Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
Cashew Sour Cream
Vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, no bake/raw, oil-free, refined sugar-free, soy-free
Yield
2 cups (500 mL)
Soak time
1-8 hours
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Total time
Rich and tangy, this vegan sour cream is the perfect complement to My Favourite Vegan Chili or any Mexican entrée. Be sure to soak the cashews (either overnight or using my quick-soak method) before you begin.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (225 g) raw cashews, soaked
- 3/4 cup (180 mL) water
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- Scant 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Directions
- Place cashews in a bowl and cover with water. Soak overnight or for 8 hours if you have the time. For a quick-soak method, pour boiling water over the cashews and soak for 1 hour. Rinse and drain.
- Place the drained cashews in a high-speed blender.
- Add the water, lemon, vinegar, and salt. Blend on high until super smooth. You might have to stop to scrape down the blender now and then or add a touch more water to get it going.
- Transfer into a small, air-tight container and chill in the fridge. It makes 2 cups. The cream will thicken up as it chills. The cream will keep in the fridge for about 1 week. You can also freeze it for up to 1 month. I like to freeze it in silicone mini muffin cups. Once solid, transfer the cups into a freezer-safe zip bag for easy grab and go portions.
Made this last night and it was delicious!!!! So easy to make and you could easily freeze.
Just had the left overs for lunch yummmmm.
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it, Jill! :)
Made this for the first time tonight. Did the short soak and it was very easy to whip up while my potatoes were baking in the oven. Wasn’t sure how I was going to pass this as sour cream with the boys. Thought I’d have leftovers to freeze. They loved it. My 14 year old almost ate the whole bowl by himself. My pickier 20 yo loved it. Thank you for this recipe. So much better than finishing a whole tub of dairy sour cream.
Hi Angelica, I am so happy your boys loved the cashew sour cream! It’s always my goal to make vegan recipes that will please everyone – meat eaters, kids, and “picky” eaters included – so it’s wonderful to hear when I’ve been successful. Thank you! :)
Hi Angela,
Do you think the cashew sour cream would freeze well? I’d like to make a big batch to use with your other Mexican recipes. I was dreaming of dolloping this on top of your Life-Affirming Warm Nacho Dip from the cookbook, too….drool….
I’m wondering the same thing. I had it today on the vegan chili. (My Favourite Vegan Chili). It is so delicious!
Christine
It freezes perfectly, just make sure to mix it well after reheating!
Enjoyed the vegan enchiladas yesterday at my vegan cuisine group.
I made this for dinner tonight and we all loved it. My 17 month old kept saying mmmmmm lol I used cashew sour cream instead of the avo cashew cheese and was so good! Thanks for the recipe
I love love love this cashew sour cream! Sometimes, I look for recipes to make that will go with it, just so I can eat it.
This seems like a silly question, but if you put it in the mini silicone muffin cups, do you need to cover them? If so, how? I can’t seem to find any with covers. Also, are comments the best way to reach you? I don’t see any contact button on the website.
I think she means to just put them in the freezer for 30 minutes until they are solid, then you transfer the portions to a ziploc bag before storing in the freezer.
Hey Christine,
I’m sorry I missed your comment! My comments go to moderation now so I won’t miss any in the future. :)
Yes, Rachel is right…once the cubes/cups are frozen pop them out and transfer them into a freezer safe zip bag or container. I hope this helps!
My daughter made these for us on a recent visit, and they are fabulous! We had them in Tortillas, but I’m making them right now for my husband and me and will use lettuce wraps. I love the crunch of the walnuts, and just love this recipe, thank you!
I have shared this recipe with my whole family and they prefer it to dairy! It tastes clean and fresh and it is so versatile. Angela, you never disappoint :)
Do you think this would be good over the roasted butternut squash salad? I love it without, but we are having this for company so I thought I would add roasted Brussel sprouts as I always do, garbonzo beans to made it more substantial, and maybe the cashew cream?
I was wondering if this would work baked in a casserole?
I’ve not tried this yet, but I believe it would be possible, owing to the fat content of cashews. Not certain, though.
It works very well in a baked dish, I used it in a pasta bake with spinach and artichoke and was very delicious.
A friend recently introduced me to Oh She Glows. I made the Cashew Sour Cream this week as topper for white bean chili and as a dip for my veggie-stix-to-go— Yummy! I will be passing on this recipe (and website) to my friends and family! thanks, Angela for sharing this:) I will be exploring and trying more of your recipes! Yay for nutritious and delicious foods!
Thanks for spreading the love, Garreth! So glad you enjoyed the recipe, and I hope you love whatever you try next just as well.
Hey there! Is there any other vinegar I could use as a substitute? I have red wine vinegar and rice vinegar but no ACV! Thank you. Love your website so much.
Hi there! I wanted to ask if it would be possible to use unsalted steamed (“regular”) cashews for this, rather than raw? Reason I ask is because I have had bad reactions to even traces of the oil compounds of the cashew shell when in contact with raw cashews. Granted, it was only on my skin, but the reaction wasn’t good, so it makes me hesitant to use raw cashews. Do you know if the soaking process would leech out any possible oil traces on the nuts? Or can I go ahead with steamed cashews? Thank you!
Hey Minda, Oh I wish I knew the answer to your question! I am stumped over here and would hate to give you the wrong answer. I haven’t tried using regular cashews to make the cream yet, but I will have to try it out sometime. If you try anything please let us know. :)
No worries, I actually researched it a bit, and found out that the toxic resin present in the shells of truly raw cashews is not present in commercially sold cashews. I found out that raw cashews from any store are actually not raw, they are always steamed in their shells before being packaged for sale; the steaming gets rid of the resin. I should have figured… :) I was just paranoid about it since I’ve handled truly raw cashew and their shells, and that turned out to be a very bad idea, hehe. Sorry for wasting your time, when I should have tried to do more in-depth research in the first place, lol! So yes, “raw” cashews are not actually raw, but always steamed. D’oh! :D
Hi,
No picture for the ”Cashew Sour Cream”
I’m sorry to say this didn’t work due to the added 3/4 cup of water – it was just too watery and i don’t understand how it worked for everyone else? Usually all of Angela’s recipes are perfect so i’m really surprised.
It is too watery right out of the blender, but after it is in the refrigerator for a while I find that it has the perfect consistency. I tried it with the favourite vegan chili (which is the BEST vegan chili I have tried). Served it to vegetarian and omnivore friends and everyone loved the chili and the sour cream. I had to share the recipe for both. Now I use it with bean burritos, soup, you name it. It is great!
We were very pleasantly surprised by how good this is! Just the right balance of tang and creaminess. (We made up a small batch to try it by cutting the recipe into a third: 1/2c cashews, 1/4 water, 2t lemon, 2t vinegar, 1/8t salt).
Looking forward to having it on chili and burritos tonight. :)
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the test batch, Sherri! Hope the chili and burritos were delish. :)
I made this today and used it in a vegan stroganoff. It was perfect! I’ll be making this one a lot!! Thanks!
Yum :) I made this to go with your ridiculously tasty Veggie Chili and I’ve already eaten 4 bowls in the past 24 hours. I added a bit more apple cider and lemon juice though to get the tartness a little stronger. Like the site a lot, thanks!
Perfect! Thanks so much for this wonderful vegan sour cream. I am planning on using it today in a Tzatziki sauce recipe. I only made 1/3 of a batch, but will definitely be making more for dips, as a side to Mexican food, chili… No more grainy store bought sour cream for this gal.
Can’t wait to try the cashew sour cream
Hope you enjoy it, Julie!