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If you're a novice vegan or dabbling with a dairy-free diet, you might have struggled when it comes to replacing dairy essentials that you've relied on to pump up the flavour in the past, like best friends, butter and cream.
But, don't worry, you don't have to give up that creamy stroganoff, sour cream topped tacos or scones with lashings of cream just yet! there are a great number of cream substitutes out there allowing you as much dairy-free and creamy whippable fun as you can handle.
Here are all the basic vegan creams to equip yourself with, from vegan whipped cream to vegan single cream.
8 Vegan Creams
1. Onion Cream
Why not think outside the box and try onion cream - perfect for swirling onto soups or adding into savoury dishes, both cheap and easy to make, it's an ingenious and delicious solution from the creative team at ChefSteps.
Just roast some onions, remove the skins, blend the gooey insides with a little lemon, salt, and olive oil and there you have it, "onion puree".
2. Vegan Cashew Nut Cream
Vegan sour cream is great for topping tacos, chilli and any dish that calls for lashings of creamy savoury toppings.
Cashew cream is unsurprisingly based on soaked cashews, that provide the texture while apple cider vinegar and lemon are the magical ingredients that offer that trademark tang of regular sour cream. Simply whizz it all up together in a food processor.
3. Coconut Cream
If you always have a spare can of coconut milk in the cupboard, this could also help you out of a vegan cream hot spot, especially if you're making smoothies or desserts.
Simply chill a can of full-fat coconut milk, scoop out the coconut fat that separates out and solidifies (leaving the watery liquid behind), and whip it up, just like whipped cream.
The Nutty kitchen shows how!
Discover even more recipes with canned coconut milk.
4. Soy Cream
For a vegan, dairy-free alternative to single cream, for dishes like mushroom stroganoff, try soy cream.
Simply thicken soy milk with cornflour, vegetable oil and a dash of vanilla extract if you choose.
Try this soy cream recipe for desserts.
5. Tofu cream
If you're in need of heavy cream to use in sauces, mayonnaise or custard cream, think tofu cream.
All you need is fresh soya cream, xanthan gum and pure vegetable fat. You can even adjust the thickness making it even thick enough to whip up for topping scones.
Try this infallible recipe for Tofu cream
6. White bean cream
This legume-based substitute boasts subtle flavour and a smooth texture, in addition to emulating the white colour of cream. It packs in the protein and is good for soups or other savoury dishes. To make it, just blend the cooked beans. Start with minimal water and gradually increase until the mixture is silky.
7. Rice cream
This option is just non-dairy milk, like soy or almond milk, blended together with cooked rice. For a savoury use, the rice can be cooked in vegetable broth for more flavour. Rice doesn’t have fat, so this cream substitute doesn’t clot or curdle when cool like other varieties might.
8. Oil plus non-dairy milk
There’s no avoiding it: real cream is rich because it’s loaded with fats. This alternative keeps the richness while cutting the dairy. Use your preferred non-dairy milk (soy, almond, coconut, oat, rice, cashew, macadamia, hemp, quinoa, etc.) and whisk it together with a mild-tasting oil (or use an immersion blender to mix). It won’t thicken like cream, but it will be tasty.
