Make your own creamy, homemade Cashew Milk and Cashew Cream with this straightforward, 3-ingredient recipe.
I’ve noticed that commercial cashew milks are becoming more popular lately. It’s not surprising, since cashew milk has a thick, creamy texture and is neutral enough to be used for sweet and savory applications. I’m still partial to soy milk as my go-to vegan milk, but cashew milk has many uses, even more so than almond milk, in my opinion.
My issue with commercial plant milks is that they sometimes can be overly watery and insipid, but with homemade versions, you can adjust the amount of water to your liking. So, this recipe for cashew milk is a bit different than some others I’ve tried because it involves boiling the milk quickly to extract the natural thickening property of cashews. This allows you to use less cashews and still get a rich milk.
Use this milk in your oatmeal, cereal, smoothies, and in baking, including cakes, cookies, and savories. Because it lacks lecithin or the other stabilizers and emulsifiers used in commercial milks, you’ll want to give it a shake before you use it as there will be settling. You’ll also want to keep away any acidic ingredients from it, as they will cause the milk to curdle, similar to soy milk and almond milk.
Cashew cream, on the other hand, is a thick, viscous plant cream that makes a wonderful substitute for heavy cream in all cooking applications, except for whipping (I’m working on that one! 🙂 ). Use it to make béchamel sauce, swirl some into a mushroom soup, or make a creamy sauce for pasta by adding some to basic tomato sauce (like in the photo below). I also use it for desserts. A few glugs of cashew cream cooked into puddings, pastry creams, and sauces makes for a rich result.
- ½ cup (about 70g) unroasted cashews
- 4 teaspoons sweetener of choice (sugar/evaporated cane juice, maple syrup, agave) or 1 large medjool date
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 4½ cups water
- Soak the cashews in warm/hot water for 1 hour or more to soften them. After soaking, drain and put them in a blender with the sweetener, salt, and 2 cups of the water. Blend on high until completely smooth (it could take a few minutes depending on the power of your blender).
- Pour cashew milk into a medium-sized pot and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking it occasionally. Once it comes to a boil, just let it simmer for 10-20 seconds and remove it from the heat. It will have thickened considerably. Now pour in the remaining 2½ cups of water and whisk to combine.
- Let the milk come down to room temperature, transfer it into a suitable container, and chill in the refrigerator. I like to use a container with a tight cap so I can give it a little shake whenever I use it.
-This is meant to be a drinking and baking milk. Enjoy it with cereal, oatmeal, cookies, and in smoothies. Also use it in baking as you would use any other milk. Keep this milk away from acidic ingredients though, as they will cause curdling. Foods like coffee, tea, and acidic fruits/juices will curdle it.
-Make a sweetened milk using any sweetener you like (or a couple of medjool dates). Add in up to a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract or some vanilla bean and a pinch of cinnamon. Or instead, add some dutch-processed cocoa powder and a half teaspoon of instant coffee or instant espresso for a wonderful vegan chocolate milk.
-Makes about 5 cups, or a little over 1 quart or 1 liter of cashew milk.
- ½ cup (about 70g) unroasted cashews
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- 2¼ cups water
- Soak the cashews in warm/hot water for 1 hour or more to soften them. After soaking, drain and put them in a blender with the salt, and all of the water. Blend on high until completely smooth (it could take a few minutes depending on the power of your blender).
- Pour cashew milk into a medium-sized pot and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking it occasionally. Once it comes to a boil, just let it simmer for 10-20 seconds and remove it from the heat. It will have thickened considerably.
- Let the milk come down to room temperature, transfer it into a suitable container, and chill in the refrigerator. I like to use a container with a tight cap so I can give it a little shake whenever I use it.
-Use it in béchamel sauce, puddings, pastry creams, ice cream, soups, and sauces.
-Makes about 2½ cups of cashew cream.
Two very got recipes, we love them:~)
Thanks Janis! 🙂
thanks for these helpful tips…love it
You got it, Jayne!
I’m just curious ,Omar, is there such a thing as milk made from peanuts? This is all new to me.
Yeah, you sure can make peanut milk! Depending on how you want it to taste, you can use raw or roasted peanuts. Soak about a cup of them overnight, drain and rinse them the next day, then blend with 3-4 cups fresh water. Add in a date or two (or any sweetener) if you want it sweetened and a pinch of salt. If your blender isn’t so powerful, you can strain the milk through cheesecloth or very fine sieve to make it silky smooth.
I make nut milks often but I have never heated them up in a pan before is there a reason for doing that?
Hi Linda! Heating up this milk just briefly releases the natural thickening properties of cashews, so there is no need to add anything else for body and consistency. As is, the recipe makes a nice milk for cold applications (cereal, smoothies, etc.). If you prefer a milk that is a little bit richer, bump up the cashews to 3/4 cup.
Since you’re experienced in making nut milks, you know that they have a tendency to separate. This milk does indeed separate and requires shaking before use. Otherwise an additional emulsifier, like lecithin, would have to be added. Enjoy! 🙂
Hi Omar,
I’ve been trying to find an alternative to dairy milk for quite sometime, especially one that I could make at home. I stumbled across your recipe via Pinterest and I’m so glad I tried it. Of all the different cashew milk recipes I’ve seen and tried, yours was perfect (and the only one that mentioned cooking the milk)! Thank you for sharing! Also, I have a quick question. When making chai, could I use cashew milk in place of soy and get similar results?
Hello Rekha!
So glad that you enjoyed the recipe! It’s not too hard to make and gives you a quick nondairy milk if you have some cashews on hand. Yes, you sure can use cashew milk when making chai, hot chocolate, etc!