Creamy, velvety smooth Vegan Strawberry Cream Cheese. Amazing on bagels, inside crepes or straight off a spoon. You will never need storebought again!
It’s here, it’s finally here. Vegan Strawberry Cream Cheese. Not just that, but it’s stuffed inside my Vegan Chocolate Crepes. Am I the only one fainting over here?? I got so many requests for this one and while it took me several trials, I am happy to say that this is what dreams are made of, I swear. The strawberry flavor is so intense and the texture is so similar and thick like traditional cream cheese, I literally said out loud after a bite “oh man, I could sell this stuff!” It’s that good folks.
It all started with my Smoky Black Pepper Cream Cheese, then my Blueberry Cream Cheese…now, of course, we had to have Strawberry.
Pretty in pink. Yes, baby. This stuff is so good, that I felt it really needed to be showcased in something a bit fancier than a plain bagel. I thought, strawberries and chocolate sound pretty darn amazing.
So in love with this vegan strawberry cream cheese. Remember, this is coming out of the mouth of a self-proclaimed so-so fruit eater. I am not a big fan of fruit in general. The only fruit I really eat, in it’s whole form, is apples. I absolutely love apples, but every other fruit I like in very small quantities or in a smoothie and/or dessert. People are always surprised to hear I’m not a big fruit fan, since I’m a huge dessert creator, but truth be told, I LOVE veggies way more!
So, I shocked even myself with how much I loved this. That ought to tell you how flipping amazing the flavor is. As I mentioned before in my Blueberry Cream Cheese post, I had some issues with getting both the right taste and texture on my previous strawberry cream cheese trials. It takes quite a lot of strawberries to give it a substantial flavor and adding so many fresh ones made the cream cheese way too watery. Not to mention, a nasty mauve color. I even tried cooking down the strawberries and adding it to straight cashew butter, but that didn’t work either.
Then, on a Facebook post on my personal page, I mentioned I was going to be creating a strawberry cake for my daughter’s 4th birthday coming up, and one of my friends suggested that dried strawberries would work really great if I chose to do a strawberry frosting. So, then it hit me, that is what I will use for the cream cheese! (and the future frosting by the way) Then, of course, a few of you suggested that same very idea on that blueberry post, not knowing that was already in the works, lol!
I had to change my base cream cheese ratios a bit to get it just perfect, but the end result is pure strawberry cashew cream cheese perfection. With just 6 ingredients (plus salt & water) and a food processor, you are good to go. It’s amazing what you can create with cashews!
Don’t even think about trying to use fresh strawberries, because you will be highly disappointed! Just warning ya!
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vegan Strawberry Cream Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 cup (140g) raw whole cashews, soaked a minimum of 12 hours, regardless if you have a Vitamix
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons non-dairy plain yogurt
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups (30g) freeze-dried strawberries (do not use fresh, it won't work!)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- I use this scale.
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 on this and don't skip this step. 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. I also did not have luck in my Vitamix because of the less amount of room compared to a food processor.
- After your cashews have soaked, drain them well and add to a food processor. Add the water, lemon juice, pickle juice, apple cider vinegar and salt. 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, because you will be processing again.
- Now, add the dried strawberries and syrup. Process until mixed, scrape down the sides and process again for several minutes. You are going to have to scrape down the sides a few times to get everything combined and then let it run a few minutes until completely smooth. Do not stop until you have it completely smooth. This will setup nice, thick and creamy just like traditional cream cheese.
- Scrape all that amazing strawberry goodness into a container and let it sit to chill for several hours. It will taste flipping amazing straight out of the processor, but even better after it has chilled and set some more.
- Serve on a bagel, toast, straight with a spoon or for an amazing breakfast/dessert, stuff it inside the most amazing Sweet Chocolate Crepes!
Notes
161.7 calories, 10.35 g fat, 4.3 g protein, 14.7 carbs, 7 g sugar, 75.6 mg sodium
I had to make this strawberry spread after the blueberry one was so good. This is AMAZING! Do not skip the long soak – made it so smooth. I used kitehill Greek non dairy yogurt for a little extra protein and it was perfect. Even my husband loved it!
Woohoo I am thrilled to hear this, thank you so much Alisha!
I have a question, can you use dehydrated strawberry powder instead and possibly add a few strawberries to get the chunks in the cream cheese.
This a staple at my house, it’s so good. I use Trader Joe’s freeze dried raspberries instead of the strawberries. I process mine in my NutriBullet and wanted to share a tip. I hate the inevitable amount of deliciousness that gets trapped in the blades and in the cup. What I do after I’ve removed most of my cream cheese from the NutriBullet into my glass jar, is to add some almond milk to the NutriBullet, and process into a creamy raspberry milk which I then store and use on my morning oatmeal. This way I’m not wasting any of the cream cheese down the drain.
I am lost for words, as a kid I would eat strawberry cream cheese out of the container! This is such a wonderful adaptation of a childhood favourite! Thank you for making me feel like a kid again. If I could give this six stars, I would.
Awww, yay, that makes me so happy to hear Ashley!! Thank you for letting me know and sharing your awesome review!
This is just delicious! I made it tonight and even though it wasn’t chilled yet, it was so good I made myself a bagel! Thank you very much for posting this!!
I’m so happy to hear you loved this Valerie, thank you so much for the lovely review! If you get a chance, would you mind leaving the star rating, they help me out so much, thank you!
Made this wonderful cream cheese a couple of days ago. Needed something special to go with bagels. This is it!!! Loved it! Had it on Vegan French Toast Waffles this morning. Who needs Tofutti when this is so much better!