If you’re looking for a dairy-free substitute for all those delicious desserts, this vegan mascarpone recipe is the perfect choice. It’s easy and versatile!
I love having all the dairy-free cream options ready to use when needed, so creating this mascarpone cheese substitute was a much needed addition to my list.
What is Mascarpone?
The easy explanation is that mascarpone is like an Italian cream cheese. It has a sweeter flavor because of the high fat content and is also not as thick.
Cream cheese was created in America, and it uses whole milk as a base. Mascarpone is Italian and is made using heavy cream. Which is where the richer and slightly sweet flavor come from.
How to Make Vegan Mascarpone?
Since mascarpone is traditionally dairy filled and not vegan, I had to make a mascarpone cheese substitute. I used my vegan cream cheese recipe as a base, since the mix of raw cashews and slivered almonds created a great creamy flavor.
The recipes are similar, with this one focusing on a little less tang and bringing out some of the sweetness.
Ingredients
In order to get the flavor I was looking for I needed the perfect mix or tang and nut base. Here is what I used:
- Raw cashews
- Blanched slivered almonds
- Creamy dairy-free yogurt
- Lemon juice
- White vinegar
- Sea salt
- Sugar (this is optional for use in sweet recipes)
Making the recipe itself is super easy as all you need to do it blend them well. Here are the simple steps:
- Add everything to a food processor and blend until smooth.
- Serve as a topper or mix into recipes.
Uses and recipes
Since mascarpone has a slightly sweet flavor, it is often used in desserts. However you can also use it in savory dishes. Some general ways to use mascarpone are:
- Dip for fruit
- Spread on toast
- Pizza topper or sauce
- Sub for whipped cream
- Mix it into pasta sauce
- Soup topper
- Add it in vegetable dishes for a creamy twist
- Make desserts with it
This vegan mascarpone is great used in many of the recipes on this site. Here are some ideas:
- Vegan Tiramisu
- Use it instead of frosting on my vegan vanilla, vegan chocolate or vegan pumpkin spice cupcakes
- Use it on this pina colada smoothie
- As a topper for this vegan peach cobbler
- Top this vegan apple crisp with it
- As a sub for whipped cream for my vegan pumpkin pie
- Drop a scoop into this vegan hot chocolate
- Serve it over this vegan strawberry shortcake
- Drizzle it on these maple roasted carrots
- Use it in these vegan mashed potatoes
Common Questions
The main difference is the flavor. Ricotta isn’t as sweet as mascarpone. It also has a little bit of a different texture. It’s more textured and although creamy, isn’t as smooth.
If you don’t have mascarpone, you can substitute cream cheese, but you may want to mix it with a touch of milk to remove some of the tartness and thin it out a bit.
You can even sub coconut whip if you are using it in dessert and don’t mind the fluffier texture. For savory dishes I would use a plain yogurt or sour cream.
This is best stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
You don’t want to keep this longer than 7 days in the fridge. You can freeze it for longer shelf life but it will need to be blended up again once defrosted to get back some of the texture.
Vegan Mascarpone Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup raw cashews , soaked overnight
- ¼ cup blanched slivered almonds , soaked overnight (see note)
- ½ cup plain dairy free yogurt (see note)
- 5 teaspoons lemon juice
- 3 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons cane sugar ,optional (see note)
Instructions
- Put everything into a food processor and blend until creamy and smooth.
- Use in your favorite recipes or as a dip!
Notes
- The nuts need to be soaked for the right result. If you forget to soak, you can boil them for 30 minutes.
- If you want a lighter result, use up to 1/2 cup almonds. If you want it thicker and heavier use all cashews. Just make sure the total amount of nuts is 1 1/2 cups.
- Make sure to use a creamy full fat yogurt for best results.
- Regular mascarpone doesn’t have sugar but it does have a touch of sweetness from the heavy cream. To mimic that adding a touch of sugar helps. Feel free to leave it out depending on what you are making.
- This makes about 2 cups, serving size is 2 tablespoons.
Recipe by Veggies Don’t Bite, visit our site for more great plant-based recipes.
Nutrition
Nutrition and metric information should be considered an estimate.
Anita says
Hi here! Have loved trying out this recipe. Just wondering how long it will keep for if refrigerated?
veggiesdontbite says
Hi Anita! I’d say about 5-7 days for optimal flavor! Glad you liked it!
Mehy says
Hi,
Is it ok to replace the vegan yogurt with vanilla Skype full fat yogurt and get the same result?
Much appreciated.
veggiesdontbite says
Hi Mehy! I have never tried the Skype but it should yield similar results! Let me know if you try it!
Mehy says
Sorry autocorrect, it’s Skyre yogurt.
veggiesdontbite says
Hi Mehy! I haven’t tried that one. But let me know if you give it a shot!
Chelsee Lee says
PERFECT! I needed a good recipe like this for the holidays and this will be great.
Steph says
Can you recommend any full fat vegan yogurts? I was thinking almond yogurt but all vegan yogurt has a ton of sugar. I’m allergic to coconut:/
Also this looks divine and I want to try soooo bad!
veggiesdontbite says
Hi Steph!! Yes, a lot of the plain yogurt has sugar as well, but the plain seems to have less. Unfortunately my favorite one with very little sugar is coconut based. I’d try an almond one or the cashew one from Forager. I usually use my coconut one I love, but the others should work well too!