Vegan Cream Cheese

two bagels with cream cheese stacked on top of each other.

It takes just 6 ingredients to make this rich, creamy and tangy Vegan Cream Cheese. Just blend everything up and enjoy a taste of heaven!

Course Condiment, Spread

Cuisine American, Vegan

Prep Time 10

Total Time 10

Servings People

Calories 112kcal

Author Melissa Huggins

Equipment

High-Powered Blender

Ingredients

1 ⅓ cups raw slivered & blanched almonds , soaked in water for 12-16 hours (*see note)
½ cup non-dairy yogurt , unsweetened (sub plain)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon sea salt , more to taste
¼ teaspoon onion powder
1 ½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar , more to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Drain and rinse the almonds. Discard soaking water.
Add all the ingredients to a high-powered blender (starting with the yogurt vinegar and lemon juice). Blend on high until creamy and smooth. This could take a few minutes. Scrape down sides as needed.
The consistency is supposed to be thick, but if it's too thick for your taste, you can add a few teaspoons of unsweetened non-dairy milk, yogurt or water to thin it out. Add more as needed but only a small amount at a time to avoid runny cream cheese. Taste for flavor and add more lemon, vinegar or salt if desired.
Enjoy right away or place in an airtight container in the fridge for 5-6 days. It will firm up a bit in the fridge.

Notes

Almonds- If you don't have them, you can use the same amount of soaked cashews instead and reduce the yogurt to ⅓ cup and add more as needed. The cashew cream cheese won't be as thick as the almond one, but will still be creamy and delicious. You'll only need to soak them for 2-4 hours or you can soak them in very hot water to make it quicker. Just boil water and remove from heat. Then add cashews and cover for 20 minutes or until softened. I've tried soaking the almonds in hot water and it softened them faster, but I didn't like the flavor afterward.
Yogurt- some brands have an off-white color, which will make your cream cheese slightly off-white. It won't affect the tastiness though. I prefer So Delicious for its color, taste, and thickness. If you can't find unsweetened yogurt, you can use plain. Look for one that has the least amount of sugar to avoid a slightly sweet taste.
If you prefer a whipped consistency, add 1 tablespoon of refined coconut oil to the blender with the other ingredients. Place in fridge for 1-2 hours to firm up.
If you don't have a high-speed blender, the cream cheese may not get smooth enough. I prefer to use my blender over a food processor because it yields a smoother result for me, but you can use whatever works for you.
I leave the almonds in the fridge while they are soaking. They must soak for a minimum of 12-16 hours or they will produce gritty results. The cashews need to soak for about 2-4 hours.
Prep time doesn't include soaking time.
Yields about 1 cup + 2 tablespoons.
If you have lactic acid, you can use that in replace of lemon juice. It adds a similar tangy flavor that cultured cheese has. I usually add 1 ¼ teaspoons. You may need to add a few teaspoons of water or non-dairy milk to make up the liquid portion of the lemon juice. Blend first and then decide.

Nutrition