Almond Cream Cheese
Prep. Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
5 minutes
Servings
3.5oz/100g
Difficulty
Easy
Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, dairy-free, egg-free
Stovetop
Cooking required:
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Most days I grab store-bought plant-based sour cream - it’s easy and consistent - but the price adds up fast. This almond version solves that. You blend almonds, heat the mixture, and strain it to the texture you want. No culturing, no specialty ingredients.
Almonds carry the fat and body, a small amount of acid helps it set, and straining is what transforms it from a spoonable yogurt to thick sour cream to a soft, spreadable cheese. I keep it looser for dips or tighter for bagels and wraps, depending on what we are planning for that day.
Short shelf life is the tradeoff, but it’s cheap, flexible, and actually useful across multiple meals, which is why it earns a spot in my fridge.
So how do you make a vegan almond cream cheese? In short - it's made by blending soaked almonds with water, heating the mixture, then straining it to your desired thickness—no culturing required.
Ingredients
1 cup silvered almonds
2 cups filtered or pre-boiled (cool) water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp sugar
Instructions
Pour the strained almond milk into a small pot.
Add salt, sugar, vinegar and lemon juice.
Bring to a gentle boil, and cook for about 5 minutes on simmer.
Cool the cheese mixture entirely before moving to the next step. As it cools, it should start to look a little separated/curdled.
Pour the cooled mixture through the yogurt filter again. Let it drain while refrigerated for at least 2 hours, or preferably, cover and refrigerate overnight to set up (longer = thicker result).
Notes
If you have a specific preferred flavor in mind for the end-result, adjust the result while it's cooking. For example, add more sweetener or none at all, as preferred/needed.
I used a yogurt filter for this process, but it can certainly work with a cheese cloth as well. The difference is technical only - if you are using a cheese cloth, be sure to place it hanging above a fitted clean container, so that the milk can drip into it, and that you have a container or a mold to place the yogurt thereafter, to let it form.
