This delicious sun-dried tomato cashew cheese spread is creamy and oh-so-cheesy! It’s perfect as a spread or dip and super easy to make.
This sun-dried tomato cashew cheese is absolutely delicious spread on crackers. Or you can dip your raw veggies in it, or put a dollop of it on your salad.
Want to have a little cheese and wine set up – vegan style? This’ll do the trick!
Here’s the thing about cheese! Most people are crazy about it! ‘I could never give up cheese’ is often what people say as the reason they could never be dairy free.
But these days there is just so much good vegan cheese out there that ‘giving it up’ is not required.
And then the fact that you can make homemade versions of cheese like vegan cheese sauce, vegan parmesan and vegan cream cheese, really takes the deprivation right out of the equation, which is awesome – no one likes deprivation.
You need a powerful blender to get your cashew cheese spread to the right consistency, and the Vitamix blender stick (called a tamper) comes in hugely handy when blending up this thick spreadable cheese. But if you don’t have a powerful blender then don’t worry, you can make this in a food processor too.
The end result is so wow. Creamy, salty and smooth and cheesy in all the best ways, like the most creamy cream cheese spread.
You’ll love spreading it on crackers, or dipping your raw veggies in it.
The sun dried tomato flavor works so well in this recipe, bringing out the other flavors to perfection!
And if you love this recipe, you’ll also love our vegan queso and our vegan nacho cheese. And if you’re a fan of sun-dried tomatoes then try our sun-dried tomato pesto.
Ingredients You’ll Need To Make This Cashew Spread:
Ingredient Notes
- Sun-dried tomatoes – can be in oil or vinaigrette, but drain them before using them.
- Dried basil – is stirred through the cashew cheese spread right before serving.
- Lemon juice – should ideally be freshly squeezed as that has the best flavor, but bottled will also work.
- Raw cashews – are soaked for 1 hour beforehand to make this cashew cheese spread the creamiest and smoothest texture possible.
- White vinegar (Distilled) – creates the best cheesy flavor in this recipe. You could use apple cider vinegar in a pinch but I highly recommend distilled white vinegar, it is the absolute best for flavor.
- Coconut cream – should be canned and unsweetened. This helps the cashew cheese spread to thicken as well and become a really wonderful spreadable texture. You could also use full fat, canned, unsweetened coconut milk.
How To Make Sun Dried Tomato Cashew Cheese Spread
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Add raw cashews to a bowl. Pour over boiling hot water from the kettle until the cashews are completely submerged. Leave them to soak for 1 hour. After 1 hour, drain and rinse the cashews.
- Add the soaked cashews to a blender jug along with lemon juice, coconut cream, distilled white vinegar, salt, onion powder and sun dried tomatoes.
- Blend until smooth.
- Move to a bowl and add dried basil. Stir it in.
- Your cashew cheese spread is ready to serve!
Serving Suggestions
Serve this as a spread or dip for crackers or toast or as a dip for raw veggies. It’s also divine spread on sandwiches or on top of a vegan burger.
Blender or Food Processor
If you don’t have a powerful blender then it would be better to make this cashew spread in the food processor. It may not come out quite as smooth but it will still be totally delicious.
Storing and Freezing
Keep it stored in the fridge in a covered container and enjoy within 5 days. It is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge and then mix it up very well again before serving.
More Cashew Recipes
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Sun Dried Tomato Cashew Cheese Spread
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Raw Cashews (225g) soaked for 1 hour in hot water
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice Freshly squeezed
- ½ cup Coconut Cream (120ml) Canned, Unsweetened
- 1 teaspoon Distilled White Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 5 Sun Dried Tomatoes
- ½ teaspoon Dried Basil
Instructions
- Add raw cashews to a bowl. Pour over boiling hot water from the kettle until the cashews are completely submerged. Leave them to soak for 1 hour. After 1 hour, drain and rinse the cashews.
- Add the soaked cashews to a blender jug along with lemon juice, coconut cream, distilled white vinegar, salt, onion powder and sun dried tomatoes.
- Blend until smooth.
- Move to a bowl and add dried basil. Stir it in.
- Your cashew cheese spread is ready to serve!
Notes
- Coconut cream – should be canned and unsweetened. You could also use full fat, canned, unsweetened coconut milk.
- Lemon juice – should ideally be freshly squeezed as that has the best flavor, but bottled will also work.
- Sun dried tomatoes – can be in oil or vinaigrette, but drain them before using them.
- Blender or food processor: If you don’t have a powerful blender then it would be better to make this in the food processor. It may not come out quite as smooth but it will still be totally delicious.
- Storing and freezing: Keep it stored in the fridge in a covered container and enjoy within 5 days. It is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge and then mix it up very well again before serving.
- This recipe has been updated with new photos and an improved recipe.
I made this in my Magic Bullet. I did not use the coconut cream, but used 4 tablespoons of water, and only 1 cup of cashews (I ran out). I didn’t soak the cashews – the consistency is thick, not quite solid – more like hummus, but course, but I like it. I also Mediterranean herb mix and no dried tomato – still came out really good tasting.
Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Sam!
This “cheese” is delicious! It is the first vegan cheese recipe I actually enjoy. I soaked the cashews just to be in the safe side since my blender isn’t the greatest. It tastes amazing with sliced carrots! I must try more of your recipes now.
Thanks Toni!
Really lovely & tangy. Thanks so much. I had some on crackers & with chili chips —this dip is perfect.
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for posting Nikki!
This is one of our favorite spreads! I think I’ve made it three times already in the month since we went full on vegan. Even my mother in law loves it and she despises tomatoes! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Awesome! Thanks Dessica!
Do you use oil packed or dry sun-dried tomatoes? Eager to try this!
You can use either/or, but if you’re using the ones in oil then drain them before adding them in. 🙂
Very nice. Easy to make and delicious to eat. I’m going to make this again for Christmas. I made it with a food processor and it turned out great. Thank you
Great to hear that Elaine! Thanks a million! 🙂
My husband and I loved this cheese recipe! We have moved abroad, and it’s not easy to find nutritional yeast where we currently live. All my previous cashew cheeses were made with yeast. I was trying to find something we like without it. And I was lucky to discover this recipe! Thank you very much for sharing! I add two cloves of garlic and some dry basil.
Hi Lena! So pleased you liked the recipe! And awesome to hear about your adjustments, basil and garlic are great additions! Thanks for posting and the fabulous review! 🙂
I made the sliceable cheese! What a taste! DELICIOUS! This is a FIVE STAR RECIPE. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Awesome! So glad you loved it Bea! 🙂 Thanks for posting!
I had almost given up on vegan cheese recipes that I can make out of cashews because it never turned out to be anything that I would really want to eat but this was a very delicious recipe. I would definitely give this a 5-star rating. I had all of the ingredients on hand and it came together very quickly.
So happy to hear Sue! Thanks for posting!
Is this considered raw?
Yes it is!
Thank you! 🙂 I bought the stuff today can’t wait to try it!
Saw it. Made it! Really good. I had made some dehydrated kale avocado crackers which, I’ll be honest, tasted kind of like lawn clippings but the cashew cheese has saved them totally. Yay! Also, I made it in my sad little old food processor, without soaking the nuts. Just added some water and it was fine.
Yay! So cool that it saved the dehydrated crackers (lol)! And thanks for letting us know how it worked out in your food processor (without any pre-soaking). Super helpful info for others giving it a bash 🙂