Cilantro-Lime Garlic Cashew Sauce
This creamy cashew sauce doesnt contain a lick of dairy cream, but you wont miss it one bit. Pour it all over my Next Level Enchiladas for a real treat. I recommend using a high-speed blender, such as a Vitamix, for the smoothest sauce. This sauce is adapted from my Cilantro-Avocado Cream Sauce.
This creamy cashew sauce doesnt contain a lick of dairy cream, but you wont miss it one bit. Pour it all over my Next Level Enchiladas for a real treat. I recommend using a high-speed blender, such as a Vitamix, for the smoothest sauce. This sauce is adapted from my Cilantro-Avocado Cream Sauce.
- Carbohydrate 40.3387712512288 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 50.4618368750102 g
- Fiber 4.88647495454613 g
- Protein 16.8347062500613 g
- Saturated Fat 9.81577500000117 g
- Serving Size 1 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) (289g)
- Sodium 1190.2371250043 mg
- Sugar 35.4522962966827 g
- Trans Fat 2.30103718750453 g
- Calories 639 calories
Step-by-step
- Add the cashews into a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak for 1 hour. Alternatively, you can soak the cashews in room temperature water for 8 hours or overnight.
- Drain and rinse the soaked cashews.
- Add all of the cashew cream ingredients into a high-speed blender. Blend on high until a super smooth sauce forms. If using a Vitamix, use the tamper to get things moving. If your blender is having a hard time blending, you can add a splash more water to help things along.
The Mechanics of Cashew Hydration
Grinding raw cashews directly in a standard kitchen appliance yields a gritty paste rather than a fluid emulsion because the dense cellular walls of the nut resist mechanical shearing. Soaking the 3/4 cup of raw cashews in boiling water for 1 hour softens those rigid carbohydrate structures and allows water molecules to penetrate the interior matrix. Boiling water accelerates the softening process compared to cold water, which requires an 8-hour or overnight soak to achieve the same degree of cellular hydration. Draining this soaking water removes surface starches that would otherwise introduce an unwanted gummy texture to the final blend.
Achieving Emulsion Stability
Creating a truly smooth consistency depends heavily on equipment power and proper liquid management. High-speed blenders generate the extreme rotational velocity needed to shatter the hydrated nut particles down to a micro-scale, dispersing them evenly alongside the 3/4 cup of water and 2 tablespoons of avocado. Adding liquid incrementally prevents the blades from cavitating while maintaining the thick viscosity required for a stable emulsion. Storing this sauce in a sealed glass container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days maintains its structure, though freezing is not recommended because ice crystal formation ruptures the delicate plant-based emulsion upon thawing.
