Vegan Cream (Creamer + Heavy Cream Substitute)
Vegan cream is a perfect dairy-free heavy cream substitute. It’s great for coffee, gratins, stirred into soups, and anywhere else heavy cream is called for!
We love making vegan cashew creams. You may already be familiar with our Vegan Cream Cheese, Vegan Sweet Cream, and Vegan Sour Cream, all using cashews. Each has its own uses and is amazing and versatile!
Why We Love This Recipe!
There is nothing better than fresh, homemade vegan cream, especially when it’s quick, easy, and requires only two ingredients—cashews and water!
This basic, all-purpose vegan cream recipe is neutral-flavored and can be used as a substitute anywhere dairy creamer or heavy cream is called for. It’s a perfect replacement and works just as well, but it is a whole-food, plant-based option.
This dairy-free cream can easily be doubled and stored for up to 1 week. Plus, it’s easily customizable with flavors if making a vegan coffee creamer!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Raw cashews – be sure to only use raw, toasted will alter the flavor
- Water – can also sub with unsweetened, plain plant milk
Tip: I know cashews can seem expensive. But making your own, cup for cup is cheaper than store-bought vegan creamer. To keep the cost low I buy my cashews in the bulk section (pref. when on sale) at Sprouts. Trader Joe’s has them too. You can also easily purchase Raw Cashews (affiliate link) online.
Adding flavor: For flavored coffee cream, add a little pure maple syrup, vanilla, and/or cinnamon for a deliciously flavored tea or coffee creamer!
How To Make Vegan Cream
Soak the cashews: It’s best to soak your cashews in water before starting. There are 2 ways to soak:
- Soak cashews in cool water for 2 – 3 hours, drain, and rinse (this method is best for digestion).
- For a quick method of soaking, let cashews sit in hot water for 5 – 10 minutes, drain, rinse, and continue with the recipe.
Blend cashews and water: Place cashews and water in the blender cup and blend until creamy (shown below). Place in a covered container and refrigerate until ready to use. You can also use it right away in any recipe calling for vegan cream.
And that’s it, vegan cream made simple and easy!
Top Tips
Why soak cashews? Soaking will help soften the cashews by plumping them up with water and helping them blend easily. Soaking is also said to be beneficial for digestion and mineral and vitamin absorption. If you’re in a hurry, you can still make this vegan cream successfully without soaking. You just may need to add a bit more water while blending.
Recommended equipment. I used my NutriBullet (affiliate link) for this vegan cream. It’s compact, easy to clean, and is great for small jobs like this. A high-speed blender will also work great. I do not recommend using an immersion blender as it’s not powerful enough.
Buying raw cashews. You can find cashews in bulk at Sprouts and other health-conscious grocery stores. You can also find them at Trader Joe’s. I often purchase Terrasoul Raw Cashews online (affiliate link) from Amazon (it’s a 2 lb bag and nice to always have on hand, just store them in the fridge for maximum freshness).
How To Store
- Refrigerator: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week in an airtight container. Be sure to give a good stir before using.
- Freezer: This vegan cream is freezer-friendly and can be stored for 2 – 3 months in freezer-safe containers. Let thaw in before using.
Ways To Use Vegan Cream
Thick but not too thick, this dairy-free cream is great for stirring into soups and coffee or used in creamy baked dishes. Here are a few of my favorite ways to use this easy recipe:
- Soup: Stir into or drizzle on Tomato Basil Soup, Vegan Cauliflower Soup, Creamy Celery Soup, or Mushroom Soup.
- Coffee + tea: Use it as a vegan coffee creamer for your favorite hot or iced coffee. Stir into this Lavender Chai Tea-Concentrate or Orange Spice Hot Cocoa.
- Gratin: It’s the perfect cream for this Creamy Kale & Mushroom Gratin, or your favorite gratin or stroganoff recipe.
- Tofu scramble: It’s great in this Everyday Tofu Scramble, adding fluffiness and creaminess.
- Mashed potatoes: Use it in these Vegan Mashed Potatoes for an ultra-creamy and decadent side dish.
- Ice cream: In place of milk, add thickness to no-churn Chocolate Banana Ice Cream or Cherry Garcia Banana Ice Cream.
More Easy How-To’s Recipes!
If you try this easy dairy-free cream recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
PrintVEGAN CREAM
Vegan cream is a perfect dairy-free heavy cream substitute, great for coffee, stirred into soups and used anywhere heavy creams and creamers are called for! Recipe makes enough for any typical recipe with a little leftover for later.
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 3/4 cup 1x
- Category: Cream, How To’s
- Method: blender
- Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1 + 1/4 cups water (can sub with unsweetened, plain plant milk)
Instructions
Soak the cashews: It’s best to soak your cashews in water before starting. There are 2 ways to soak:
- Soak cashew in cool water for 2 – 3 hours, drain and rinse (this method is best for digestion).
- For a quick method of soaking, let cashews sit in hot water for 5 – 10 minutes, drain, rinse and continue with recipe.
Blend cashews and water: Place cashews and water into the cup of a high speed or personal blender and blend until creamy. Adjust the water, adding more to thin as needed.
Place in a covered container and place in the fridge until ready to use. Or use right away in any recipe calling for vegan cream.
Makes 1 3/4 cups (equals 14 servings, 2 tablespoons per serving)
Store: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week in an airtight container, stir before using.
Notes
This creamer is just thick enough to cling to the spoon, for a thicker cream use 1 cup water, adding 1 tablespoon more at a time until desired thickness (or thinness).
Adding flavor: For flavored coffee cream, add 1 teaspoon vanilla and/or 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon for a delicious flavored creamer!
Recommended equipment: I used my NutriBullet (affiliate link) for this vegan cream. It’s compact, easy to clean and is great for small jobs like this. A high speed will work well too (I don’t recommend using an immersion blender)! Purchase Terrasoul Raw Cashews online (affiliate link) from Amazon, I use and recommend this brand.
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can you whip this into whipped cream
Unfortunately, this is not good for making whipped cream.
This was great, thank you! Very easy to make. I had to process for a long time but it turned out perfect :)
Wow, wow, wow!!! I have made every nut, coconut milk and nut/coconut creamer out there but never found anything close to real dairy half-and-half. I have wanted to stop all dairy for a while but couldn’t find anything I liked well enough or that didn’t have a strange aftertaste. This creamer is absolutely delicious!! Smooth, creamy and decadent!! I’m finally dairy-free thanks to you!! 💙💙💙
This recipe is very easy. I soaked the cashews for 5 hours, used 1 cup of almond milk and 1/4 cup water. I also squeezed it through a nut milk bag because I wanted to get the rest of the cashews out. It worked so great in my coffee. I have tried plain almond milk in my coffee and oat milk. This one has been the best so far. I needed some creamer with no oils added and this one is the one!!!!
This was delish! I used it for your cauliflower soup, but I can see how it would be great in coffee. A short cut I’ve learned with cashew cream is to put the ingredients in the blender (cashews and milk) and blend for 30 seconds. Let it sit for 10 minutes then blend again. You get that same silky consistency with less work/time.