Vegan Cilantro Lime Jalapeño Crema

Fresh, creamy and spicy, this vegan cilantro lime jalapeño crema is so good drizzled over nachos, taco salad, tostadas and burrito bowls. Made with cashews, this works as a sour cream, dip, dressing or aioli and is dairy-free, vegan and plant-based.

This cilantro lime jalapeño crema recipe is inspired by the creamy jalapeño ranch dip at Chuy's restaurant. This vegan, dairy-free version uses my base cashew sour cream recipe, one of the most versatile recipes on my website. Let's heat things up!

🧄 Very useful ingredient notes

Cilantro lime jalapeño cashew cream is a quick homemade spicy, herby crema that's easy to make.

• Raw cashews - unsalted raw, not roasted, cashews are important for this sour cream to be as fresh and clean tasting as possible. Cashews have a subtle sweetness and transform into an unbelievably rich cream when blended.
• Jalapeño pepper - jalapeño peppers are small-medium green chiles that have medium heat. They rank 2,500 to 8,000 SHU on the scoville scale, spicier than poblanos but less spicy than serranos. The peppers are flavorful and add a mild heat to this crema. When cutting hot peppers, I recommend wearing gloves, to prevent burning your hands.
• Fresh cilantro - fresh cilantro (coriander) gives a punch of flavor to this creamy dip. Use a combination of leaves and tender stems. This is a great recipe to use up cilantro stems, but be sure to use leaves also for the best flavor.
• Fresh lime juice - fresh lime juice adds freshness, acidity and brightness to cut through the richness of the cashews.

📋 Substitutions and variations

Here are some substitutions you can try for this recipe:

• Raw cashews - you can use roasted cashews as a substitute for raw cashews, but the flavor and taste will be different. Be sure to soak them first to hydrate and soften them, since roasted cashews are drier than raw cashews. If your roasted cashews are salted, then omit the added salt and taste it after blending. Add more salt, as needed. If you don't want to use cashews at all, try one of these alternative sour cream recipes and add the jalapeño, cilantro and lime juice instead of lemon juice when blending
  • Tofu Sour Cream (using silken tofu)
  • Sunflower Seed Sour Cream (using sunflower seed kernels)
• Jalapeño pepper - Instead of fresh jalapeño chile, use another hot, spicy chile you enjoy, such as: serrano (keep in mind it will be spicier)
• Fresh cilantro - Instead of fresh cilantro/coriander, use fresh parsley or a combination of cilantro and parsley. You can also use dried or frozen cilantro, but the flavor and color will not be as bright and fresh.
• Fresh lime juice - use bottled lime juice instead. Or, use lemon juice.
• Apple cider vinegar - use white wine vinegar, distilled vinegar or extra lime juice instead of ACV.

Want to switch up the flavors? Here are some variations to try with this recipe:

• Habanero Crema - use the spicier habanero to make habanero cashew cream
• Chipotle crema - add chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, lime juice instead of lemon, extra water when blending instead of habanero to make chipotle lime crema

🔪 Instructions

Step by step instructions for making plant-based creamy jalapeño crema in a blender.

Soak your cashews in very hot water for 20 minutes to soften them and make them easier to blend. Then, drain and rinse cashews.

See my Soaking Cashews 4 Ways post for alternate ways to soak your cashews.

Store in an airtight container (like a mason jar) in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Or, freeze for up to 3 months.

👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Serving suggestions

Drizzle this vegan creamy jalapeño sauce on any of these delicious plant-based dishes. It can serve as a dip, sauce, dressing, crema, sour cream, aioli or spread.

• Loaded Vegan Nachos
• Burrito bowls
• Chilaquiles
• Vegan Chorizo Potato Tacos
• Nachos
• Avocado Tostadas
• Tacos
• Creamy Black Bean and Spinach Enchiladas
• Use it as a salad dressing
• Baked potatoes
• Roasted potatoes
• Aioli for sandwiches

🗺 Cultural influences

This recipe is inspired by my background as a native of Houston, Texas, where TexMex cuisine abundant, authentic and celebrated. It's a vegan take on Chuy's Restaurant's creamy jalapeño ranch dip.

Mexican crema is a creamy, sour condiment similar to sour cream, but thinner in consistency and a little sweeter. It is sometimes combined with other flavors, such as chiles or herbs.

See About for more information on my cultural influences and how I attribute recipes.

📖 Recipe