Would I have thought that I would ever be making my own "cream cheese"? Nope. Am I glad I do? Yup! This vegan tofu cream cheese recipe with dill is so quick, so simple, and so tasty!
5 minutes
Prepared all in your blender
Thick
Spreadable
Flavourful
And thriftier than store-bought!
Recipe Cost
This recipe makes 227 grams and costs us approximately: CAD $2.49.
A 227g tub of store-bought cream cheese would cost us: $4.00 on sale or $4.99 regular price.
That's half the price! Who knew it would be so quick and easy to blend up your own tasty herb and garlic creamy spread!
The Creamy Texture
Tofu! I know it sounds weird. It took me awhile to get used to the fact that tofu can taste really good when it's prepared and seasoned properly.
Many sauces made with tofu call for silken tofu, a very soft tofu with a high water content. This spread however, calls for extra firm tofu. The very little water in extra firm tofu means that this spread will be thick and not at all runny.
If you only have firm or medium firm tofu, you can drain as much water as you can by pressing the tofu before you blend it (see the recipe for instructions). I would also suggest omitting the milk. There will likely be enough water still left in the tofu that the mixture will blend without the extra help from the milk.
Other Ingredients In Vegan Tofu Cream Cheese
Dill is my preferred herb for this spread but feel free to flavour your breakfast spread however you'd like!
Nutritional yeast is responsible for the cheesiness. If you're new to nutritional yeast, take a look at our Extra Speedy Queso for more info on this powerhouse of a seasoning! And...
Garlic and Lemon Juice ramp up the flavour, adding some depth and zing!
How To Serve This Vegan Tofu Cream Cheese
This vegan tofu cream cheese recipe is the perfect companion for our cost saving Smoky Lox! Enjoy it as a tasty spread for your breakfast bagels, or go a step further, whip up some smoky lox, and create these tasty options:
Our Smoky Lox Breakast,
Lox Bagel Sandwich,
Or Lox Crostini Appetizer!
Try out this Vegan Bagel Recipe from It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken and slather on some of this vegan tofu cream cheese and dill spread!
Print
Vegan Tofu "Cream Cheese" & Dill Spread
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 227 g 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Make this vegan tofu cream cheese recipe all in your blender and in only 5 minutes! Thick, flavourful, and thriftier than store-bought!
Ingredients
- 200 g extra firm tofu
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¾ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp fresh dill (can use frozen dill or 1 tsp dried dill)
- ⅛ - ¼ cup non dairy milk (if doubling recipe, start by not doubling the milk)
*All the ingredients for this recipe are from our pantry and freezer tips!
Instructions
- If your tofu is not extra firm and needs to be drained, press as much excess water out as you can. If you don’t have a tofu press, wrap the tofu in a clean dish towel and place something heavy on top of it for 10 minutes or so.
- Place all the ingredients in your blender. Blend until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of your blender as needed. Adjust the seasonings to taste. Add more nutritional yeast for “cheesiness”, lemon or vinegar for more bite, and spices to deepen the flavour.
- You can serve it immediately, but it’s best if stored in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours before serving. It will thicken as it sits and will keep well in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Notes
*Cost Comparison: CAD $2.49 vs CAD $4.99 for 227g store-bought cream cheese.
*Feel free to change the seasonings to create different flavours. Use different herbs, fresh garlic, or even try a sweetened version with maple syrup.
*If you double the recipe, you may not need to double the milk and lemon juice to help the mixture blend. If too much liquid is added your spread will be too runny. Start with the lesser amount, taste, and add more of either if needed.
- Category: Sauces & Dips
- Method: Blender
- Cuisine: American
Hank R
I make this all the time so I thought I should finally let you know. I can't believe how thick it gets and how great of a substitute it is. I've changed up the herbs and spices too. Such a great lower fat option then real cream cheese. Love it.
Kathryn Alexandre
Well thank you for letting me know! The comment and the star rating means a lot! I'm so glad you've been enjoying this one and have been able to change up the flavour depending on what you're feeling like!
Sally T
This is awesome! THANK YOU!
Kathryn Alexandre
You're welcome! I'm so glad you like it. Thank you so much for leaving a star review Sally.
Gina
I've previously tried vegan cream cheeses made from cashews but this one is way better. Thanks Kathryn 🙂
Kathryn Alexandre
Oh great. I actually haven't tried a cashew version yet because I don't have the strongest blender and I feel like I wouldn't get as smooth of a spread. I'm still curious to try it but I'm glad to know that you preferred this version! Thank you so much for giving it a try and for leaving a lovely comment and star rating!
Brenda
I add 1 tablespoon cashew butter to the recipe. It gives some fat, and elevates the flavor.
Kathryn Alexandre
Oh interesting, that sounds great! I appreciate you taking the time to let us know and thank you for leaving a lovely star rating!
Toni
Hi Brenda does it add much flavour adding the cashew butter?
Kathryn Alexandre
Hi Toni, I personally haven't tried adding a nut or seed butter to this but I would assume that cashew butter impacts the flavour less than if a peanut butter were used for instance. It should be more mild than other nut butters but I can't speak to how much it changes the flavour.
Bev L
If you want to try the cashew version, I've found that pre-soaking the cashews for a minimum of 30 minutes (I usually soak 4hrs or more, on the counter or in the fridge) results in a very smooth final product.
Kathryn Alexandre
That's great, thank you Bev. When I'm in a crunch I typically do a quick soak in boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes but when I'm really prepared I'll soak them overnight in the fridge in cold water. It definitely helps to get a smoother product!
Judy
I made this recently again, we really enjoy this on crackers , bagels etc.
Thank you for a great recipe!
Kathryn Alexandre
Wonderful! Thank you for letting me know Judy. I'm glad this is a recipe you've come back to and you can enjoy it in different ways! Thank you for the lovely star rating as well!
Maria
Such a perfect recipe! Thank you!
Kathryn Alexandre
I'm so glad you love it! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know and leave a star review!
Riley
I was a cream-cheese-on-my-bagel-every-morning kinda gal before going vegan and now you have made this possible for me once again. For this I am forever grateful 🙏
Kathryn Alexandre
Oh you're welcome! I'm so glad you found this recipe and you are loving your morning bagel again! Thank you so much for letting me know and for leaving a star review.
William Gonzalez II
I love your channel. I'm a new vegan and miss many "extras" like cream cheese. I am delighted with this! I am complete again at breakfast! Of all things dill, my favorite in this world. Thank you!!!
Kathryn Alexandre
haha thank you William! I'm so glad you are complete again at breakfast! Thank you so much for letting me know you love our channel and for leaving a lovely star review!
Stephen
So with the firm tofu, I tried to use my omega juicer, and unfortunately, it does not work. It pushes both the tofu through the liquid as well as the pulp ejection, next I moved it into a gauze bag, and that seemed to work really well if you squeeze too hard, though, the tofu begins to squeeze out of the bag, but that seems work for me, I recommend not using a Vitamix because it's really hard if you're doing small amounts to scrape the tofu from the sides, I find that a food processor works the best.
Kathryn Alexandre
Thank you so much for letting us know Stephen. This will be helpful for anyone else who tries the same. If I'm making just a small amount I often use my immersion hand blender so that can maybe be an option for some!
Jane Fate
Where do I find the protein to calorie ratio for your recipes? I am new here. Just found your site. -Looking forward to trying these! Thank you!
Kathryn Alexandre
Hi Jane! We're glad you found us! We don't focus on calculating the macros for our recipes right now. That is something we will keep in mind for the future but I quickly added this recipe to a free app I have called "cronometer". It estimates for the whole 300g recipe: 696 calories, 47.2g protein, 32.1g carbs, 43.1g fat. I hope this helps!
Lada
Great recipe! Easy and tasty. Thank you.
Kathryn Alexandre
So glad you liked it! Thank you for taking the time to leave a 5 star review!
Jessie
What exactly is 200g of tofu? Is it a 14oz. block? 3/4 of a block? Tofu is notoriously difficult to weigh out because it all depends on firmness and how thoroughly it's been pressed (or not). Are you pressing and then weighing it, or what's your process here?
Kathryn Alexandre
I just use the weight on the package as a guide (as most people reading my recipes don't buy tofu in bulk and buy individual packages). I don't press the tofu for this recipe so if yours is a 14oz block then 200grams should be about half of the block. I believe 14oz translates to just under 400grams (397g) so half should work well!
Connie
When you say fresh or frozen dill, do you mean freeze dried? I haven’t ever found dill in the freezer section. Could dried or freeze dies work? Thanks
Kathryn Alexandre
Ah yes, in the "pantry" section of the blog I explain that I often freeze my fresh herbs to ensure I use them and they don't just wilt in my fridge if I don't use them up in time. I often use 1 tbsp frozen dill that I have just frozen in my own freezer. You can absolutely use dried or freeze dried dill but I would suggest using 1 tsp instead of 1 tbsp. I will update the recipe card now to make that more clear. Thank you!
Michela
I am extremely lactose intolerant and have been searching for a bunch of ways to enjoy "dairy" products again! This takes the cake for sure, very versatile on the flavor and easy to make at home! Can't wait to try out different seasonings too!
Kathryn Alexandre
I'm so glad this will step in nicely for you Michela! Thank you for taking the time to let us know that you love it and you're excited to experiment with different flavours. We really appreciate you trying it and leaving a 5 star review! (I thought I would miss fettuccine alfredo so much and that's another one that I make with tofu and it gets close enough to satisfy that craving)!