Today I’m sharing with you an easy, vegan, nut-free and tofu-free cream cheese alternative made with just one ingredient! For a long time I’ve been looking for a vegan cream cheese or queso fresco alternative that tastes good and which I can use for baking and raw for dips or ice cream. Because it has a neutral flavor it can be used for sweet as well as savory recipes! Yay! 😀 The vegan substitute – homemade tofu – made with boiled soy milk that is curdled with lemon juice, is alright but this one is even better I think. You can use it to substitute quark, curd, ricotta, cream cheese, queso fresco, cottage cheese, farmer’s cheese in non-vegan recipes and tofu in vegan recipes – if you don’t like the taste and texture of tofu.
Ingredients:
- homemade or store-bought soy yogurt
You’ll need about 400g soy yoghurt to make 200g vegan cream cheese substitute.
Put a sieve on top of a bowl. Line the sieve with muslin or cheesecloth, and scoop the soy yogurt into the sieve.
Fold the fabric over the soy yogurt and weigh it down with a bowl of water.
Let it drain overnight in the fridge. In the morning, there’ll be a lot of whey in the bowl.
And in the cheesecloth is your homemade vegan fresh cheese.
Use it for German cheesecake to substitute quark cheese, or for cassata siciliana to substitute ricotta cheese. Or add spices and spread it on bread, or eat it as vegan queso blanco dip with potatoes. There are endless uses for this homemade vegan cream cheese! 😀 I used it to make cassata with DIY candied lemon and orange peel. – In the background you see the melting DIY ice luminary which now looks like an ice crown! – I also used the vegan cream cheese substitute to make vegan vanilla filling for my carrot patch cupcakes.
I just hopped over from WasteLess Wednesday! What an easy to follow tutorial for making vegan cream cheese. I can’t wait to try this at home. I’m pinning and sharing this.
Thanks, Deborah!
I’m not vegan but this is a really useful thing to know as i think we all have to cook for special diets every now and again. Thank you for sharing on #CookBlogShare
Thanks for stopping by, Jacqui!
I am always looking for new vegan recipes. So glad I ran across your blog!
I’m glad you like it! 🙂
This looks really easy to make, which is great as vegan food can seem a little mysterious and complicated to some of us non-vegans:) #CookBlogShare
Thanks, Monika!
Ooh such a good idea! Wonder if it works with other vegan non-soy yoghurts! Off to experiment!!
Thanks, Midge! Let me know how it works!
Good to know.
Thanks,
Tracey @ MyBajaKitchen
Thanks for stopping by, Tracey!
What a great Queso, this is awesome! Thanks so much for sharing your post with us at Full Plate Thursday and have a great weekend!
Miz Helen
Thanks, Helen! 🙂
This is good to know as a substitute for cream cheese. I’m not a vegan, but am on a long-term diet. I do like plain yogurt & frequently substitute it for regular cream cheese. Your process sounds easy, & that’s what I like…easy. Thanks for sharing it at Sweet Inspiration this week!
Thanks for stopping by, Florence! 🙂 I’m not vegan too, but I can’t eat dairy products.
Thanks for linking up and sharing your recipe for Vegan Cream Cheese at #BloggersPitStop. Have a great week!
Thanks, Sue! Have a great week too!
I admire you for making this – it sounds really great! Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday party!
Thanks for stopping by, Jhuls! 🙂
Very simple easy to follow recipe. I have done this with regular yogurt and it thickens up nicely so I am sure this will be delicious.
Thanks, Leanna!
what a great way to make vegan cream cheese – thank you for sharing Lina
Thanks, Amber! 🙂
This recipe is great! Thank you for this roundup post because I probably wouldn’t have seen this! Thanks, saw your post at the funtastic friday link party:)
Thanks for stopping by, Kathleen!