Light, creamy, and with the perfect amount of tang, this Homemade Vegan Cream Cheese is made with just 4 simple ingredients and almost no fuss. Its super versatile and far better than store-bought.
Add all of the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and whisk together until smooth.
Place a fine-mesh sieve or colander over a second large mixing bowl and line the sieve/colander with cheesecloth. Transfer the mixture to the lined sieve/colander.
Carefully squeeze out some of the excess liquid. Secure the top of the cheesecloth with a rubber band.
Place a small plate on top with 1-2 heavy cans on top (these act as a weight to help drain off the liquid!). I used a 700g jar of apple sauce, but 2x 400g cans of any unopened foods you have will do the job! Refrigerate for 2-4 hours.
After 2-4 hours, if you want to shape the cheese as pictured, place it into a cheese-making mold (while remaining in the cheesecloth) and refrigerate overnight (24-48 hours in total). If You’re not using a mold, just continue to refrigerate for the same amount of time.
Remove the block of cream cheese from the cheesecloth. After the cheese is chilled and strained, you'll be left with a mixture of water and light cream in the bowl. You can reserve this and use it for other recipes like smoothies, soups, and stir-fries. What's left in the cheesecloth will be thick vegan cream cheese.
Storage: Place the cream cheese in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 7 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.
Notes
Coconut Milk - Avoid coconut milk with added guar gum or other stabilizers, as this prevents the cream from separating - which is necessary for this recipe. I recommend Biona or Nature's Charm natural coconut milk.
Reserve the leftover water from the cans of coconut milk to use in smoothies, stir-fries, or soups.
Use fresh lemon juice. Bottled lemon juice is usually spiked with lemon essential oil, which gives it somewhat of a heavy-handed flavor.
Don’t rush the straining & chilling. Pressing out all of the liquid takes time, but results in a luscious consistency. If you stop it too soon, you’ll end up with more of a creme fraiche consistency.