Vegan Cream Cheese

This vegan cream cheese has a nice light texture from soft tofu and is full of flavours from added cashew nuts, herbs and spices. As a dairy-free person, I am always on the lookout for a spread I can use on my morning sourdough toast or as a dip.

Prep

30 min to overnight

Time

10 min

Serves

8-10 servings

Ingredients

1 cup soaked cashew nuts
250 soft tofu
⅓ cup chives
⅓ cup fresh dill or other herbs
3 cloves minced garlic
4 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp apple cider
2  tsp onion powder
2  tsp garlic powder
1  tsp salt
½  tsp black or white pepper
2-3 Tbsp of olive oil

Directions

Note:You can use raw or roasted cashew nuts for this vegan cream cheese.  I find the best way to roast any nuts or seeds is to place them into a switched off oven after baking somethings at temperature not higher than 180 C to avoid burning them.
You can replace tofu with one cup of green or kalamata olives, red roasted capsicum, soft sun dried tomatoes, canned smoked salmon or tuna. Adjust the flavour to your taste by reducing lemon juice.
This vegan cream cheese is a great compliment to my gluten free sourdough seeded crackers or any crackers of your choice.
  1. Pre-soak the cashew nuts for 2-3h or overnight. Drain the water.
  2. Pat dry the soft tofu with a paper towel or a tea towel.
  3. Place cashew nuts and tofu into the food processor for 30 seconds.
  4. Add the chives, herbs and the rest of ingredients and mix well for an extra 15-30 seconds until you get the desired consistency. 
  5. If you want a softer texture add some olive oil.
  6. Transfer into jars or containers and use within 3-5 days.