Cashews in a Plant-Based Diet: Milk, Cream, Sauces and More

Cashews have a soft texture and a mild, slightly sweet taste, and they're relatively high in fat. When they're soaked and blended, they turn silky, which is hard to do with most other nuts. That makes them popular with people who avoid dairy, whether for health, ethical or dietary reasons.

Cashews make the easiest nut milk, with no straining needed, as we show in how to make cashew milk at home. Use less water and you get a thick cream for desserts, curries and sauces. See cashew cream.

Blended cashews are the base of many dairy-free sauces, from creamy pasta sauces to dips and dressings. Cashew butter works as a spread and in noodle sauces. Our cashew pesto uses cashews in place of pine nuts and cheese.

Soaked, blended cashews can also be cultured or flavoured with lemon, garlic and salt to make soft, cheese-like spreads. The results won't taste identical to dairy cheese, but they can be a rich, creamy alternative on crackers or in sandwiches.

Cashews supply some protein and minerals such as magnesium, copper, zinc and iron. See the minerals in cashews. They're one part of a varied plant-based diet and not a complete replacement for anything, and home-made cashew milk contains far less of those nutrients per cup than the nuts do, because it's mostly water.

A spoonful of cashew cream stirred into a dhal, a vegetable curry or a soup gives it a rounder, creamier body without dairy. Blended cashews can also thicken a sauce in place of flour or cream, and cashew butter loosened with water makes a quick dressing for noodles or salads. Start with small amounts and taste as you go, because cashews are rich and mild at the same time.

For baking, cashew milk can replace dairy milk in most muffin and pancake recipes, as in our oatmeal cashew muffins.

Soaking softens the nuts so they blend smoothly. Cover them with hot water for about 20 minutes, or with cold water for a few hours, then drain and rinse before blending. A good blender helps, but even an ordinary one works if you blend for longer and use a little more water. For cream, use just enough water to get the blades moving, and add more a spoonful at a time.

Plain, unseasoned cashews are the right choice here. Our Cooking Cashew is made for this.

Cashews are a tree nut, so they are not suitable for anyone with a tree nut allergy. Our guide to tree nut allergy and cashews explains what to know. Cashews are also high in fat, so portions matter, as in how many cashews to eat a day.

If you are moving to a plant-based diet for health reasons, it is worth talking to a doctor or dietitian about getting everything your body needs, because cashew milk and cream do not replace the calcium, vitamin B12 and other nutrients found in dairy.

The simplest first step is cashew milk or cashew cream. Our plain Cooking Cashew and Cashew Powder are both made for blending. For more ideas, see 5 ways to use roasted cashews.