
• Use it to make lasagna. Instead of ricotta, use cashew cream. Try it in our vegetable lasagna.
• Add it to your coffee or tea. It’s delicious when added to cold brew coffee!
• Drizzle over salads, pizza, or spread onto sandwiches.
• Enjoy with fresh berries and muesli, just as you would with yogurt.
• Stir into soups to make them creamier. I love it as an alternative to cream in this creamy veggie soup.

Our Favorite Variations

• Spiced Chili Cream: Blend in 2 to 3 teaspoons of chili powder or taco seasoning, and substitute the lemon for lime juice. Use our homemade chili powder or this homemade taco seasoning.
• Creamy Ranch: Blend in a bit more lemon juice for tang, along with a handful of fresh dill, parsley, and chives, and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon each of onion powder and garlic powder.
• Green Goddess Dressing: Blend in a garlic clove, some extra lemon juice, and a cup of fresh green herbs. I like to use as many as I can get my hands on and love parsley, cilantro, basil, mint, and tarragon.
• Vanilla Cinnamon Cream: Blend in 1/2 to 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Then, sweeten to taste with maple syrup.