This contemporary Cashew Cream recipe is a great vegan substitute for sour cream. And is it easy, or what? Use it for topping soups or as a simple sauce for vegetables or grains. It's also a great garnish for Southwestern-style tortilla specialties, as on the Black Bean Tostadas shown above. Photo by Hannah Kaminsky.
Cashew Cream (Vegan Sour Cream)
Makes about 1 cup
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 2 tablespoon plain rice milk or other unsweetened nondairy milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place the cashews in a small, heatproof bowl and cover them with boiling water. Let stand for at least 30 minutes, or up to an hour.
- Drain and transfer to a food processor with the rice milk, lemon juice, and salt. Process until smoothly pureed, stopping to scrape the sides down as needed. Add a little more rice milk if you need to thin the consistency a bit.
- Transfer to a small serving bowl. Cover and refrigerate any unused portion. This will last for several days, refrigerated.
- Here are lots more recipes for simple sauces and such.
Shane says
A delicious cashew cream that can be for sweet or savory dishes. This was perfect for you alls tofu and pasta salad dish.
Nava says
Thanks, Shane — glad you enjoyed it!
Jeff Rinehart says
I absolutely love this site! I found out about it after listening to your interview on the Mainstreet Vegan podcast. Would you happen to know if roasted cashews would work ok? I live in a small town and the only cashews I can find around here are roasted. Thanks!
Nava says
Hi Jeff -- welcome to VegKitchen! This is a really good question. With roasted cashews, you'll get more of a nut butter flavor. It won't be bad, but not the same as the neutral creaminess of raw cashews. You can try it if you'd like to take a chance; otherwise there are likely lots of places from which to order raw cashews online.
tonya Quillen says
How many days will it keep in the frig?
Nava says
Tonya, I'd say 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Could be longer, but best to use when fresh!