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Easy Vegan & Gluten-Free Recipes

Garlic Herb Vegan Almond Cheese Spread

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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!

Garlic herb vegan almond cheese spread sitting on a plate with crackers.

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:

Close up shot of garlic herb vegan almond cheese spread.

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, read this article. It’s quite nutritious and can be used many ways. 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.

Garlic herb vegan almond cheese spread on a veggie sandwich.

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!

Garlic herb vegan almond cheese spread on a plate with veggies for dipping.

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?

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


Comments

    • Gwen says

      Hi Vanessa, I have never put it in the freezer, so I can’t say for sure. I’d be a little hesitant, but if you do try, please come back and let me know how it goes! You can also halve the recipe so it doesn’t make as much. Hope this helps! 🙂

      Reply

    • Gwen says

      Hi Yael! You aren’t the first to ask about those crackers 🙂 They are made by a brand called “Mary’s Gone Crackers.” I’ve included info just above the recipe on where you can buy them 🙂 Hope this helps!

      Reply

  3. Nikki Pearce says

    5 stars
    Hi, made this and love it! The only thing is I’m not sure I’ll eat it all in 4-5 days. Do you think I could freeze some of it?

    Reply

    • Gwen says

      Hi Nikki! I’m so glad to hear you like it! 🙂 I have never tried freezing it, but I think it would be okay. The only thing that may happen is the texture may be slightly different after it defrosts. If you do try, please come back and let me know how it goes!

      Reply

  4. Sferd says

    Hi there–

    Sorry for the late question, but I was curious why you use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic? I generally only use garlic powder if I’m not planning to ‘blenderize’ a recipe.

    I look forward to trying this. I make several cashew cheez recipes which I like, but I’m always looking for a new option!

    Reply

    • Gwen says

      Hi! Good question! I LOVE fresh garlic and always use fresh when possible, so when I was testing the recipe, I did try it but I found that it was too strong with the other flavours, so I opted for the more mellow garlic powder. I wanted all the flavours to shine through and with the fresh garlic, no matter how little I used, it seemed to flavour the spread in a way I didn’t like. That being said, it still turned out great-tasting each time, the flavours just didn’t balance out the way I wanted them to, so ultimately, I went with the garlic powder. When you make the recipe, you can definitely use fresh garlic, you may like it more than I did. Let me know how it goes!

      Reply

  5. Cherie says

    5 stars
    This!!!! I can’t believe how good this is!!! Thank you! Even my almond-hating son liked it!
    I was hesitant to make this so I made half the recipe and that was a mistake. lol I just made the full recipe again because that half recipe was gone immediately! Fabulous recipe, thank you so much!!!

    Reply

  6. Leanne says

    Hi
    Just wondering if anyone has tried to possibly freeze half, as 4-5 days isn’t long enough for me to eat that much cheese. Thanks!

    Reply

    • Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says

      Hi Emily! Roasted almond have a much stronger almond taste, whereas raw almonds have a more subtle flavour. If made with roasted almonds, the flavour will have that stronger roasted almond flavour. Roasted almonds also have a slightly different oil content because of the roasting process, so the finished spread won’t be as creamy. I hope this helps! 🙂

      Reply

      • Emily says

        Thank you! That is helpful! I ran out of raw almonds so yesterday I started soaking some roasted ones. Today I bought raw so I was thinking of doubling the recipe, one with raw, one with roasted and see if that works? Hopefully it does and isn’t bad!

  9. Nicole says

    5 stars
    This looks so yummy!! I love the idea of a garlic herb spread, I’m sure it packs a lot of flavor that would be similar to other cream cheesy spreads. I absolutely cannot wait to try this!

    Reply

  11. Lacey says

    Hi there! I just came across your recipe and I wanted to make it tomorrow for Thanksgiving. Any way I could get away with only soaking the almonds for 15 or so hours?

    Reply

    • Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says

      Hi Vio! I have received this question so many times since publishing this recipe 🙂 The crackers are by a brand called Mary’s Gone Crackers and they are vegan and gluten free. I love them! I included a link to Amazon, just above the recipe so you can see them and I included some places where you may be able to find them in your city.

      Reply

  13. Lori says

    I wrote last week asking about making this spread with the leftover pulp from making homemade almond milk. I just made some today and it came out great! I omitted the almonds and water from your recipe and used about a cup and a half of almond pulp then mixed in all the other ingredients with a fork. I found it a little too dry so stirred in some almond milk until it was a nice spreadable consistency. Also doubled the nutritional yeast and garlic powder. I like it and will definitely make again, and…..it passed the husband test!! Thanks for the inspiration!!

    Reply

  14. Lori says

    I wonder if this could be made with the leftover pulp from making almond milk? I’m always looking for ways to use that. Any suggestions?

    Reply

    • Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says

      This is a very good question, Lori! Smart idea! I’m not sure how it would turn out since I’ve never tried making it this way, myself. My only worry would be that it may come out a little on the dry side, but that may be very easy to fix by adding more liquid. It would have to come down to experimenting to see how it works (I always think it’s worth a try!). This is also a great way to use up the pulp and not have it go to waste. I don’t make almond milk often, but the next time I do, I’m going to try. If you happen to try it sometime, please let me know how it turned out 🙂

      Reply

    • Dee says

      I put the remaining almond into a pan and dry it in the oven at 170° until it’s totally dry. Once dry, you can run it through the food processor or blender if you want it finer cut. It’s a delicious gluten free flour that makes amazing muffins, nutbreads and cookies!

      Reply

  15. Julie says

    Hi, I will have to try this looks great. Go Veggie makes little miniature cream cheeses that you could pack in lunches and I think they are delicious. Kite Hill chive cream cheese is also delish. I tried Miyokos and it was horrible….like eating old seaweed…or old kimchee, not sure if we got a bad batch. I saw another post on FB someone said they had to throw it out. I wrote to the company, no response. I love Miyokos butter:) Thanks for this recipe.

    Reply

    • Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says

      Thanks for the recommendations, Julie! I will look out for the Go Veggie, I think we may have that here, the name sounds familiar. I have heard Kite Hill is great and I always hear Miyoko’s is also a good one (someone commented here about it) maybe you did get a bad batch! Either way, I want to try them all once they are available here! Thanks again for your note 🙂

      Reply

  18. Nicole MacPherson says

    Yum! I love cashew cheese but I make an almond feta that is REALLY GOOD. So I think I’ll try this one of yours. Delicious looking. As for store bought vegan cheese, yeah. I don’t mind Daiya if I’m using it on a pizza or something, it’s not too bad. At least it melts decently!

    Reply

    • Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says

      Hi! 🙂 I imagine cashew cheese being really delicious. So many recipes for it out there! If you do try this recipe, Nicole, I’d love to hear what you think. Yes, Daiya does melt well! Have you tried their other products (cream cheese, etc)?

      Reply

    • JoAnn M Lakes says

      I really don’t like Daiya cheese. Even their new formula taste like plastic. Check out Connie’s RAWsome kitchen on YouTube for some fabulous cheese recipes. Be sure to check out her fantastic fresh almond ricotta, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng3uHyde1Us. You won’t believe it. It’s like going to the Italian grocery. Check it out, this woman can cook and no bull.

      Reply

  19. Diane says

    Always trying to find a recipe for a cheese spread. I try to avoid oil. Do you think I could omit the oil or substitute another ingredient?

    Reply

    • Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says

      Hi Claudia! I think you will still end up with a great spread if you have to omit the nutritional yeast. I have not tested it that way but I would not be afraid to. That being said, the nutritional yeast adds a little “cheesiness” to the flavour so that will be missing from your version but you can experiment with maybe a little more garlic powder or herbs to bump up the flavour a bit.

      And thank you so much for the links! I have heard of both these vegan cheese brands but we don’t have them in Canadian stores, yet (that I know of!). We are a little slower to get some things up here! When they do arrive, I will be sure to check them out. Thanks again 🙂

      Reply

    • Leslie says

      I’m coming to this a little late, but you do realize that Miyoko’s Kitchen cheeses (which I absolutely love) have nutritional yeast in them?

      Reply

    • Andrea says

      Hi, Claudia – I too, have a yeast issue – nutritional yeast is considered to be a non-Candida form – so it may work for you too (it does for me).

      Reply

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