Sriracha Cashew Cheese Sauce – This easy spicy vegan cheese sauce is super easy to make, ready in minutes and will change your life! Perfect for drizzling on tacos, burritos, and meal bowls.
Sriracha is spicy with a touch of sweetness making it irresistible to those who try it, and this cashew cream sauce is another way for us sriracha fans to get our fix!
Sriracha Cashew Cream Sauce (Aioli)
This recipe is so simple, versatile and can be used in many different ways. Use it as a pasta cream sauce or as a sauce to drizzle on roasted vegetables and baked sweet potatoes. You can use it as a dip or as a salad dressing. This is also fantastic as a spread on burgers, sandwiches, tortas or any place you may use mayo type products. Even tacos, burritos and quesadillas would benefit from a drizzle of this sriracha cashew cream sauce. And don’t forget to add it to vegan sushi rolls, this makes for a great dynamite sauce!
Ways To Use This Flavorful Sauce
- Vegan Stuffed Sweet Potato + Sriracha Cashew Cheese Sauce
- Avocado and Black Bean Torta (in recipe as spread)
- Chickpea & Sweet Potato Breakfast Hash
- Street Tacos (drizzle on top)
- Mac & Cheese Bake (would be great as the base)
- Vegan Sushi Rolls (add some to the center or drizzle on top)
- Tofu Scramble Stuffed Poblano Peppers
Have fun finding uses for this versatile sauce!
How To Make Sriracha Cashew Cream Sauce
- Start by soaking your cashews, covered in hot water, for 5 minutes. Alternately, you can soak them in cool water for 2 – 3 hours.
- This recipe is great for small personal blenders, like the Nutri Bullet, but will work ok in a regular blender too. Using the blender of choice, add the drained cashews, garlic, sriracha, nutritional yeast and water, and blend until nice and creamy.
- Taste for flavor and consistency, adding more water to thin, or more cashew to thicken.
Make the sauce as spicy as you like or keep it on the mellow side with the amount of ingredients I have listed below. I found that two teaspoons of sriracha was just the right starting point to taste the flavors while adding a nice subtle punch to your meals, on a scale from 1 -10 the 2 teaspoons of chili sauce ranks in at about a 3, somewhat mild. I made it a second time doubling the amount of sriracha and it kicked it up to 5-6.
This is one of my favorite cashew sauces so far, as it is so versatile and so good!
I hope you LOVE this sriracha cashew cream as much as I do! It’s:
- Quick and easy to make
- Oil free
- Thick and creamy
- Minimal ingredients
- & So delicious!
If you try this cashew sauce recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
SRIRACHA CASHEW CHEESE SAUCE (AIOLI)
A versatile spicy cream sauce to use as a base or on top of some of your favorite foods.
- Prep Time: 10
- Total Time: 10
- Yield: Yields 2/3 cup, serves 3
- Category: Condiment
- Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews (pref. soaked – see notes)
- 1/2 cup water, + more as needed for thinning
- juice of 1/2 lemon, optional
- 1 large garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 teaspoons sriracha chili sauce, + more to taste
Instructions
Place all ingredients into a small blender (I used a magic bullet for this job). Blend until creamy, taste for flavor adding extra chili sauce if needed.
Thin with water to desired consistency using one tablespoon at a time. If you find it’s too watery add a few cashews and blend again until smooth.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 days.
Makes about 2/3 cups.
NOTES:
Quick soak your cashews: To soak your cashew fast, simply place them in hot water for 5 minutes, drain and use accordingly.
I also didn’t add in any salt but feel free to add salt to taste.
Lastly, I usually use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in my cashew creams but didn’t add any in this recipe, I didn’t feel it needed either. You may try adding 1 tablespoon if you have it on hand for another layer of flavor.
Serve however you like! I hope you find many uses for this sauce. I have many in mind and will be sharing within the recipes as they come up.
Edit: I’ve updated the ingredients, making it double of what it originally was so it can be made in a larger blender or food processor. Plus you may have a little extra leftover for another use!
Laura says
Oh wow, looks like a great recipe. I do not use liquid Siracha, it has gluten, but I use McCormick’s Siracha powder which is GF, for this recipe I will use 1/8 tsp probably. Thanks, take care…
Jessica B. says
I just made this to go with the lentil patties I’m making for meal prep! I added a lot more sriracha for my taste and I also wanted a layer of sweetness so I added about 1/2 tsp of agave nectar and a pinch of salt!! Will definitely be making again in the future! Thanks for the great recipe!
Julie | The Simple Veganista says
You are a sriracha aficionado for sure! Love your take on this with the hint of sweet. So glad you loved the recipe and made it your own! Cheers :)
Anonymous says
I was wondering why is the nutritional yeast
needed in this recipe?
julie@thesimpleveganista says
It just adds another slight layer of flavor but is completely optional. One can add more if they like as well.
JEA says
You're right! this was an amazingly versatile sauce. I've used it as a base for dressing and dips – perfect.
Anonymous says
Hi I'm Renee! Do you have a good recipe for homemade pasta noodles! I am new to the vegan diet and would love to still be able to make wonderful homemade pastas!
Erin Greener says
Traditional pasta is pretty much dependent on egg, especially the yolk, but lately I've been very pleased with running sweet potato, zucchini, or squash threw a spiralizer to get noodles. It's definitely very different from traditional pasta but the great thing about a vegan diet is that it encourages you to get creative with produce.
julie@thesimpleveganista says
I love your way of thinking Erin! Vegetable noodles are amazing. If you don't have a spiralizer a simple less cumbersome julienne tool will be great. I haven't attempted homemade pasta just yet!
Anonymous says
This will work as a sauce even without the sriracha? Thanks :)
Erin Greener says
The sriracha gives the sauce the zip and zing and carries the body of the flavor. But if that isn't your thing then you can try out other flavors like garlic, lemon, chili powder, or dill in the place of sriracha.
julie@thesimpleveganista says
Thank you Erin for chimming in. I missed these comments. Cheers :)
Louise Placek says
I looked at t bottle of Siracha the other day and it had fish sauce in it. Not something a true vegan would want to eat.
julie@thesimpleveganista says
I can assure that the Huy Fong brand sriracha is 100% vegan. You must've looked at a knock off. There is nothing like the real Huy Fong Sriracha! You can find more about it here: http://www.huyfong.com/….and here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sriracha_sauce_(Huy_Fong_Foods)
Back to the store to find the real sriracha. You will love it! Cheers :)
Anonymous says
I made this…it was a amazing !!! New staple dressing thank you! Perfect sweetness with a kick!
julie@thesimpleveganista says
Yes, eat it up…yum! :)
N Laurie says
Is it ok to eat the raw cashew like this? or does the soaking remove any remant membrane that is poisonous?
julie@thesimpleveganista says
It's ok if you don't soak your cashews, I have eaten cashews time and time again without any soaking. On the other hand, soaking breaks down the phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors. This in turn make the nutrients a lot more readily available. It can also help with digestion. The benefits of soaking are good but if you find yourself in a pinch and can't you should be fine eating them raw (although we all have a different chemistry makeup and react differently to foods).
Veganosaurus says
Ok I found myself leaning in towards the computer screen to lick that creamy sauce! YUMMO!
Molly says
We loved this sauce! Put it on some black bean sloppy joes & it was heavenly!
julie@thesimpleveganista says
That sounds delicious! I must put black bean sloppy joes on my to try list. There's so much great food out there to try. I have over 200 + drafts of things I want to make and share with everyone (if it comes out good that is). Thank you so much for stopping by to share your experience. :)
Em Kathryn says
I love this! And I love sweet potatoes so the combination of the two sounds fantastic!
julie@thesimpleveganista says
Yes, it's fantastic…sweet and spicy is such a great combo!
Johanna says
I might add some sriacha to the batch of cashew cheese that i just started using rejuvalac to ferment it. Thanks!
julie@thesimpleveganista says
Now that sounds wonderful! Cheers
Abby @ The Frosted Vegan says
Oh man, you have just answered my boyfriend's prayers! He loves Sriracha and alfredo like sauces, so he will LOVE this!
julie@thesimpleveganista says
Perfect! He will love this, it's a nice twist on alfredo sauces. Double the recipe if needed. :)
TalonQT says
Mmmm…this sounds great!! Thanks for sharing!
julie@thesimpleveganista says
Your welcome! Enjoy :)