Name: Vegan Cashew Cheese Spread
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Snacks
Ingredients: 1 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight (see notes); 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 tbsp lemon juice; 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/4 cup fresh chives; 3 tbsp nutritional yeast; 1/4 tsp ground pepper

Jump to Recipe

A versatile vegan cashew cheese recipe that’s ideal as a dip, spread, or even a sauce. It takes only minutes to prepare and keeps well in the refrigerator.

Vegan Cashew Cheese Spread is ultra-creamy, smooth, and packs a delicious cheesy flavor thanks to the use of nutritional yeast together with blended raw soaked cashews.

You can enjoy this vegan spreadable cheese as a spread, a dip, or even use it as a sauce or dressing. The great thing about this recipe is that it goes beautifully with almost any savory meal or snack, and can easily be adapted with some simple seasoning adjustments!

What You’ll Need

Raw cashews – soaked overnight, or in boiling water for 30 minutes.
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Apple cider vinegar
Salt
Fresh chives
Nutritional yeast (see substitutions here)
Ground pepper

How to Make Spreadable Cashew Cheese

Place all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. You may need to scrape down the sides a few times.

Taste, and add a little more salt if needed.

Transfer straight to a bowl for serving, or into an airtight container to store in the refrigerator.

How to Store This Vegan Cashew Cheese Recipe

You can store this vegan cashew cheese spread in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 week or in the freezer for an extended amount of time. Thaw in the refrigerator and give it a good stir before serving as a dip or using as a spread.

Can You Make This Vegan Cheese Spread with Different Nuts?

Don’t like cashews? No problem – you can easily make another spreadable vegan cheese using different nuts.

While cashews will certainly yield the creamiest texture, and are most likely to give that “cheesy” taste, other nuts such as almonds, pistachios, and macadamia nuts can work also.

When using another type of nut such as almonds, you may find that the texture of your vegan cheese spread is not as smooth. I actually don’t mind a little extra texture at all when experimenting with different nuts. Give it a go and see what you think!

How to Serve This Cashew Spreadable Cheese

This vegan cashew cheese recipe is great as a spread. Consider using it on slices of bread, flaky breakfast biscuits, savory scones, or on burger buns for your vegan chickpea burgers!

Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from enjoying this vegan cheese spread as a dip. You may like to add a little extra liquid to the spread depending on the consistency desired for your dip.

Spreadable vegan cheese can also be used in other recipes such as sauces for pasta dishes, salad dressings, or to drizzle over roasted veggies.

What Gives This Easy Vegan Cheese Recipe That ‘Cheesy’ Flavor?

I’m glad you asked! While the cashew nuts provide that irresistible creamy texture and consistency to this spread, they also help replicate a cheese-like flavor.

In addition to this, I’ve also added nutritional yeast to make this my best cashew cheese recipe yet! Nutritional yeast is well known in the vegan world for providing a cheesy flavor to all kinds of dishes and recipes and it does a great job of it for this vegan spreadable cheese too!

Tips for Making the Best Cashew Cheese Recipe

Serve this spreadable vegan cheese over crusty artisan bread or enjoy it as a dip with freshly sliced veggies or crackers.
When making creamy pasta sauce or dressing from this vegan cashew cheese recipe, consider adding up to 2 more tablespoons of oil and then water to thin it out. You can even do so if you just want a thinner cheese spread.
It’s totally normal for this vegan cashew spread to come out thick, sometimes even sliceable once removed from refrigeration. Allow it to sit at room temperature for a short time before serving again or thinning out.
The fresh chives can be replaced by garlic and parsley or smoked paprika if you’re interested in experimenting with different variations of this vegan spreadable cheese.

Other Delicious Vegan Spreads and Dips to Try: