Did you know you could make a Mexican style crema with almonds?? That's right, a delicious and smooth crema made without dairy! Most recipes call for cashews, but cashews are pretty expensive, so I stared using almonds instead and loved the result. In fact, I think almonds work better since they are not as sweet as cashews. This almond crema can be drizzled on your enchiladas, tacos, sopes, or pretty much any vegan Mexican dish.
The best part of this crema is that it is very versatile. You can add chipotle to it and drizzle it on pasta, or you could add roasted poblano to it and make poblano cream enchiladas. You could even omit the garlic, and add a banana to make an almond banana yogurt.
It is super easy to make and you don't necessarily have to have a high powered blender. (I have a Vitamix 
, which was a wedding gift, that I love and use almost everyday.) If you do have a high powered blender, you can be lazy like me and make this crema without peeling or soaking the almonds. If you don't have a high powered blender you will have to soak the nuts the night before, peel them, then blend them.
Mexican crema is much thiner than than sour cream, so if you're looking for a sour cream recipe simply reduce the amount of liquid in this recipe. The possibilities are endless with this almond crema!
The Recipe: Almond Crema
If you have a high powered blender:
- Add nuts as is, just make sure to blend until the sauce is very smooth.
If you have a regular blender:
- Soak raw almonds for at least 8 hrs.
- Peel and blend.
Almond Crema
Ingredients
High Powered Blender Crema:
- ½ cup Almonds raw
- 1 clove Garlic
- ¾ cup Water
- ¼ cup Almond milk unsweetened ( or vegetable oil)
- 1 tbsp. Lemon juice fresh
Regular Blender Crema:
- ½ cup Almonds raw
- 1 clove Garlic
- ¼ - ½ cup Water
- ¼ cup Almond milk unsweetened (or vegetable oil)
- 1 tbsp. Lemon juice fresh
Instructions
High Powered Blender Crema:
- Place the almonds, garlic, water,almond milk, and lemon juice in the blender and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
Regular Blender Crema:
- Boil water in a small pot and pour over almonds. Let sit overnight at room temperature.
- The following day peel the almonds. The skins should pop right off.
- Place the almonds, garlic, almond milk, and lemon juice in the blender. Add ¼ cup of water and process until smooth.
- If it is too thick, add the remaining ¼ cup of water.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Mine turned out super watery ): how do I fix this?
You can add more almonds
Cream was the best topping for my vegan tinga, I really appreciate that you share your valuable knowledge. I have been followed you in Instagram for several years.
Keep up the good work!!!!!!
The taste is pretty much dead on the the taste of Cacique crema, with a hint of garlic in the end. Great photo finish for the vegan enchiladas.
Thank you for developing this!
So glad you liked it!
This is all I needed to hear to try this! Thank you! I love
Cacique crema, but my gut cannot handle much more dairy.
How long will this last in the fridge?
3 days
I'm doing a fairly religious OMAD (one meal a day) vegan diet, so I can't try this till tomorrow. But on top of my need to lose 30 more pounds, I've developed a pretty good case of acid reflux. It turns out cashews, along with many other nuts, are pretty acidic when eaten, almonds are not. It really makes a difference to use almonds and not cashews in vegan cooking in terms of reflux symptoms. Thanks for this recipe.
I didn't realize cashews contributes to acid reflux!
I came across this today. It was so easy to whip up in the Nutri bullet, after it was blended I placed in the refrigerator for an hour and served it on my Taco salad. It was delicious and very creamy. This is a high priority saved recipe now. A definite must for Salsa Night.
So glad you liked it!