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An easy recipe for savoury garlic herb vegan almond cheese spread that's bursting with flavour and can be used in many ways. It's great on crackers, sandwiches, and as a veggie dip!
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Confession: I have yet to try a store-bought vegan cheese I like.
And that's not to say that there aren't any good ones out there. I just haven't had a good one that I like yet (Is there one that you love? Tell me about it in the comments!).
So when it comes to vegan cheese products from the store, I just stay away. However, I got a little curious with all the vegan cashew cheese recipes out there and decided to try something with almonds.
What I came up with is this garlic herb vegan almond cheese spread that's bursting with flavour and can be used in so many ways.
So why didn't I just make a cashew cheese recipe when there are already so many to be found on the internet?
I can't.
A family member has a severe allergy so I cannot have cashews in the house. And I'm fine with that, I've never had cashew cheese, so it's not like I feel as if I'm missing something. Quite the opposite. Especially when I have my vegan almond cheese spread!
Since coming up with this recipe, I have been putting it on everything. Like the hot sauce lady. You know who I mean 🙂
I LOVE it slathered on a good veggie sandwich or on a toasted bagel and especially on crackers:
There aren't too many ingredients needed to put this recipe together and the ingredients aren't complicated (simple like my easy kale chips!).
What is Nutritional Yeast?
The one ingredient you may not have tried before is the nutritional yeast. If you haven't used it before, it can be used in many ways and is used in many vegan recipes, so buy a bag and put it in everything you want to give a little "cheesy" flavour to.
This recipe is also very easy and straightforward. The hardest part is being patient while the almonds soak. They need to soak for 24-hours, so be sure to plan ahead.
After the almonds have soaked, I don't peel the skin off, but you can if you'd like.
I skip that step because the skin becomes so soft after being soaked that it makes no difference to the recipe since it doesn't change the taste or the texture.
The only way you know the skin is still there is because you see the light brown specks in the finished spread (look at the pictures above and below to see what I mean).
If you prefer to not have the almond skin as part of the spread, you can do one of two things:
- You can either start out by using blanched raw, natural almonds
- You can peel the skin off yourself after the almonds have been soaked. The skin comes off really easily at that point, it's just a little time-consuming. It's totally up to you and whichever way you go, your result will be the same and of course, delicious!
Customize by Using Your Favourite Herbs
Another good thing about this recipe is that you can alter the flavour based on your favourite herbs.
While testing, I tried making it with chives, and then with dill, and they were both so delicious, but the parsley is my favourite.
The spread is soft enough to also be used as a veggie dip. See how versatile it is? There are probably many other ways it can be used that I haven't tried yet!
If you make my garlic herb vegan almond cheese spread, tell me your favourite way to use it!
Leave a comment below, or even better, show me! Post a picture to Instagram and be sure to tag me, I'm @delightfuladventures over there and my hashtag is #delightfuladventures.
Craving a little something sweet after making this recipe? How about checking out one of these?
- Coconut Mango Chia Pudding
- Key Lime Cups
- Vegan Lemon Strawberry Cheesecake Bites
- Vegan Gluten Free Blueberry Crisp
And here are some other easy vegan recipes you may also like:
About those crackers...
So many of you have asked about the crackers in the first few pictures! They are by a brand called "Mary's Gone Crackers." They are delicious and also happen to be vegan and gluten-free. You can look for them at Costco, your grocery or natural foods store, or you can also find them on Amazon. (I always have a box in my cupboard!)
How to Make Vegan Almond Cheese Spread
Garlic Herb Vegan Almond Cheese Spread
Ingredients:
- 1 cup whole raw almonds (see notes below)
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh herbs (see note below)
Instructions:
- Place the raw almonds into a glass container and cover with water. Cover, and place in the refrigerator. Soak for 24 hours.
- Drain and rinse the soaked almonds after the 24 hours have passed.
- Place the soaked almonds, water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, olive oil, garlic powder, and salt into a high speed blender. Blend until smooth.
- Empty mixture into a bowl, add chopped herbs and mix until everything is combined.
- Place in an airtight container and refrigerate for a few hours so the flavour can develop.
- Store unused spread in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
Recipe Notes:
- Be sure that you are using a high-speed blender for this recipe. A regular blender will not work. (I use my Nutri Bullet or Vitamix and both work very well.)
- Use only blanched or natural whole, raw, unsalted almonds for this recipe, NOT slivered almonds or roasted almonds.
- Blanched almonds come with the skins off to make things a bit easier for you, but if you cannot find them, you can also use almonds with the skins on BUT, be sure to peel the skins after they have been soaked. This step is a little time consuming, so be sure to factor this into your prep time.
- Use your favourite herb and be sure to chop it up really well. My favourite is parsley and I also love using dill or chives (but not at the same time!).
- After soaking your 1 cup of almonds, they will expand a little. The soaked almonds will equal 1 ½ cups.
- Spread will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.
- Recipe makes 1 ¾ cups of spread. Nutrition info is for 1 serving of 7 (¼ cup) and is only to be used as a rough guide. Click to learn how nutrition info is calculated on this website.
Rachelle Wallis says
Can you do this recipe with almond flour to save time?
Gwen Leron says
Hi Rachelle, I have had quite a few people ask that same question and my advice has always been to stick with the almonds since I am not 100% sure if it would work (and almonds and almond flour aren't cheap so I want to help avoid wasted ingredients!). I am going to test it myself in the next while and update the recipe with my findings so I have an answer for everyone 🙂
Amy says
I love this recipe. Thank you this is my first time making an almond cheese and it turned out great. Can you freeze this cheese?
Gwen Leron says
I'm so glad you love it, Amy! I have not tried freezing it yet but the next time I make it, I will test doing that and I will update with that information (but I do think that it will freeze just fine). Enjoy!
Amy says
Yup it works, tried it😉🙏
Gwen Leron says
Great news! Thanks for the update, Amy!
Olivia says
What can you add to this if it’s turned out too liquidy?
Gwen Leron says
Hi Olivia, what changes did you make to the recipe for it to turn out that way? I haven't had this happen to me before, but to fix this, think I would blend up some more almonds with a little less water and mix it into the existing mixture. You'll then have to adjust the spices to account for the extra almonds. Let me know how things turn out!