Vegan Blueberry Cream Cheese made with cashews, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar to give a sweet and tangy perfectly flavored cream cheese. Dairy-free, oil-free and so easy to make!
Oh yes, I’m back with another vegan cream cheese recipe. After the success of my Smoky Black Pepper Cream Cheese, I got several requests for sweet cream cheese and fruit cream cheese flavors. Now, I’m completely honest, I much preferred my smoky cream cheese over this one, but that is because I’m not a big fan of fruit in general. However, both my husband and daughter LOVE fruit and loved this blueberry cream cheese. Total success.
I specifically got a request from one of my readers, Estee, who wanted a strawberry one. Well, that flavor is still in trial mode. One more trial in fact…not as simple as I thought it would be, since strawberries have so much water in them, the cream cheese didn’t set up well. But don’t worry, I will figure that one out….I’m almost there.
So, in the meantime, we have some gorgeous, vibrant Vegan Blueberry Cream Cheese. I mean, seriously, look at that color.
These have much less water in them (than strawberries) and I used only a 1/4 cup to blend in with the base, changed a couple of ingredient amounts and then stirred in 2 tablespoons of blueberries at the end for extra flavor and voila, perfection. Blending up anymore than the 1/4 cup would make the cheese too watery. It was literally perfect at this amount. To make sure it had enough blueberry flavor, I then stirred in 2 tablespoons of whole blueberries at the very end before chilling in the fridge.
With just 6 ingredients and a food processor, you are good to go. Instead of bagels this time, I used English muffins because they were whole grain and lighter. Toasted them first and they were a delicious breakfast!
Other Vegan Cream Cheese recipes:
Blueberry Cream Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 cup (140g) raw whole cashews (soaked at least 12 hours, the longer the better and the smoother your cheese will be)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice fresh
- 1/2-1 tablespoon dill pickle juice, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup (do not omit, this brings out the blueberry flavor)
- 1/4 cup fresh blueberries (do not use frozen! + 2 extra tablespoons for stirring in at the end)
NOTE
- Don't be tempted to add extra blueberries or it can water down the cheese and affect it from setting up.
Instructions
- Important: I would suggest prepping this 2 days before you want to eat it, for the best results. You must soak the cashews 12 hours or so. I soaked mine about 16 I think. You should literally be able to crumble them after soaking, that's how soft you want them. Trust me, I tried a quick boil method with the cashews and it was not as silky smooth or best in flavor. This recipe uses very little water, so trying to skip the long soaking method will affect the results.
- After your cashews have soaked, drain them well and add to a food processor. Add the lemon juice, pickle juice and apple cider vinegar. Process until a somewhat smooth paste forms. Scrape the sides down well and process again. It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth at this point.
- Sprinkle the salt around on the cheese mixture, and add the syrup and blueberries. Process until mixed, scrape down the sides and process for several minutes. Walk away and let it run until completely smooth. The longer it runs, the smoother it will be.
- Taste it and if you want it sweeter, add a little more syrup, but keep in mind the blueberry cream cheese flavor will be more prominent after it has become very chilled in the fridge. You will also be stirring some blueberries in as well for flavor.
- Scrape all the cream cheese out and add it to a container or bowl. Stir in the 2 tablespoons of blueberries and place in the fridge to completely chill and firm up over night or several hours. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Adapted from my Smoky Black Pepper Cream Cheese
Nutrition: I didn't really know how many servings to state this as, since it will be all dependent on how much you load the cheese on your bagel or the purpose you use it for, but it will give substantially enough for at least 6 bagels, so that's how I calculated it.
144.25 calories, 10.2 g fat, 10.7 carbs, 4.2 g protein, 4.3 g sugar, 38.8 mg sodium
I’m trying to get my mom off dairy, and she loves her philly cream cheese…so I should probably make some cashew cream cheese for her 😉
Oh yes, I remember that philly cream cheese! Yes, make some for your mom…she would love you for it 🙂
is this cream cheese sweet like the philly brand? i love the sweet cream cheese.
Hi Madison! I’ve never tried theirs so I can’t say, but this is a sweet cream cheese that tastes just like blueberries!
this stuff taste good but its a pain in the butt to blend. i keep having to scrape the sides and push it down
Hi Madison, did you soak them for the full 12 hours? That helps tremendously with blending, but yes, since there is so little liquid, you definitely have to scrape down the sides several times, as noted, in the beginning. Then you let it run several minutes to get fully smooth. That is pretty much with any cashew based recipe when very little liquid is used.
Wow, I just love the gorgeous color of the cream cheese. It’s fantastic that you come along with another cream cheese version. So everyone can decide if they are in the mood for a savory or sweet version, or maybe both, haha… Maybe the savory for breakfast and the sweet for dessert? Your pictures are gorgeous as always, beautiful styling and especially the color of the blueberries is seriously an eye catcher. This is a recipe that I want to make soon, I made your last version the smokey several times and it turns out just delicious, so I can’t wait to try the sweet version.
Florian, your comments always make my day, for real! They are always so thoughtful and kind! I’m so happy you love this and my smoky cream cheese, thank you so much!
Why pickle juice and vinegar?? Are these ingredients crutial?
Thanks,
Denise
Yes, they are very crucial to the cream cheese taste. Lemon juice alone doesn’t give enough of the cream cheese taste. I discuss on my original post of the smoky cream cheese how I came about adding all 3 of these acidic ingredients that really helped in the final flavor. I had tried many trials of cream cheese prior with just lemon juice and it just wasn’t working well. You can see the original post here. You can try leaving them out, but it will taste more strong of cashews fyi. Since there are only 6 ingredients, each one is important for the final flavor 🙂
https://thevegan8.com/vegan-smoky-black-pepper-cream-cheese/
That color is insane! So beautiful. I also prefer a savory cream cheese, but I’d bet my last bagel this is damn tasty!
Thank you so much Annie! Yes, it’s tasty but I still prefer my smoky cream cheese a million times more…I’m just not a fruit person, but my family sure loved it!
wowowo! this is amazing and I just adore the color in this. I really feel you could put this spread on anything too. Totally rocking this for a big family brunch this weekend. Thanks so much for sharing this!
Thank you so much Chrysta! Please let me know how it turns out!! ❤️
This looks lovely. I’m a sucker for anything purple — seriously. This has me wanting blueberry cream cheese NOW 🙂
What about freeze dried strawberries for the strawberry one? That might work… and no water. I hope you figure it out either way. I love all things fruity! <3
Haha that’s actually one of my two trials! One of my friends on Facebook already suggested that for frosting on my daughter’s birthday cake, so it’s what I thought would be great for this cream cheese. I just need to get some dried strawberries and see! The raw fresh ones definitely didnt work!
Wowza! This looks delicious! The color is spectacular. You are such an imaginative cook! I was about to suggest freeze dried strawberries, but I see someone beat me to the punch. I buy mine in the baby section of my local better health food store and they are very reasonably priced, usually cheaper than fresh.
Gotta try this. The black pepper one was amazing and had me dreaming up “bacon,” and chive flavors as well. The only problem is, I can’t find really good gf, vegan bagels and have utterly failed in my attempts to make my own ( but if you need a good gf dog biscuit, I’ve got you covered ; ). Do you take requests? Ha ha! I know, you are just dying to boil your own bagels!
Hi Stephanie! You are so incredibly sweet, thank you so much for your kind words! And yes, I can’t wait to try the dried strawberries…I bought 2 bags today actually 🙂 I’m guessing it will work really well. I’m so happy to hear you loved the black pepper cream cheese! Chives would be a lovely addition. I agree with you, pretty much anything gluten-free bread wise taste awful from the stores…and yes, I do take requests! This recipe above in fact was a reader request 🙂 I really need to get some pita bread, bagels and loaf of bread all done gluten-free for the blog. Even though I don’t have an allergy to gluten, I try to use it as little as possible because it messes with my digestion and especially all whole wheat heavy products. If I use breads that are made with a lot of grains instead and a small amount of wheat, I do just fine with those. I’ll get to work! 🙂
Holy cow that color!!!! I’m definitely with you on the savory cream cheese camp but this is just too pretty not to try. This would be perfect if I was hosting a breakfast or brunch. YUM!!!
W-O-W Brandi! That color!! So amazing and vibrant. People are going to love this! I bet it’s so rich and creamy… Pinned
Wow! This vegan cream cheese looks so vibrant and delicious. I am so in love with this gorgeous, rich and creamy cream cheese. Beautiful share, Brandi! 🙂
A really creative and nice change from tofu cream cheese. The color is amazing. Looks delicious.
Thank you so much Suzanne!! I’m so in love with the color as well! Yes, I’m not a tofu fan, so I definitely needed to create my own cream cheese and I’m so happy to say that it is better than I even hoped for 🙂
i love your recipes. I am a little confused when u say to use mini blueberries. Where do I find fresh blueberries that are minis.? My store carries fresh regular sized blueberries.
Hi Diane, sorry didn’t mean to make it sound confusing. I’ve just seen the really jumbo sized ones and I used just the smaller fresh ones that are always carried in a pint. You should be fine with the fresh ones! 🙂
Look at that GORGEOUS color!!!! WOW! Blueberries make everything so pretty. I LOVED your smoky cream cheese recipe (which I still have to leave feedback for), so I’m pretty sure I’ll enjoy this, too! I’m not typically a fruity cream cheese person – I tried them when I ate dairy and just always preferred the savory ones. But I’ll have to give your recipe a shot!
Thank you so much Mandy! I agree too, I much prefer the savory cream cheese over the sweet! And wow, I am so happy you loved the smoky cream cheese, that makes me so happy to hear! I didn’t know you had tried it!! Thanks so much girl!
You could try dehydrated strawberries or strawberry jam.
Yes, that’s the plan, I already bought 2 bags of dried strawberries 🙂
I think I’d have to side with the rest of your family, I prefer my cream cheese sweet and fruity! This looks incredible Brandi! I’m sure the strawberry will be awesome too, but you can’t beat this color <3
Thank you so much Natalie! My hubby definitely loved this!
You are such a genius, Brandi. Love the notes that you provide for making this yummy cream cheese. I really need to try this.
Awww thank you so much Apsara! I hope you try this and love it!
This is gorgeous! I’m glad you provided the note saying not to add extra blueberries, I definitely would have tried to sneak in as many as possible!
Thank you so much Mary! Yes, too much could make it not set up properly!
I absolutely love this, from the color to the texture, and of course, to the TASTE! I recommend everyone to try it- you’ll never go back to philly cream cheese again. I made some for my 8 year old sister (who’s a very picky eater) and she loved it!
Wow, this looks amazing, Brandi! What a great idea! 🙂 I love cashew cream cheese!
Thank you so much Sina!! Meee too now!
Maybe a silly question, what do I soak the cashews in and how much of said liquid? Thank you, I can’t wait to prep for this!
Hi Rae! You just put the cashews in a cereal bowl and cover it with water, just use enough to make sure the cashews are in enough water. Soak them at least 12 hours and then drain them and rinse them, then proceed with the recipe 🙂
It was so exciting to have bagels and cream cheese this morning!! Thank you for yet another great recipe!! I made mine with fresh Alaksan wild blueberries, they are very abundant in the mountains here this time of year. I had given up on cream cheese because I refuse to buy the processed vegan cream cheese products.
Yay! Thank you so much April for making this and providing feedback, I’m thrilled you enjoyed it so much! I hear ya, the storebought kind are pretty bad!
O M G. This is the most GORGEOUS freaking cream cheese EVER!! Honestly, I cannot get over that color girl! I am dying to try your cream cheese recipe on a bagel when I’m back in Canada! I haven’t had a cream cheese bagel in FOREVER!!!!!!! And that last photo – I am seriously drooling! Gorgeous 😀
You are so sweet Ceara, thank you so much for your kind words!! I really appreciate them and I really think you will love the cream cheese! I cannot get enough!
I made this yesterday (after finally acquiring some pickle juice from my mom-in-law since I had none!). SO yummy! My husband is a bagel fiend and, as Vegans, has missed cream cheese…But now we have an answer! Pretty easy too. I can’t wait to try the Smoky Pepper now.
Thanks!! Keep the awaesome, simplified recipes coming!
Thank you so much Samantha for the wonderful feedback, so glad to hear you enjoyed this so much and your husband as well! Thank you for letting me know and I hope you love the smoky pepper as well, that one is my favorite!
Thank you! I am trying to wean omni husband from unhealthy desserts. When I told him I was going to make zucchini bread, he asked if he could have cream cheese. I looked at commercial vegan cream cheese last night and it had nasty ingredients. So I bought the cashews instead. And started the soak last night. Success! Thank you!!
Wonderful! I’m so happy to hear he loved this cream cheese, thank you so much for the feedback!!
Just made this & it’s delicious! (It’s not going to make it 6 bagels though. Lol!)
Haha, I’m so glad you loved it Lisa, thank you so much for the feedback!
This cream cheese is amazing. I’ve already made it 3 times in 1 week and I don’t feel bad about eating it at all…. and it’s so easy to make. 🙂
I’m so happy you love this blueberry cream cheese so much, thank you so much Amanda for the feedback!!
My almost three year old is obsessed with eating purple foods, so she will love this!!! Even purple cabbage has been a big hit–yeah!!! I read you had difficulty with making a strawberry flavor because of the moisture content. Try making with freeze dried strawberries, that’s how I make my vegan strawberry buttercream which is amazing. Grind us the freeze dried strawberries first into a powder in your blender and you can add a few fresh diced strawberries if you like. The dried ones have an intense strawberry flavor which will work perfectly–good luck and thanks for all your great recipes!
Ha! I actually did that already, here is the link to the strawberry cream cheese! 🙂
https://thevegan8.com/2015/09/05/vegan-strawberry-cream-cheese/
Hello, I’m just curious – could a Vitamix work or should we definitely use a food processor?
Hi Drew, if you have the wide base Vitamix, it may work but you really need as much room as possible for it to move around because it’s very thick and with my vitamix (the tall thin container) it absolutely did not work.
I made this following exact instructions and it was amazing! The next day I made the smoky black pepper flavor which I doubled because the blueberry one was so good. The smoky black pepper was just as amazing, so glad I doubled it. I’ll be making the strawberry version next since I already happen to have the dried strawberries on hand. Thanks so much for these, they will always be in my frig.
I’m so happy to hear that Nancy, thank you so very much for this feedback!! The smoky black pepper is my favorite one, I think I could live off of that stuff, haha!
Hi,
Is it possible to substitute the fresh blueberries with frozen blueberries?
Thanks.
Hi Kelly! I’m so very sorry, I seem to have missed this comment. Actually, fresh is best since frozen holds so much extra water, it would make the cream cheese too runny and diluted in flavor. Hope that helps! Let me know if you try it!
Hello, I was so excited to make this cream cheese, it looks amazing! I followed the instructions, but I can taste the pickle juice in it pretty strong. First I thought if I let it sit in a fridge for long time, it will help, but even after about a day of resting, still I can mostly taste the pickle juice 🙁 I don’t know why is that. Do you know what could be the problem?
Hi Tia! That is so odd. I never taste the pickle juice when I make this and all the other reviews have been great,as you can see above. Nobody has mentioned any pickle juice flavor. The blueberries should be masking it anyways. Did you maybe add too much? Did you add enough blueberries? Did you use just regular dill pickle juice?
I just used normal pickle juice and 1 tbsp, and the same amount of blueberries you said. I don’t know what’s wrong. Maybe if I try a little less pickle juice? Or could it be that I had frozen blueberries which I defrosted in warm water? Thank you for your answer
Hi Tia, yes, that is definitely likely what is causing the more pronounced pickle taste. I noted specifically not to use frozen above in the recipe. Frozen blueberries have more water in them and a more diluted flavor, therefore I think is why the blueberry flavor didn’t come through strong enough. I would make it next time with fresh berries and you could also try using half the pickle juice next time if you want.
Hello Brandi, thank you! I will try that way next time!
Do you think it’s possible to use saurkrout liquid instead of dill pickle juice. Just curious as it tends to have a more acidic kick and sour flavor, or do you think it will be too much?
Hi Liz! I honestly have no idea. I have never used sauerkraut as I’m not a fan of it, so I have no idea what the brine tastes like or if it would work, honestly! If it is salty and acidic like dill pickle juice is then I *think* it would work, but I can’t say for sure having not tried it myself.
Hi, do almonds work? I’m looking for a sweet almond cheese recipe. Something that goes with cinnamon nut thin crackers! :-). Thanks!
Hi Kelly, I really don’t think almonds would work as well, not as creamy, but I have only tested it with cashews, so I really can’t say without testing it. Almonds don’t get as creamy as cashews, so definitely would need to soak them 8-12 hours first before trying.
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What nut do you suggest if cashews are not an option?
thanks
sue
Hi Susan, I don’t suggest any sub unfortunately. Cashews are key to this cream cheese working out texturally. If you are allergic to cashews, I would try googling tofu cream cheese recipes, since this recipe relies specially on cashews being used.
In the process of making this. My cashews have been soaking for 19 hours. Getting ready to pull them out and start! I don’t need this dip until next Sunday for a party. Can I make it today and freeze it until Friday and then transfer to refrigerator?
Hi Christine! I’ve honestly never tried freezing it, so I’m not sure. Freezing it will likely add lots of iciness, so I’d recommend after thawing it, reblending it so it’s smooth again. Next time, just make it 2-3 days in advance, as it’ll still be good on the fridge.