Easy peasy Nut Free Vegan Cream Cheese is creamy, thick and delicious to the taste buds! It’s made with healthy ingredients and works great as a spread on toast or bagels or in sandwiches.
I am so happy to come with this oil free and healthy vegan cream cheese recipe. Now, it’s my all-time favorite spread. I keep it ready in my refrigerator most of the days and enjoy it as and when I am hungry.
Now, lunch for me has become pretty easy and doable. I quickly spread this cream cheese on my bread slices and stuff it with veggies. VOILA! I am done within minutes. Since it is nut free, I can send this to my daughter’s school lunch box as well.
Ingredients for Nut free Vegan Cream Cheese
Sunflower seeds – it gives a base to this recipe plus makes it nut free. Its healthy and low in calories too.
Extra firm tofu – Its high in protein and low in carbohydrates. In addition, it adds to its texture and creaminess.
Lemon juice – This brings the tangy flavor to this spread. Besides it is high in vitamin C.
Apple cider vinegar – It gives a sweet tangy aroma and flavor to this recipe. Moreover, it has many health benefits.
Dairy free milk – This not only adds calcium to this recipe but helps in further creamy texture.
Onion powder – This gives a subtle gentle herb kind of a flavor to this cream cheese.
Powdered white sugar – Since tofu does not have a taste of its own and mostly bland, sugar adds a balance to this recipe.
Salt – it is used to season and provide a balance of taste to this vegan cream cheese in all respect.
How to make this Nut free Vegan Cream Cheese
Firstly, I soaked sunflower seeds in hot boiling water for only 5 minutes. Then, I drained it and kept it aside.
In my second step, I combined the drained sunflower seeds, tofu, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and milk in a food processor. Further, I processed it smooth by scraping it once.
Later, I spooned it out into a mixing bowl. Thereafter, I stirred in onion powder, sugar and salt.
Lastly, I refrigerated it for a minimum of 3 hours so that all the ingredients blends together very well. This step not only brings out its best texture but enhances its flavor too making it very close to the traditional one.
Now, take it out of the refrigerator and use it over your toast/bagel/sandwiches.
Expert tips:
- Unsweetened tetra pack coconut milk/oat milk/hemp milk works best for this recipe.
- In fact, the best way to enjoy this vegan cream cheese is to blend it before sleeping and refrigerate it overnight. Just before using it stir this spread nicely and enjoy.
- Most importantly, do not substitute apple cider vinegar with white vinegar. Even though we use it in a very quantity here but it plays a vital role in this recipe.
Frequently asked questions:
- This cream cheese lasts for about 2 weeks in the refrigerator in an air tight glass container.
- Tofu does not require to be pressed for this recipe. However, it needs to be drained for sure.
- It is important to use unsalted and raw with NO shell sunflower seeds to get the right taste of this cheese spread.
- It works great as a sandwich spread or on toast/bagel. In addition, it works excellent as a dip too.
My other popular dips/spreads are:
Oil free Vegan Mayo
Fire Roasted Jalapeno Dip
Tofu Sriracha Dressing
Sriracha Mango Dip
Red Bean Hummus Dip
If you are looking for homemade bagels to pair with this recipe:
Habanero Cashew Sauce Bagels
Butternut Squash Amaranth Bagels
If you get a chance to make this recipe then please leave your feedback in the comments below along with the ratings. In addition, you may tag @kiipfit on Instagram because I love to see what you cook in your kitchen.
Nut Free Vegan Cream Cheese
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds (raw with no shell and unsalted)
- 1/2 of 15 oz extra firm tofu ( not silken)
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp dairy free milk
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp powdered white sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Soak sunflower seeds in hot boiling water for 5
minutes. Darin it and keep it aside. - In the food processor/blender combine drained
sunflower seeds, tofu, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and dairy free milk. Blend
it smooth until creamy. Stop at intervals if required to scrape from the
bottom. - Spoon it out into a glass mixing bowl and stir in
onion powder, sugar and salt. (Do not steel mixing bowl as lemon juice might react to it and the taste of this spread might change). - Cover and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours.
- Take it out and spread it over your bagels/toast/sandwiches and
enjoy.
Notes
- Preferably unsweetened tetra pack coconut milk tastes best in this recipe. However, unsweetened almond milk/oat milk/hemp milk can also be used.
- The tofu here does not need to be pressed but drain the excess water from the package.
- This recipe tastes best the next day. The longer they stay in the refrigerator the better this cream cheese tastes. Therefore, let it rest a minimum of 3 hours before spreading it over your toast/bagel/sandwiches.
- Refrigerate the leftovers in an air tight glass container about 2 weeks.
- This recipe makes about 1 ¾ cups.
- I have provided step wise images in the post above for your reference.
Nutrition
What an awesome recipe! Thanks for sharing! I can’t wait to try it out! I will need to keep this recipe in my kitchen. What a great substitute for cream cheese – something I use very often in the kitchen!