This rich and totally addictive vegan cream cheese frosting tastes just as good as the real thing! Raw cashews take the place of cream cheese in this ingenious little recipe that nails that perfect frosting flavor and texture without any need for dairy.
I have to confess something: I’ve never really liked frosting. I was the kid at a birthday party who scraped the frosting off the cake.
My homemade cashew based cream cheese frosting turned that around, though! There’s something about that rich, tangy, creamy icing that I just find absolutely perfect. It’s much less sweet than regular cream cheese frosting, and there’s also an extra depth of flavor in there that I love.
Soaked raw cashews make a surprisingly good substitute for cream cheese, and a bit of pure maple syrup is all the sweetness this recipe needs. Try it on top of my Paleo Carrot Cake, or spread it on some Morning Glory Quick Bread. Make a double batch if you plan to frost a layer cake!
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients!
Ingredients for Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
Here’s your list of ingredients for my dairy-free cream cheese frosting. This recipe requires only a few basic ingredients, all of which you may already have in your pantry.
Raw Cashews: Soaked and blended raw cashews develop this incredibly creamy and rich texture that perfectly imitates cream cheese. They are worth the additional cost versus using a dairy-free brand of cream cheese.
Pure Maple Syrup: My favorite natural sweetener. Adds sugary goodness to our dairy free cream cheese icing without the need for anything artificial or refined!
Fresh Lemon Juice: When mixed with the raw cashews, fresh lemon juice accurately imitates the subtle tang you expect from cream cheese frosting.
Unsweetened Almond Milk: Helps to smooth out the texture and control the consistency of our vegan cream cheese frosting. The neutral flavor and lack of sugar stop it from overpowering any of the more potent ingredients.
Pure Vanilla Extract: Adds a warm, cozy, bakery-style sweetness and a tantalizing aroma to our frosting.
Sea Salt: Amplifies the sweetness and tang of this recipe. Sea salt also helps bring out the depth of flavor in the vanilla and lemon. In short, it’s the ultimate supporting character!
Recipe Customizations
- Many recipes use store-bought vegan cream cheese instead of cashews. Feel free to try these out! I personally prefer the more natural taste of this cashew-based frosting.
- Looking for a low-carb, keto-friendly version of this frosting? Replace the pure maple syrup with sugar-free confectioners’ sweetener and add ⅓ cup of full-fat coconut milk to compensate for the loss of liquid.
- Substitute pure maple syrup for any natural sweetener you like!
- For extra lemon flavor, add in 1 to 2 teaspoons of lemon zest.
- Prefer sweeter frosting? Add extra powdered sugar to sweeten it to taste.
Now that we’ve covered the main ingredients, let’s make this easy recipe!
Recipe Tips
- I love this vegan frosting recipe for the tang! If you’re like me, use an extra tablespoon of lemon juice to turn up the tang factor.
- It’s not vegan, but I regularly make this recipe using raw honey. If you eat honey, I think this addition brings the taste a little closer to that of traditional cream cheese frosting.
- The amount of almond milk controls the thickness of the frosting. Use more for a thinner texture, and vice versa!
- The only part of this recipe that requires a little forethought is soaking the cashews. You can get away with soaking them for a few hours if you use boiling water, but the frosting will turn out far creamier if you soak them overnight.
How to Make Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
Soak your cashews overnight in water. To speed up the process, you can soak cashews in boiling water for one hour.
Drain them and give them a rinse, then add them to a high-powered blender along with the rest of the ingredients.
Blend until completely smooth, adding more almond milk if the mixture becomes too thick and stops blending.
Taste your frosting for flavor, and add more maple syrup or lemon juice as needed.
Scoop your cream cheese frosting out of the blender, and enjoy your creamy frosting! Use it to frost cake layers, or even as a perfect topping for muffins or quick bread.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
I love that this creamy, tangy vegan cream cheese frosting uses whole foods instead of non-dairy cream cheese for a healthier take. This decadent frosting is perfect for frosting cakes
Fan of my easy vegan cream cheese frosting? Here are five more delightful vegan recipes for you.
More Vegan Recipes
- Vegan Oatmeal Banana Bread
- Vegan Butternut Squash Soup
- “Cheesy” Vegan Roasted Cauliflower
- Vegan Pumpkin Curry
- Vegan Peach Pie Bars
The best part is it’s made with all natural ingredients!
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 2 cups raw cashews soaked overnight
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup*
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice to taste
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk or more for thinner frosting**
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Soak the cashews in water overnight, or at least 3 hours. Drain cashews and pat dry.
- Add the cashews to a food processor and process until a thick paste has formed. You’ll need to stop the food processor and scrape the sides several times – this will take a couple of minutes!
- Leaving the food processor on, slowly stream the pure maple syrup, lemon juice, and almond milk through the opening. Add the pure vanilla extract and sea salt, and continue processing until the frosting is smooth and creamy. Taste the frosting for flavor and add more pure maple syrup and/or lemon juice if desired. For thinner frosting, add more almond milk
- Transfer frosting to a sealable container or jar and refrigerate until ready to use. Frosting will keep for up to 1 week in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
This is absolutely amazing; my 7 year old even loves it!
I’m so happy to hear it, Elizabeth! Thanks so much for the sweet note! xo
Hi this frosting came out delicious!! Do you think it’s okay to freeze some of it without compromising flavour?
Hi Alyssa! I’ve frozen it in the past and it works great! The flavor will remain the same:) xoxoxo
Try adding 1 to 3 additional tablespoons of lemon juice (to taste) and 1 to 3 additional tablespoons of pure maple syrup. Let me know how that goes.
I’m going to try this out but I’m wondering about skipping the soaking and pulverizing step with the cashew soup and just using cashew butter. How much cashew butter should I use? (How much cashewpaste is made from 2 cups cashews?)
I meant “cashews” not “cashew soup”
Hi, Do you think I could make this ahead and freeze it? Thanks!
Hi Sophie,
I’ve never tried freezing the frosting, so I can’t say for sure if it would work, but my guess is it would be just fine! I would maybe just avoid heating it immediately after freezing it (as in, I wouldn’t thaw it in the microwave). Simply thaw at room temperature and you should be good to go. Let me know how it turns out! 😉
My household has peanut, cashew, and walnut allergies. I have noticed a lot of vegan recipes call for cashew. Do you have recommendations for other creamy nuts/seeds? (Especially since we are trying to avoid dairy here, too.) Maybe macadamias, pistachios? Thanks!!
I am enjoying checking out your recipes 🙂 I’ve got your almond flour banana bread in the oven now!
Hi Heather! While I’ve never tried raw macadamia nuts, they could possibly work! I would be sure to soak them for 8 to 12 hours and when you blend them, you may need to stop the blender or food processor multiple times to scrape the sides. Continue blending until the mixture is perfectly smooth and it should taste great! Let me know how it turns out!
My daughter has issues with dairy products and she dislikes sweet icing. This looks amazing. In the post you mentioned that you like to use honey instead of maple syrup. I have honey on hand, and plan to make this, do I substitute the same amount of honey for maple syrup?
Hi Beth!
I’m so glad you’re going to try the frosting, and I hope your daughter likes it! Yes, absolutely feel free to use honey – I think the frosting turns out tasting more cream cheese-esque when you use honey rather than pure maple syrup. A 1:1 replacement will work marvelously! You can also sweeten to taste 😉 Enjoy! xo
How did your honey version work out?
I’m have both maple syrup and honey and I’m trying to decide which one to try 🙂
Hi Gal! Stepping in here 😉 Honey will give you a more classic “cream cheese” flavor because it has a tanginess to it, which helps bring that tangy flavor we get in regular cream cheese frosting. Hope you enjoy!
Hey Julia! In the description, you mention almond milk as one of the ingredients, but there isn’t any mentioned in the actual recipe. Not sure if I should add any or not? Thank you!
Hi Portia! Thanks so much for catching that! There is supposed to be almond milk (1/4 cup)! I added the ingredient to the list – I appreciate you letting me know! Hope you enjoy the frosting! xo
Just made a modified version of this. I used cashews, sugar syrup and almond flavor. Delicious. Love the original, and the almond flavored version too! Great frosting for our carrot cake.
I’m so happy to hear it, Micke! Love the idea of adding almond flavor 🙂 xo
I’m so intrigued! One of my best friends is allergic to dairy so I’m always looking for vegan treats to bring her on her birthday (and just all year-round lol). I’m a cream cheese frosting addict, so definitely going to have to try this for her!
Doooooo iiiiiit! Let me know how she likes it!
Those too-sweet sweets have never been my thing either–give me the cake sans frosting any day. I’ve made a frosting with cashews similar to this and it was UNREAL. I had to make two batches because I ate most of the first one with a spoon. I’ll definitely give your recipe a try the next time I need a dairy-free frosting 🙂
YESSSSAH! I’m definitely in the same boat. It took every ounce of my self-control to not eat the frosting by the spoonful and save it for frosting a cake, lol! Let me know if you do end up trying it! xo
Yes I’m
The same way! I’m often meh about frosting… but give me. Good cream cheese frosting (hello carrot cake) and I am in. Love that this is dairy free though!
While I’m not vegan, I definitely eat healthy and a lot of what I eat ends up being vegan. This is definitely a recipe I can’t wait to try out! It would be perfect for Easter!
I’m in the exact same boat. I do try to avoid dairy whenever possible, and thankfully it’s pretty easy to do so with various substitutions. So happy you’re looking forward to trying it! xo
Ahhhh I love this!! I was just thinking about how I wanted to make something for easter with cream cheese frosting but since I now seem to have major issues with dairy I was trying to figure out another way. You totally solved my dilemma! 🙂
Cashew cream cheese frosting is AMAZING. Hell yeah girl! xoxo
Woop woop!
Well I think this bucket of frosting calls for some carrot cake…eh 😉
You said it, girl! The perfect duo!