Vegan Chipotle Crema- Delicious and Easy to Make!

What is Chipotle Crema?

Chipotle Crema is a smoky creamy topping most often used as a condiment for Mexican food.  It’s traditionally made with sour cream and chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. A dairy-free vegan Chipotle Crema can easily be made by blending cashews into a thick sauce.  Vegans and non vegans alike will really enjoy this version as a topping for plant-based tacos, burritos, and nachos for example. 

Vegan chipotle crema tastes so delicious and hardly takes any time to make.  The list of what can be topped with Chipotle Crema goes on and on. Chipotle Crema will take whatever dish you make to the next level in terms of taste, and it’s easy to make! 

Ingredients you’ll need to make Vegan Chipotle Crema 

1. Chipotles in Adobo Sauce– You’ll need 1 of the chipotles ( one of the peppers in the can) plus a bit of the sauce.

Chipotles in adobo sauce are really the star of the show here. Chipotles are smoked and dried jalapeño peppers that have been rehydrated in a can of tomato sauce, some chili powder, vinegar, garlic, sugar and sometimes other spices.  The sauce is called Adobo and there are slight variations on this sauce depending on the brand you buy.  You can find a can of Chipotles in Adobo Sauce in practically every grocery store. This is not a hard to find product.

There are small cans of Chipotles in Adobo Sauce and large ones. The canned jalapeños are whole in the sauce. There will be peppers and leftover sauce which you can use for something else or freeze until the next time you make more crema.  In my house, that’s frequently.

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2. 1 Cup of Raw Cashews that have been soaked for 15-20 minutes or so in hot water. Boil the water, turn of the heat.  Put the cashews in a bowl and cover with the hot water. Another option is to toss the cashews straight into the pot you boiled the water in. Drain the cashews after they have soaked. This process helps soften the nuts lending to the creamy texture of the crema. 

The creaminess in this Vegan Chipotle crema comes from the raw cashews.  Raw cashew (and raw nuts in general) use to be something that wasn’t always easy to find.  They are unsalted. Nowadays, you can find them in many grocery stores.  I use raw nuts a lot in cooking and the cashews I used for making this recipe came from Costco.  You will also be able to find raw cashews at stores like Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Natural Grocer and Sprouts, just to name a few.

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3. Lemon or Lime Juice- 1 Tablespoon

Your choice here.  Lemon or lime juice will taste good in this Vegan Chipotle Crema.   I like to use freshly squeezed juice because I prefer the taste and I always have lemons and limes in my refrigerator.   By all means though, use bottled juice if you have it on hand.  It will do the trick.

4. Kosher Salt– 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or more depending on your taste.)

I typically cook with Kosher salt.  If you use another kind of salt, you may need more than what this recipe calls for.  Always taste and error on the side of caution with salt though. Over salting is the worst. Like with any recipe, you just need to taste and tweak as you go along.

5. Water– 3/4 cup

This water is the ingredient you need to blend with the soaked cashews to make them creamy. You can always add a bit more for a thinner consistency.  I find that the crema thickens a bit with refrigeration and I do typically add a bit of water as I use it throughout the week on various dishes.

After you have blended everything, check the consistency. Decide if you would like a dollop of the chipotle cream to go with your dish or a drizzle. If you decide to drizzle, you may want to add a bit more water!

It’s so Easy to Make!

To make Vegan Chipotle Crema, all you do is blend all of the recipe ingredients until smooth and creamy.  So easy! 

Once everything has been blended, you’ll want to taste the crema and decide where to go from there. If you would like a little more spice, add a bit more of the chipotle in adobo sauce.   Add a bit more salt if you prefer.  Thin the crema out with a bit more water.  Whatever you like!

*Kitchen equipment suggestions for this recipe

You need to thoroughly blend the ingredients in this recipe to make a  creamy Vegan Chipotle Crema. I like to use my Nutribullet for example.  The size is perfect and it’s easy to clean!  A food processor will also work as well as a good high speed blender.

*This recipe yields about 1 cup of Vegan Chipotle Crema.  

*Leftover crema can be kept refrigerator for up to one week, if it lasts that long!

How to use Vegan Chipotle Crema- It’s a condiment!

Recently I served up a dollop of Vegan Chipotle Crema on these plant-based dishes. The crema condiment really enhanced these already delicious meals by adding a spicy richness.

This blog post explains what chipotle crema is and how you can make this traditional condiment vegan and dairy free. It lists the ingredients needed to make the crema recipe and how to make it. There are a few examples of vegan Mexican flavor inspired dishes showing how the crema is used as a condiment. I hope you’ll give this recipe a try. I make it often. That’s how easy it is.

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