This homemade vegetarian cream cheese makes a next level dip and spread! Season with fresh vegetables and spices.
Here’s a fun homemade spread for snacks or dips: vegan cream cheese! Make this spread with fresh veggies and it tastes even better than the store-bought version. You can use it as a spread for bagels or bread, or as a dip for veggie sticks! It’s a great idea for kids, and you can even freeze it for use in lunch boxes. That’s how it’s done!
Ingredients for vegetarian cream cheese
This Homemade Vegetarian Cream Cheese Spread couldn’t be easier to make! All you need is a food processor. Here are the veggies we like to use, but feel free to get creative and add your own. Here’s what you should have on hand:
- cream cheese
- carrot
- pepper
- Green Onions
- Spices: dried dill, garlic powder, salt
- parmesan cheese
- Fresh basil or other herbs (Optional)
The Parmesan adds just the right amount of complexity and roundness to the flavor of the dip! You can omit it if you don’t have it, but it really adds to the flavor.
Fresh herbs are optional
Add any fresh herbs you have on hand to this vegan cream cheese and it tastes like to die for! We love it with some fresh basil leaves if we have some on hand. But if you don’t have one: it’s completely useless for taste! Fresh herbs can be expensive, especially out of season, so we’ve adapted this recipe to taste good without them.
Other veggies to use (but not too many!)
You can customize any veggies in this vegan cream cheese to your liking! One thing to keep in mind though: don’t add too much! Adding lots of watery veggies (like peppers) can make it watery after a few days in the fridge. So try to add an amount roughly equal to the recipe below. Other vegetables would be good candidates
- spinach (fresh or frozen, thawed and squeezed water)
- Tuscan cabbage (but don’t overdo it!)
- broccoli
- Sun-dried tomatoes
Ways to use vegan cream cheese
There are so many ways to use vegan cream cheese! The best part? You can use it as an easy dipping snack – kids love it! (Ours does.) Here are some ideas:
storage information
Store this vegan cream cheese in the fridge for up to 1 week. Or you can freeze it! Freeze them in blobs on a baking sheet and when set, transfer to an airtight container. You can put the spoons directly into the lunch boxes to use with carrot sticks! (Thanks to our friend Sarah for the idea!)
Healthier Snacks
Need more snack ideas? Here are some ideas for healthier homemade snacks:
This vegan cream cheese recipe is…
Vegetarian and gluten free.
The description
This homemade vegetarian cream cheese makes a next level dip and spread! Season with fresh vegetables and spices.
- 1 medium carrot 1/2 large
- 1/4 Red pepper
- 2 Green Onions
- 8 ounces Cream cheese, softened
- 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon dried dill
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Optional addition: 1 handful of fresh herbs (chives, dill, basil or other)*
- Peel the carrot and cut into 1 cm pieces. Roughly chop the dark green and light green parts of the spring onion. Cut ¼ red pepper into pieces.
- Place vegetables (and fresh herb additives, if using) in a food processor and chop. Add cream cheese, parmesan, dried dill, garlic powder, and salt. Taste and add another pinch of salt (we’re happy to add ⅛ teaspoon more). Dip with vegetables or spread on bagels. Refrigerate for 1 week or freeze by the spoonfuls on a baking sheet, then transfer the spoons to an airtight container (you can put them straight into lunch boxes and they’ll thaw in a few hours).
Remarks
Adapted from The Kitchen
*Fresh, tender herbs such as basil, chives, dill, coriander, parsley, chopped thyme or oregano are delicious here. See also herb cream cheese.
- Category: aperitif
- Method: Culinary robot
- Kitchen: dip/spread
- Diet: vegetarian
Keywords: vegan cream cheese
