Cashew Cream seems all the rage these days and with good reason! It’s pretty tasty stuff and for me, that’s saying a lot because I don’t even like cashews, at least not the roasted, salted kind that I’ve previously tried. The first time I served this cashew cream alfredo sauce to my family I was pretty excited about it and told them all about how it was made with cashews and isn’t that amazing. Let’s just say, my enthusiasm was not matched! Everyone tried it, but it didn’t get rave reviews. My husband didn’t mind it, but he didn’t say he loved it either. I was pretty bummed, because I thought it was really good. So, after another month or so, I served “Alfredo Sauce” over some pre-made ravioli and did not elaborate on what was in the sauce. Sure enough, they all gobbled it up!! Success!
The important thing to remember when making/using cashew cream, is that you have to soak the raw cashews in water for a few hours before you use them. They need to soak at least a couple hours to get soft enough to puree really smooth, but longer is better – if you can remember to put them to soak in the morning, they’ll be ready when you get home to make dinner.
Cashew Cream Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup of raw cashews that you soaked and drained
- 1 cup of water
- Dash of olive oil
- 1-4 garlic cloves chopped
- ¼ - ½ cup Nutritional yeast I used ½ cup and the taste was strong which I like. I’d start with ¼ cup and see how you like it – you can always add more to taste.
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat up a sauté pan on med heat. When it’s nice and hot (you can sprinkle a tiny bit of water and if it sizzles, it’s ready), put a small bit of olive oil in the pan.
- Add the garlic and shake the pan or stir the garlic so it cooks nice and evenly.
- Put the soaked cashews and 1 cup fresh water (not the soaking water) into a blender and puree until very smooth. I have the heavy duty, nutri-bullet that works great. I think any powerful blender or food processor should work, just make sure to blend until nice and smooth. You can add a little extra water if your blender needs a little help with this. This part is the cashew cream – have a taste. It looks like heavy cream and I think it has a sweetness like cream also; it’s pretty unexpected the first time you try it.
- Pour the cashew cream into the sauté pan with the garlic. Whisk it to mix in the garlic and make it nice and smooth.
- Add the nutritional yeast and whisk until smooth. Start with the small amount of nutritional yeast and you can add more if you like it. I’ve found people either love or hate nutritional yeast – I’m on the love it side of the equation.
- You can make the sauce thinner by adding a little water or thicker by letting it cook a bit longer.
- That’s it! Pour this over pasta or veges and you’ve got a vegan meal ready to go.
- I think it’s pretty impressive and rich tasting, certainly very filling for a meatless meal.
I’ve had a hard time finding raw cashews and nutritional yeast in the grocery store. You can probably find them at your local health food store or the healthier chain grocery stores. I usually order mine in bulk from amazon.