Vegan Cashew Cream Fruit Dip (Healthy!)

This easy vegan fruit dip is the perfect after school snack, or add it to a party fruit platter. Made from a cashew cream base, it tastes like a cashew cheesecake, is low in added sugars and takes just 5 minutes to make (once the cashews are soaked!).

This dietitian is just here for the dip…no, seriously… I’m one of those people who usually enjoys the dip more than the dipper. French fries? Useless, except as a vessel for (vegan) mayo! Crackers? Maybe… if there’s hummus.

As far as plant-based recipes go, dips are one of my favorites. And while my love of fruit directly busts my anti-dipper status, a vegan fruit dip is absolutely a fun way to add even more flavour to your favourite fruit. I have a really delicious chocolate hummus recipe in Eat More Plants Cookbook, but I wanted to make a fruit-friendly dip for the blog – and immediately I thought of one of my favourite things: cashew cheesecake.

I mean, you use fruit as a flavour for cheesecake…so why not cheesecake as a flavour for fruit?!? This vegan cashew cream fruit dip is so good, you will want to make it again and again (and it’s easy enough that you’ll actually do it!)

Vegan Fruit Dip Ingredients

This vegan fruit dip couldn’t be simpler, just 7 ingredients (including salt!) dumped into a high-speed blender and blended for about a minute. Meaning that this recipe takes, like, 5 minutes total once you have your cashews soaked…or not…more on that below.

• raw cashews: cashews are rich in minerals and create a creamy, cheesecake-like base for this dip
• 2 lemons: you’ll want a bit of zest, plus juice for this fruit dip
• coconut milk: rich and creamy, coconut milk helps the dip firm up
• maple syrup: flavorful so you need less of it, meaning that this dip is low in sugar
• vanilla: just a bit of enhance the sweet + creamy effect
• salt: salt makes everything better…including sweets!

Do cashews need to be soaked?

Generally speaking, if you have a high-speed blender, they don’t. If I am throwing a few cashews in a smoothie, or making a cashew alfredo sauce, I don’t soak my cashews. But I do soak for this recipe because it’s a small volume of liquid in a large blender so pre-hydrating the cashews makes it even silkier…but you could probably get away with not soaking them too, especially if you have a bullet blender. Just blend a little longer.

How to soak cashews faster

You may have heard that cashews need to be soaked for 4+ hours but in fact, if you start them in just boiled water, they’ll be fully hydrated in 30 minutes flat! Bring the kettle to a boil, place the cashews in a heat proof bowl, and once boiled, carefully pour enough water over the cashews to cover.

Fruit Platter Ideas + Tips

If I am making a fruit platter, I will typically try to use whatever is in season, plus a treat or two. This helps to balance the cost of ingredients, and local produce is usually more flavourful too. 

1 pound (450 g) of fruit should feed about 4 people. I like to choose 2-4 fruits for a smaller platter, 4-6 for a larger platter. Sometimes, I also add a bit of garnish to sprinkle over the platter.

What to put on a fruit platter

• crisp apples like granny smith, gala, honeycrisp
• pears
• pineapple
• melon: cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon
• grapes
• figs
• stone fruits: apricots, plums, peaches, nectarines
• sliced kiwi
• berries + cherries
• bananas
• dragon fruit
• starfruit
• golden berries

Optional additions + garnishes

• squares of dark chocolate
• pomegranate arils
• fresh mint, lavender or chamomile flowers
• pretzels
• cookies

More Easy Vegan Cashew Recipes