Cashew Cheese (vegan)

High FODMAP

Serving sizes

Cashew Cheese (vegan) changes rating with portion size. Its rating is estimated from what it is made of, so the servings are described rather than weighed.

Small serving Moderate
Moderate serving High
Large serving High

GOS Fructans

Cashew cheese is High FODMAP, since it packs concentrated cashews into a spreadable form that carries their fermentable sugars along too.

Cashews bring GOS and Fructans, and cheese made from them concentrates both: a small serving sits at moderate and climbs to high by a moderate serving.
Many recipes also fold in garlic, which pushes the total even higher, so the label and ingredient list are worth a quick look before you dig in.

A small spread keeps things easier, and a firm lactose-free dairy cheese or a garlic-free version can give you that creamy hit with less to worry about.

Why cashew cheese (vegan) is rated high

Cashew cheese is high FODMAP, and the reason is simply what it is made of: whole cashews blended down into a dense spreadable block, so the GOS and fructans that cashews carry come along and end up concentrated rather than diluted. This rating is estimated from that composition rather than from a measured serving in the lab, and the portion ladder is qualitative for the same reason. A Small serving already reads moderate, a Moderate serving is high, and a Large serving is high. So there is no rung on this ladder that comes in low, and the honest answer is that cashew cheese is a high FODMAP food with a moderate floor, not a low food you can have a lot of.

What changes your risk

Serving size The climb here is short and steep. A Small serving sits at moderate, and by a Moderate serving it is already high, with a Large serving high as well. Because the ladder has no low rung, a smaller spread is less load but never a low FODMAP portion.
Garlic in the recipe Most cashew cheeses are seasoned, and garlic is the usual seasoning, which stacks more fructans on top of the fructans already in the nuts. Check the ingredient list for garlic and onion powder, and for inulin or chicory root fibre, which some blends use for texture.
Stacking with other GOS and fructan foods Even a Small serving is moderate on its own, so putting it in the same meal as chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans, baked beans, soy beans, onion, or ordinary wheat bread or pasta pushes the shared load up quickly. Spreading things out across the day is easier on the total than piling them into one sitting.
Cooking does not help Baking cashew cheese into a bake, melting it, or blending it longer does not destroy FODMAPs. Heat does not break them down. Fructans and GOS are water soluble and can leach into cooking or canning liquid, which is why drained and rinsed canned legumes run lower than the same legume boiled from dried, but a spread that keeps everything in the block never loses anything to a liquid you pour away.
The form it arrives in Softer, spreadable styles are easy to keep going back to, and a firmer block that gets sliced is easier to keep to a Small serving. The base nut is the load either way.

Swaps

For the creamy, savoury role on a cracker or a sandwich, the cleanest swaps are hard aged dairy cheeses: cheddar, parmesan and swiss all do the job and sit low. For a sauce or a bake that wants something pourable, lactose-free milk works, though it is worth being plain that lactose-free dairy is ordinary dairy with the lactase enzyme added, so it is not dairy-free and it is not suitable for a milk allergy. If the reason for reaching for cashew cheese is avoiding dairy altogether, be aware there is no perfect swap: blended firm tofu gives a creamy savoury base, and garlic-infused oil with chives or the green tops of spring onions gives the flavour that garlic would have given, since fructans do not dissolve into oil as long as no solid pieces are left in it. What does not work as a fix is swapping to a pistachio-based spread, since pistachios carry the same subgroups as cashews.

How to lower the load

Read the label before anything else, because two cashew cheeses can behave very differently: one seasoned with garlic, onion powder or chicory root fibre carries more fructans than the plain version. Plain, firm, sliceable styles are easier to keep to a Small serving than a soft tub that invites repeated dipping, and slicing it in the kitchen rather than bringing the whole block to the table helps. At a restaurant or a deli counter, ask what the vegan cheese is based on, since nut-based, coconut-based and starch-based versions are all sold under the same words on a menu and only the ingredient list tells you which one is in front of you. If the plan is a cheese board, build the board around a hard aged dairy cheese and treat the cashew version as the thing you are choosing to leave off.

Common questions

is cashew cheese low fodmap

No. Cashew cheese is high FODMAP, estimated from what it is made of, since it concentrates cashews and the GOS and fructans they carry. Even the lowest rung of its ladder, a Small serving, reads moderate rather than low.

how much cashew cheese can i eat

The ladder for cashew cheese is qualitative, with no low rung at all: a Small serving is moderate, a Moderate serving is high and a Large serving is high. There is no tested amount that comes in low, so a smaller spread means less load rather than a safe portion.

is cashew cheese high in gos

Yes. Cashews carry both GOS and fructans, and blending them into a dense spread concentrates both, which is what drives the high rating.

what vegan cheese can i eat on the elimination phase

Cashew and pistachio based cheeses are not suitable during elimination because of their GOS and fructans. If dairy is an option, hard aged cheeses such as cheddar, parmesan and swiss fill the same role and sit low. If it is not, blended firm tofu seasoned with garlic-infused oil and chives is the honest stand-in, and reintroducing anything is done with a dietitian.

Learn more

Informational only, not medical advice. Individual tolerance varies. Talk to a healthcare professional or a dietitian for personal guidance.

Cashew Cheese (vegan) is an estimated rating: it is inferred from the food's ingredients and composition and cross-checked, not measured directly in the papers below. The low, moderate and high cutoffs are still those of Varney et al. (2017).

References

Fructan and free fructose content of common Australian vegetables and fruit. Muir et al. (2007), J. Agricultural and Food Chemistry 55(16):6619-6627.
Measurement of short-chain carbohydrates in common Australian vegetables and fruits by HPLC. Muir et al. (2009), J. Agricultural and Food Chemistry 57(2):554-565.
Quantification of fructans, galacto-oligosaccharides and other short-chain carbohydrates in processed grains and cereals. Biesiekierski et al. (2011), J. Human Nutrition and Dietetics 24(2):154-176.
Dietary sorbitol and mannitol: food content and distinct absorption patterns. Yao et al. (2014), J. Human Nutrition and Dietetics 27(Suppl 2):263-275.
FODMAPs: food composition, defining cutoff values and international application. Varney et al. (2017), J. Gastroenterology and Hepatology 32(Suppl 1):53-61. Supplies the low, moderate and high cutoffs used on this page.