This 5-minute Tofu Cream Cheese is a surprisingly tasty spread to make your breakfast protein-packed and delicious. If you are craving a Bagel and Cream Cheese sandwich this vegan (dairy-free, oil-free, gluten-free) version will not leave you hanging.
We love savory breakfasts, not to mention quick savory recipes. The all-time favorite is this 5-minute Oil-free Hummus, but we love to mix it up with some Tofu Cream Cheese or with some Roasted Veggie Spreads. If we have a little bit more than 5 minutes, we love to make our Savory French Toast with Bruschetta. Or roll up some veggie-packed Cream Cheese Pinwheels.
Why Tofu Cream Cheese?
As far as commercial brands go these 4 seems to be the most popular store-bought vegan cream cheese brands:
- Daiya Cream Cheese Style Spread (made from coconut oil)
- Violife Creamy Original (made from coconut oil)
- Kite Hill Cream Cheese Style Spread (made from cultured almond milk)
- Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese (made from soy/tofu)
Personally, we love Violife Creamy Original and Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese. They both very good in taste and in texture, but there are just so many ingredients. On one hand, I understand that they want to make it EXACTLY like dairy cream cheese. On the other hand, do we really need an EXACT match?
We fell in love with this tofu cheese cream recipe despite it doesn’t quite taste like a store-bought one.
- I mean can you really make exactly the same cream cheese as Philadelphia at home? I don’t think so.
- But can you make a cream cheese that you’ll love without any unpronounceable ingredients? Sure, you can.
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Ingredients of our Dairy-free Cream Cheese
This homemade cream cheese is cheezy, tangy, spreadable, with only 6 ingredients and ready in 5 minutes. And what are these ingredients?
- firm tofu (drained)
- cashew nuts (soaked)
- nutritional yeast
- fresh lemon juice
- apple cider vinegar
- salt
I can definitely spell all ingredients here. 🙂
How to make Tofu Cream Cheese?
You can time it, but you will need 3 minutes tops to prepare all the ingredients. With prepare, I mean mostly just measure. Measure the cashew nuts, the nutritional yeast, and the apple cider vinegar. Soak cashews in boiling hot water for 5-15 minutes. Squeeze some lemon juice. Unpack and drain your tofu.
We added all ingredients to our Vitamix blender and blended it for 2 minutes until we got smooth cream cheese. Done! 5 minutes! You can use a food processor or other blender, but you may need to compromise on creaminess a bit, but not on taste.
Useful tips to make hummus in Vitamix
- Turn on the Vitamix and slowly increase the speed to the maximum.
- Use the tamper to push down the ingredients, if anything stuck to the sides.
- Add liquid ingredients first, then the dry ingredients.
- When ready, use a silicone spatula to gently scrape all the yummy cream cheese out of the container.
- We have a Vitamix with a 64 oz (2-liter) wet container in which 13 oz (380 g) is the minimum you need to make cream cheese.
Tofu Cream Cheese Flavors
I would say our favorite cream cheese flavor is garlic & herbs, tomato & basil, and scallion & chives. But there are so many unique combinations so you can make cream cheese every week with different seasoning and never get bored with it.
Garlic & Herbs Cream Cheese
If we make garlic & herbs tofu cream cheese, we’d like to add 1/4 cup herbs (dill and parsley, mixed, freshly chopped) and 2 tsp garlic powder to our 13-oz tofu base.
Tomato & Basil Cream Cheese
If we make tomato & basil cream cheese, we’d like to add 1/4 cup basil (freshly chopped) and 2 Tbsp tomato paste to our 13-oz tofu base. To make it extra zingy, you can add 1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes.
Scallion & Chives Cream Cheese
It is a classic cream cheese flavor I would say. We usually add 1/4 cup freshly chopped scallion and chives mixed to our 13-oz tofu base.
More cream cheese flavors
I found this useful infographic with 12 different flavors on Sheknows.com that can get you a ton of ideas.
What to eat with Vegan Cream Cheese?
You can eat tofu cream cheese as a spread
- to make delicious breakfast sandwiches – I love a good old veggie-packed sandwich (pictured below) with thinly sliced raw cucumber and carrots, a bit of romaine lettuce or iceberg lettuce and avocado slices in between two layers of garlic and herbs cream cheese.
- to make vegan tea sandwiches for brunch – Tiny, thinly sliced crustless cucumber and spinach sandwiches with scallion and chives cream cheese are sure a crowd-pleaser.
- to make cream cheese roll-ups – Spread a generous amount of tomato and basil cream cheese on a tortilla wrap and add raw bell pepper, corn, cucumber, carrot, avocado, lettuce… (or even better roasted zucchini, eggplant and bell pepper) and tightly roll them up and eat it or slice them into pinwheels.
Or as a dip
- It is a great alternative to hummus to dip cucumber, carrot, or celery sticks in it. Perfect appetizer for your next gathering. May it be Mother’s Day Brunch or 4th of July or anything else.
Let us know your favorite combination in the comments!
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FAQs and Substitutions
Why do you need to soak cashews?
First, it breaks down the phytic acid and enhances nutrient absorption for better digestion. Second, easier to blend and work with. If you have a high power blender, you only need like 5 minutes in hot water to soften them up a bit. – source
Can you use roasted and/or salted cashews?
Yes and yes. Roasted cashew tastes awesome. If you have only salted cashews on hand, no worries wash the salt off with a sieve and strainer and you are good to go.
How to store tofu cream cheese?
You can easily store it in the fridge in an airtight container for a week without any problem.
Can you freeze tofu cream cheese?
Yes, you can. We recommend that you freeze them in smaller batches, so it can be easily thawed.
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More condiment recipes
You can browse through our Vegan Condiment Recipes or check out
- Hearty Marinara Sauce
- Easy Cashew Alfredo Sauce
- Easy Coleslaw Dressing
- Dairy-free Sour Cream
- Peanut Butter (stay tuned!)
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5-minute Tofu Cream Cheese
Equipment
Ingredients
Tofu cream cheese base
- 13 oz Firm tofu 380 g
- 1/3 cup Cashew nuts
- 2 Tbsp Nutritional yeast
- 2 Tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 tsp Apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp Salt
Garlic & Herbs flavored (optional)
- 2 tsp Garlic powder
- 1/4 cup Dill and parsley (mixed) freshly chopped
Tomato & Basil flavored (optional)
- 2 Tbsp Tomato paste
- 1/4 cup Basil freshly chopped
- 1/4 cup Sun-dried tomatoes chopped
Scallion & Chives flavored (optional)
- 1/4 cup Scallion and chives (mixed) freshly chopped
Instructions
- Soak cashews in boiling hot water for 5 minutes. If you have a regular blender, soak them a bit longer like 15-20 minutes to soften them up.
- Drain the tofu and crumble it with a fork for easier blending.
- Add all ingredients (tofu crumble, soaked cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and salt) to a blender and blend them until you get smooth cream cheese.
- Mix in the ingredients for optional flavors with a spatula, when the cream cheese is ready. Store it in an airtight container for up to a week.
Notes
Useful tips to make hummus in Vitamix
- Turn on the Vitamix and slowly increase the speed to the maximum.
- Use the tamper to push down the ingredients, if anything stuck to the sides.
- Add liquid ingredients first, then the dry ingredients.
- When ready, use a silicone spatula to gently scrape all the yummy cream cheese out of the container.
- We have a Vitamix with a 64 oz (2-liter) wet container in which 13 oz (380 g) is the minimum you need to make cream cheese.
Natalie
Hi there, I only have silken tofu in the fridge, can I use that instead?
My Pure Plants
Yes, they should work. Your cream cheese will be even creamier.