Get two new free healthy recipes each week. Sign Up

Vegan Cream Cheese

4.99 from 62 votes

A SUPER EASY vegan cream cheese recipe you can make at home!

Vegan Cream Cheese Recipe (4 Flavors)

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.

Cashew Cream Cheese

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.

Homemade Vegan Cream Cheese Recipe

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

Easy Vegan Cream Cheese Recipe (Soy Free, Dairy Free)
Pin it now to save for laterPin Recipe

Vegan Cream Cheese

An easy vegan cream cheese recipe you can make at home, no soy required.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Yield 1 cup
5 from 62 votes

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

The recipe is great for frosting Vegan Cinnamon Rolls!
 

Have you made this recipe?

Tag @chocolatecoveredkatie on Instagram

Ways To Use This Cream Cheese:

Pumpkin Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Pumpkin Cupcakes – with Cream Cheese Frosting

vegan cheesecake

Brownie Cheesecake Recipe

unicorn cream cheese dip

Rainbow Unicorn Dip

Classic Spice Cake Recipe

Spice Cake – With Cream Cheese Frosting

homemade cheesecake

Healthy Cheesecake Recipe

One of my favorite breakfasts... from @choccoveredkt... can be frozen and reheated for an instant breakfast! Full recipe: https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/09/09/cinnamon-roll-baked-oatmeal/

Cinnamon Roll Baked Oatmeal

pumpkin cream cheese bread recipe

Pumpkin Swirl Cake Bread – from the Hello Breakfast ebook

cheesecake squares healthy

Skinny Cheesecake Bars

carrot bread

Carrot Cake Banana Bread

Published on April 1, 2019

Meet Katie

Chocolate Covered Katie is one of the top 25 food websites in America, and Katie has been 
featured on The 
Today Show, CNN, 
Fox, The 
Huffington Post, and 
ABC's 5 O’Clock News. Her favorite food is chocolate, and she believes in eating dessert every single day.

Learn more about Katie

Get Free Recipes

Don’t Miss Out On The NEW Free Healthy Recipes

Sign up below to receive exclusive & always free healthy recipes right in your inbox:

Chocolate Covered Katie The Healthy Dessert Blog Recipes

Popular Right Now

Reader Interactions

53 Comments

Leave a comment or reviewLeave a rating
  1. Oliver says

    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.

  2. Cassie Autumn Tran says

    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!

  3. Gayle says

    This is going to be my breakfast tomorrow. I made the cream cheese tonight and did the strawberry version. It taste great.

  4. Kari says

    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?

    • Nikia Edwards says

      Currently trying with a mix of both since it’s all I had on hand! I’ll post an update when I’m done.

  5. Kim says

    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!

      • Judy says

        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.

  6. Sharon says

    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!!

    • Jason Sanford says

      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 🙂

  7. Yvon says

    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.

  8. Ethan says

    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

  9. April says

    Non-Vegan here. I am currently trying to see if I can live dairy-free and was very excited to find this vegan cream cheese recipe. I made a garlic version with garlic powder and a bit of “vegan parmesan cheese” (nooch, salt, and garlic) earlier today. It was pretty tasty, but definitely not cream cheese (I know, I know, the author stated that it is not the same). I tried it as a replacement for garlic cream cheese on a french dip sandwich and I was very disappointed. I would not make this recipe again, but I want to stress that this is NOT a bad recipe. It just isn’t remotely close to real cream cheese.

    • Jason Sanford says

      Hi, if you want something that tastes more like dairy cream cheese, I’ve found that Tofutti is pretty good. Also Miyokos. (I’m not vegan either :))

  10. sue says

    Katie, just had to tell you how much I appreciate your posting. I am a vegan and so many of your recipes I have used. I love the fact that you break down the calories, etc. Makes it so much easier to point out for weight watchers also. Just wanted to let you know that when I’m looking for something, I have your website bookmarked and that’s my first and usually last stop! Keep it up!

  11. natalie says

    Wow!! Trying to make this but the AcV is WAY overpowering and nothing we add will help much-vanilla, honey powdered sugar. Help?!

    • Jason Sanford says

      I’ve never had an issue with the amount of acv, but you can easily leave it out and the texture will still be fine (I know this won’t help you for this time but if you want to make it again – maybe your tastes just prefer less tangy than mine do)
      Jason

  12. Char says

    Thank you for sharing this recipe. 5 stars all the way! I love that it only requires 4 ingredients! I used rice vinegar because that’s what was available in the cupboard and it turned out delicious! It’s very comparable to Myoko’s and for me that’s a high bar because I love Myoko’s. I can attest to your tip about it getting creamier the longer you blend it with a food processor. I was skeptical at first but I just had to be patient and let the food processor work its magic. I blended for 15 minutes and an extra 5 for good measure. I’m excited to play with other flavors!

  13. Agustin says

    You mentioned 1 tsp of salt if making as a spread, how much would you recommend if making this to be used for a cheesecake? I appreciate your recipe, cannot wait to try it out!

  14. Kevin says

    I had neither dairy free yogurt or cashews but I did have pistachios and oat milk so I modified the recipe slightly and it turned out as a delicious creamy pistachio spread. I put it on a bagel and it completely satisfied my cream cheese craving. Would recommend!

  15. Jane Foster says

    Delicious! This tastes a lot like real cream cheese. I was worried it would taste like cashew butter, but it didn’t! I was so happy to find a dairy-free cream cheese that didn’t require me to buy refined coconut oil or miso paste. So easy to make! Thank you!

    • CCK Media Team says

      We don’t see why it wouldn’t work… We haven’t tried it so don’t know how it will taste, but maybe it will be even better!

    • CCK Media Team says

      Raw unsalted. We have never seen raw-salted before, nor have we tried roasted cashews in this, but that doesn’t mean those won’t work either, just that we haven’t tried 🙂

  16. Christina says

    I’ve been intrigued by this recipe and now have all the ingredients to try it! For the strawberry and cream cheese variations, how much sweetener would you suggest adding? I know everyone’s taste buds are different, but what would be a good place to start?

    • CCK Media Team says

      Maybe start with a few teaspoons and go from there. You can always add more but it’s harder to take some away!

  17. Xenia says

    Hello!

    So I’m on a mission to bake a vegan cheesecake, hence why I’m looking at the cream cheese recipe :). Do you think I could soak the nuts in Earl Grey (for the long soak) and then blend them with some tea instead of water to add flavour, or would that not work?

    Thanks 😁

  18. Megan says

    How does this compare to cashew butter? Sounds like I could just start with cashew butter and add some vinegar and salt. Thoughts?

  19. Kalina says

    How would you store this? Could it go in the freezer or just the fridge? How long would you suggest in the fridge? Thanks!

  20. Julie says

    When you say to soak the cashews for several hours in hot water, do you keep the water hot somehow, or just let it cool while soaking?

  21. Nova says

    5 stars
    I’m making a sweetened plain version to frost the blueberry bread recipe, and wondering if the cider vinegar is supposed to be included. For example, when making the strawberry version, do you add the strawberry ingredients to the original plain recipe that includes the cider vinegar? (Or only the items listed with the strawberry version?)

  22. Laurel Parshall says

    Quick question on making the pumpkin variation, wouldn’t it be 1/4 cup of the puree in place of the water in the plain version?

Leave A Reply

Recipe Rating




Get Free Recipes

Don’t Miss Out On The NEW Free Healthy Recipes

Sign up below to receive exclusive & always free healthy recipes right in your inbox:

Chocolate Covered Katie The Healthy Dessert Blog Recipes