Vegan eggnog with cinnamon & vanilla

You know the holiday season is in full swing when eggnog starts appearing on store shelves. But did you know you can also make vegan eggnog at home?

By using both store-bought non-dairy milk and raw cashews, this easy vegan eggnog recipe is thick, rich, and perfectly spiced.

It gets sweetness from pitted dates. And it’s finished with a splash of vanilla.

You can make just the amount you need.

Halve the recipe and enjoy a glass or two while roasting chestnuts. Or make a double batch if you’re having a house full of guests for a holiday party.

I also offer unique ways to use eggnog at the end of this post!

In this post:

Non-dairy milk: You can use any kind of plain, store-bought non-dairy milk that you prefer as the base for this drink.

Silk plain unsweetened cashew milk is the kind I keep on hand for day-to-day use. And that’s what I used here.

If you use sweetened milk, you’ll want to use fewer dates, or else it will be too sweet. If you use a vanilla flavored milk, you can use less vanilla extract.

Raw cashews: Using a combination of store-bought non-dairy milk plus raw cashews make this vegan eggnog extra creamy. Look for raw cashews with other nuts at the grocery store.

I recommend raw cashew pieces over whole since they tend to be less expensive. I buy mine at Trader Joe’s.

Medjool dates: Pitted dates add natural sweetness. They can be replaced with your preferred sweetener like maple syrup or agave syrup.

Vanilla extract: This adds lovely dessert-y flavor. For the best flavor, avoid imitation vanilla.

Seasonings: Ground cinnamon (plus cinnamon sticks as optional garnish), ground nutmeg, and cardamom.

Kala namak: (Optional) Kala namak, also known as black salt, is a sulfurous salt that is popular in Indian cuisine. It’s also beloved in the vegan sphere, because it adds an eggy quality to dishes.

It has a strong sulfurous scent. So a little bit goes a long way. Add a pinch to give a bit of egginess to your nog.

If you don’t have kala namak or don’t like it, you can absolutely skip it. It’s pretty subtle in the drink. You can replace it with a pinch of sea salt to balance the sweetness of the drink. Or skip the salt altogether.

Here’s how to make the recipe at a glance. For complete ingredient amounts & instructions, keep scrolling to the recipe card below.

Combine the following in a high-speed blender:

• Non-dairy milk
• Raw cashews
• Pitted Medjool dates
• Vanilla extract
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground nutmeg
• Cardamom
• Kala namak or sea salt

Blend until everything is fully combined & there are no crunching sounds in the blender.

You can drink it right away.

But I recommend transferring it to a covered container & popping it in the refrigerator for a few hours. It gets even thicker, richer, and creamier as it chills and condenses.

To serve, pour the vegan eggnog into glasses.

Garnish with a dash of cinnamon and/or a cinnamon stick.

If you don’t have a high-speed blender, your standard blender will probably need a little bit of help with the raw cashews and dates.

You have three options with the cashews.

1. Grind dry raw cashews in a clean coffee grinder. Then add the flour-like cashews to your standard blender.
2. Soak raw cashews in water for several hours. Then drain & blend with the other ingredients.
3. Cover the raw cashews in hot water. (Even a microwave works here!) Let them soak for 10 to 30 minutes, drain, and blend with the other ingredients.

To soften the dates, soak pitted cashews in warm water for about 30 minutes. Drain & add them to the blender with the remaining ingredients.

Or you can replace the dates with your favorite liquid sweetener like agave syrup or maple syrup. Add whatever amount suits your tastes.

Of course!

This is really delicious as a non-alcoholic drink.

In fact, traditional eggnog originally had alcohol added to it as a way to cure the raw eggs in it! Of course, since this is a vegan recipe, that’s unnecessary.

That being said, you can certainly spike this festive holiday beverage with your preferred hard liquor.

I recommend about 1 Tablespoon of hard liquor for a one cup serving. If you want to get boozier, add more.

Simply add the liquor to each glass, pour in the vegan eggnog, and stir to combine. Then finish with a dash of cinnamon.

Although it isn’t the most classic option, I like using vodka because of its neutral flavor. You can still taste the specific spices & flavorings of the nog without getting overpowered from the alcohol.

Brandy is the most traditional alcohol for eggnog. Or you could use dark rum, Cognac, whiskey, or bourbon.

This dairy free nog will last in the refrigerator five days or more.

Usually when I’m making nut milks (like strawberry milk or almond milk), I try to finish it within about 3 days because it starts to separate.

However, since this vegan eggnog also uses store-bought non-dairy milk, the stabilizers in the milk help the eggnog to last longer than nut milk alone.

In addition to drinking this delicious vegan eggnog by the glassful, you can use it in other drinks & dishes!

📖 Recipe

Vegan eggnog

Author: Cadry Nelson

5 from 7 votes

Lean into those festive holiday spirits with a glass of vegan eggnog! It's easy to make at home and endlessly creamy. Plus, it's sweetened with dates!

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 2 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 3 minutes minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 people

Course: Beverage

Cuisine: American, Vegan

Keyword: christmas drink, holidays, non-alcoholic

Ingredients

• ▢ 4 cups non-dairy milk
• ▢ ¾ cup raw cashews soaked if necessary
• ▢ 6 Medjool dates pitted
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon plus extra for garnish
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ▢ Dash of cardamom
• ▢ Pinch of kala namak or sea salt (optional)
• ▢ 4 cinnamon sticks optional garnish

Instructions

• ▢
  In a high-speed blender, combine non-dairy milk, raw cashews, pitted Medjool dates, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, a dash of cardamom, and a pinch of kala namak (or sea salt). If you'd prefer, you can omit the salt altogether.

  Blend until everything is fully broken down, and you don't hear any crunching in the blender.
• ▢
  You can drink it right away, but it becomes much thicker and richer if refrigerated for a few hours.

  Move the vegan eggnog to a covered jar, and refrigerate for several hours, so that it can condense.
• ▢
  When you're ready to serve it, pour the vegan eggnog into four glasses.

  If you like, garnish each drink with a shake of ground cinnamon or grate a cinnamon stick over each one with a spice grater. Put a cinnamon stick into each glass as garnish (optional).

Notes

For the non-dairy milk, I use plain Silk unsweetened cashew milk. But feel free to use the store-bought non-dairy milk of your choosing. If you use a sweetened milk, you can use fewer dates. If you use a vanilla flavored milk, you can use less vanilla extract.

If you don’t have a high speed blender, you’ll need to soften the raw cashews & dates before blending. (If you have a high speed blender, you can skip this part.)

To soften the raw cashews for a standard blender do one of the following:

1. Grind the dry raw cashews in a clean coffee grinder. Then add them to the standard blender with the other ingredients.
2. Soak raw cashews in water for about 4 hours. Drain & blend with the other ingredients.
3. Cover the raw cashews in hot water (or microwave them in water). Let them soak for 10 to 30 minutes. Drain and blend with the other ingredients.

To soften dates for a standard blender (or if yours are exceptionally dried out), soak pitted dates in warm water for about a half an hour. Drain and add them to the blender with the other ingredients.

If you’d like to spike your eggnog with alcohol, I recommend adding about a Tablespoon of alcohol in a one cup serving of nog. Vodka is my preferred option, because of its neutral flavor. Or you can go traditional with brandy, Cognac, bourbon, or whiskey.

Store leftover vegan eggnog in a covered container in the refrigerator. It will keep for five days or more.

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Nutrition

Calories: 271kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Sodium: 122mg | Potassium: 760mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 992IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 399mg | Iron: 3mg