Nightshade Free Vegan Cashew Cream Cheese
Creamy, tangy, and surprisingly rich, this cashew-based spread delivers everything you want from a classic cream cheese — without a single tomato, pepper, or potato in sight. For anyone navigating nightshade restrictions, store-bought vegan cheeses can be a minefield of paprika, spice blends, and other sneaky additions, so making your own is genuinely the smarter move. The magic here is in the soak: giving raw cashews a long bath in cold water transforms them into something silky and blendable, with a texture that firms up beautifully in the fridge. Lemon juice and apple cider vinegar bring that signature tang, while a touch of onion powder and optional nutritional yeast add savory depth without any off-limits ingredients. Refined coconut oil pulls it all together, giving the finished spread that lush, spreadable consistency you'd expect from the dairy version. Slather it on a bagel, use it as a dip, or dollop it onto crackers — it holds its shape and its flavor like a dream.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
- 1 ½ cups raw cashews
- 3 tbsp lemon juice (from about 1 large lemon)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp refined coconut oil, melted
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- 2–4 tbsp cold water, as needed
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Place the cashews in a bowl and cover with cold water by at least 2 inches. Soak for at least 4 hours at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator, until the cashews are plump and noticeably softened.
- 2
Drain and rinse the soaked cashews under cold running water.
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