This Vegan Garden Veggie Cream Cheese is my favorite cream cheese. Its cashew cheese base is tangy. Its tiny match-stick diced carrots and thinly sliced scallions add fresh, delicate flavors and textures.
I have happy memories of eating garden veggie cream cheese on toasted bagels from Bruegger’s when I was a freshman in college. I miss the late 90’s.
Have It Your Way
The Garden Veggie cream cheese from Bruegger’s had tiny diced red peppers with the carrots and scallions. I prefer it with just carrots and scallions or chives. You can mix whatever veggies you would like into your cream cheese. Into spicy? Try jalapeños. Italian? Dice up some hydrated or oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes and mince some fresh basil.
Veggie To Cream Cheese Ratio
I like a lot of veggie pieces in my cream cheese. I do a 1:1 ratio of veggies to cream cheese. If you live with someone who loves this cream cheese but doesn’t understand why you would put veggies in it, you might not want to turn the entire batch into Garden Veggie Cream Cheese. Often I do 1/2 cup cream cheese with 1/4 matchstick diced carrots and 1/4 cup sliced scallions and/or chives.
Ways To Eat This Vegan Garden Veggie Cream Cheese:
- Spread on Rosemary Oven-Baked Sun-Dried Tomato Whole Flaxseed Crackers a.k.a. Flackers
- On a Toasted Killer Dave’s Everything Bagel with sprouts and other sliced veggies. Sometimes I even hit the toasted bagel with Earth Balance before adding the cream cheese, it’s glorious.
- On cucumber slices or celery sticks
Ingredient Notes
Raw Cashews
Raw cashews aren’t actually raw. Referred to as raw cashews when they are unroasted and unsalted, actual raw cashews are not suitable for human consumption. Cashews are steamed to remove an outer toxin, here’s a more elegant explanation. This recipe uses unsalted, unroasted “raw” cashews. Oh, and cashews are seeds, not nuts.
Cashew Soaking Liquid or Water
You may need more or less than 1/3 cup. Use more for a softer dip style, or if you need more liquid to get it creamy. Use less liquid if you want a firm Philly style cheese, around 1/4 cup, this will set up in the fridge and get firmer.
Caper Juice
Hold back the capers with a fork and use 1 teaspoon of the juice from the jar in this recipe. You can sub pickle juice if you don’t have caper juice.
The Nooch
Nutritional yeast is gluten-free. As always, check your labels. This brand is labeled gluten-free. I always use and recommend unfortified nutritional yeast. The fortified stuff can taste synthetic or vitamin-y. I take this B12 supplement instead of getting it through nooch. Both vegans and non-vegans may have difficulty getting enough B12.
Let’s Make Vegan Garden Veggie Cream Cheese
Put all ingredients except the veggies in the food processor.
Turn the food processor on high and walk away. Let it go for about 5 minutes, interrupting to scrape down sides with a spatula in order to help everything get incorporated.
Place in a glass bowl mix in veggies with a spatula and chill until cold.
It will set up in the fridge and become thicker. If you let it chill overnight or longer it will become tangier. It’s worth the wait. However, we often go at this with crackers right out of the blender.
Notes
If you’d like this to be more like a dip (more spreadable and less firm) use 1/2 cup or more cashew soaking liquid instead of 1/3 cup cashew soaking liquid or water. Use less liquid if you want a firm Philly-style cheese, around 1/4 cup. This will set up in the fridge and get firmer. Process for 5 minutes or longer to get it creamy, especially when using less liquid.
Vegan Garden Veggie Cream Cheese
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 2 cups unroasted, unsalted "raw" cashews measured then soaked overnight in water, drained, set aside soaking water.
- ⅓ cup soaking water from cashews or just water You may need more or less (use more for a softer dip style, or if you need more liquid to get it creamy) use less if you want a firm Philly style cheese, around 1/4 cup, (this will set up in the fridge and get firmer).
- ¼ cup lemon juice about a lemon's worth
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 teaspoon caper juice
- ½ cup unfortified nutritional yeast link goes to gluten-free labeled, nutritional yeast is naturally gluten-free.
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
Veggies
- 1 cup carrots matchstick dice (Brunoise)
- 1 cup scallions or chives thinly sliced
Instructions
- Put all ingredients except the veggies in the food processor.
- Turn the food processor on high and walk away. Let it go for about 5 minutes, interrupting to scrape down sides with a spatula in order to help everything get incorporated.
- Place in a glass bowl mix in veggies with a spatula and chill until cold. It will set up in the fridge and become thicker. If you let it chill overnight or longer it will become tangier. It's worth the wait. However, we often go at this with crackers right out of the blender.
Notes
Optional Ingredients
The Garden Veggie cream cheese from Bruegger’s had tiny diced red peppers with the carrots and scallions. I prefer it with just carrots and scallions or chives. You can mix whatever veggies into your cream cheese you would like. Into spicy? Try jalapeños. Italian? Dice up some hydrated or oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes and mince some fresh basil.Veggie To Cream Cheese Ratio
I like a lot of veggie pieces in my cream cheese. I do a 1:1 ratio of veggies to cream cheese. If you live with someone who loves this cream cheese but doesn’t understand why you would put veggies in it, you might not want to turn the entire batch into Garden Veggie Cream Cheese. Often I do 1/2 cup cream cheese with 1/4 matchstick diced carrots and 1/4 cup sliced scallions and/or chives. www.planttestkitchen.comNutrition
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Looking for more vegan cheese recipes? Try this Green Cashew-Fu Ricotta (a.k.a vegan cashew tofu ricotta), this Yippee-Ki-Yay Holiday Vegan Cheese Ball, or this Holy Grail Vegan Cheese Sauce.
Did you make this Vegan Garden Veggie Cream Cheese?
Did it bring back any memories for you? Will you be making it again? Which veggies or herbs did you use? Did you eat it with a toasted bagel or crackers? Tell me about it below in the comments section below.
Vegan Garden Veggie Cream Cheese and the Flax Seed Crackers are AMAZING! My husband loved both of these recipes and had no idea that they are vegan. Delicious!