The Cashew Cream Sauce is so easy to make....
Cheese is one of the things I miss the most when eating Paleo. I love all the textures of cheese and their flavors. Except the rind from brie and most blue cheeses, y'all can keep those to yourself.
For some Paleo recipes it feels like something is missing when cheese isn't there, like nachos, or Alfredo. The first few times I went Paleo my cheese cravings were so bad that they ended up ruining the diet for me and I would gorge on dairy after one slip up.
To counter this I began trying different faux cheese recipes. There were some duds out there but I did find a few recipes I liked. Over time I just started creating my own and tweaking it where it needed.
Cashews are the easiest and tastiest for making faux cheese in my opinion. I have seen (and tasted) other nuts used but for my purpose Cashews fit the bill perfectly. They are fatty and creamy on their own so when you blend them up they have a great mouth feel and work well to make a flavorful sauce.
Cashew cream sauce is super easy to whip up. It has less than 5 ingredients and has plenty of uses. You can dollop it on just about anything. Use it just like cheese or sour cream in most recipes.
It has a nutty, almost cheese flavor with a bit of saltiness. It's perfect for curbing your cheese cravings and adds wonderful flavor and texture to your recipes.
Some of my favorite recipes to use this in are my Taco bowls, Paleo nachos, and as a cheese sauce over veggies.
The key to making the sauce smooth is having a high powered blender or food processor. Soaking the cashews also helps soften them so if your blender isn't the greatest you can still achieve a smooth sauce (you can increase the soaking time if you need). Even if you don't get it perfectly smooth it will still taste amazing so don't fret.
PrintCashew Cream Sauce
A creamy and nutty sauce that can substitute cheese when cutting out dairy. It's great for topping Nachos, tacos, as a dip or turned into an Alfredo like sauce.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Cashews
- ⅔ cups Warm water (Plus extra if needed)
- 2 TBS Nutritional Yeast
- 1 tsp Salt
Instructions
- In a high powered blender or food processor combine the cashews and warm water. Let this sit for 5 minutes.
- Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until creamy. Add more water a tablespoon at a time if you wish for a thinner consistency.
- Sauce can be used right away or stored in the fridge for up to a week.
Keywords: Cashew, Cheese, Creamy, dairy free, Gluten free, Non-dairy, Paleo, Sauce
Kam
I've never made this before but I've heard that vegans use this in place of cheese or cheese sauce.
Alycia Louise
Yes it’s very popular with vegans. Which is where I got some of my inspiration for the recipe. Vegans are pretty creative with their cheese alternatives.