Looking for a sweet and creamy dessert that’s dairy-free and packed with nutrients?
Give this raw vegan mango pudding a go, and you won’t be disappointed.
The cashews and the mango in this vegan mango pudding combine beautifully to create the creamiest dairy-free dessert ever.
I bet you thought it’d never be possible to have a dessert this creamy and decadent without dairy.
Get ready to be pleasantly surprised.
And with just four whole food ingredients, not only is this vegan mango pudding super delicious and nutritious, it’s also super easy to make.
Yep, it’s yet another of my “chuck it in the blender” recipes.
I’m the queen of low-effort cooking.
So in no time at all you can satisfy your craving for something sweet and rich, all while feeding your body with the nutrient-dense food it craves.
But just because it’s a simple recipe, and fast to make, doesn’t mean that it won’t impress.
This unassuming vegan mango pudding is one of the best desserts you’ll make all year.
(Except maybe for my raw vegan chocolate fudge.)
You could even serve this in fancy dishes at a fancy dinner party and you’d knock the socks off your fancy guests for sure.
Ready to send your taste buds into raptures of delight?
Creamy Vegan Mango Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 med mango (250g)
- 1/2 cup cashews (70g)
- 1/3 cup medjool dates or 3 med (70g)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder
- 1/3 cup water (85) *
- 1/2 cup ice (100g) *
Method
- Put everything into a high-speed blender and blend until smooth.
- Serve immediately or store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Preparation
- Before: -
- During: 10 mins
- After: -
- Need: Blender
Notes
* About 1/3 cup of water (85g) and 1/2 cup of ice (100g)Nutrition Information
Tips
- I love November in my corner of the world, because that’s the start of mango season for me. As much as I love berries and stone fruit, if I had to choose a favourite fruit, it would be mangoes. They’re so delicious and so versatile, and they do make such amazing desserts. I’ve only ever used fresh mangoes in this raw vegan mango pudding, but I imagine you could also used tinned mango (but maybe add less water) or even dried mango (soaked and rehydrated) if you wanted to. Let me know how it goes!
- If you’re not sure how much flesh you’re getting from your “medium” mango, put a bit extra in. Thankfully this recipe is pretty forgiving, so it won’t matter if you put a bit “too much” mango in. I’m guessing that 250g of mango flesh would be roughly a heaped cup, if you want to measure it another way.
- I use the most amazing 100% raw cashews from Loving Earth, which are plump and super delicious. They’re hand-harvested and shelled in Indonesia, by a community that Loving Earth works closely with to support and develop. You might not be lucky enough to have access to these cashews, but see if you can find some really high-quality, really raw cashews near you, and taste the difference.
- I don’t pre-soak my cashews and I’ve given up pretending that I’m ever going to bother. Yes, I know it would be more nutritious that way. Yes, I know the cashews would blend more easily that way. I know all the reasons why I should do it, I’m just not going to do it. If you do have the foresight to soak your cashews for a couple of hours beforehand, just reduce the water/ice mix by a couple of tablespoons to account for the water that the cashews will absorb. And if your blender isn’t as powerful, pre-soaking your cashews will make your vegan mango pudding smoother and creamier. Your call.
- As always, I use Medjool dates in this dish. They’re sweet, soft and sticky, and available in the fresh food aisle of most supermarkets or from your local greengrocer. They add a depth of flavour that you just don’t get from most extracted sweeteners (sugar, agave, maple syrup, coconut nectar), and they’re a whole – albeit dried – food, so they contain all the nutrition of the original food, including fibre, protein and vitamins and minerals.
- If you only have access to regular dates, just soak them at room temperature for a couple of hours before using them, and use the soak water in your vegan mango pudding to turn up the flavour another notch.
- Vanilla bean powder is made from whole, ground vanilla beans. I’ve switched to using this instead of vanilla extract wherever I can in my recipes, because it’s a whole food, it’s alcohol-free and it uses the whole bean, not just the seeds, so there’s less waste. You can make your own by air-drying beans for a month or two and then grinding them up in a spice grinder or the dry jug of your blender, or you can buy it from your local health food supplier. If you don’t have any on hand, just add 2 tsp of vanilla extract or scrape the seeds from a fresh vanilla bean pod into the mix.
- I use a mix of water and ice to keep the ingredients cool as I blend them in the high-speed Vitamix. I’ve found that if I used all water, it can overheat before it gets fully smooth. And if I use all ice, it turns into a kind of slushie, and won’t blend properly and doesn’t end up smooth. If you’re working with volume measurements, use about 1/3 cup of water (85g) and 1/2 cup of ice (100g). If you don’t want to use ice, you can refrigerate all of your ingredients beforehand (including the water) for a few hours to give them a good head start before you begin blending.
Variations
- If you want to make a nut-free version of this vegan mango pudding, you could try substituting sunflower seeds for the cashews. You could also try hemp seeds, although they have a stronger nutty flavour that might overwhelm the other subtle flavours of this dish.
- If you want to reduce the fat content of this dish, you can try reducing the amount of cashews. Just be aware that if you reduce the cashews too much the pudding will lose that amazing rich creaminess that makes it work so well, so just play with it until you find the right balance.
- If you want to reduce the sugar content of this dish, just reduce the amount of dates. There’s not a huge amount to begin with, but the mango and cashews do have their own natural sweetness, amplified by the vanilla bean powder, so you should be able to try going down to two, or even just one date, and still have a pretty good tasting pudding.
My inspiration
This recipe was born out of my raw vegan mango lassi recipe, combined with a desire for a creamy mango-based pudding.
I realised that if added a lot less water to my mango lassi, I’d get a pudding-like consistency, and then I simplified the recipe by leaving out anything that wasn’t really required.
Leaving me with cashews for creaminess, dates for sweetness and a hint of vanilla to pull all the flavours together beautifully.
I’m super excited to have created this amazingly creamy vegan mango pudding.
And I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Mmmmmm, mangoes…
Resources
If you’re looking for a supplier of raw cashews that are actually raw, Loving Earth no longer supply them sadly, but here’s a couple of brands you could try:
- Raw Cashews @ Real Raw Food
- Raw Cashews @ Live Live
If you’re trying to figure out how to chop up your mangoes, here’s some great instructions:
- How to Cut a Mango @ Mango.org
And have a super sweet day!
9 comments
Manon
I made this with frozen mangoes and omitted the ice, it was so nice!
Nikki Stokes, Eating Vibrantly
Hi Manon,
Sounds lovely. Thanks for sharing!
Varsha Masilamani
Can I substitute almonds for cashews? I have an allergic child who if ok with almonds but no other nuts or coconut.
Nikki
Hi Varsha,
Yes, I would say so, although I haven’t tried it myself.
You may find that the almonds don’t blend to as smooth a final result as the cashews do, although you might be able to get around this by using an equivalent amount of almond butter instead of whole almonds.
Let me know how you go with it!
Valerie
I made the recipe exactly as instructed but the consistency was like a smoothie rather than pudding. How do I achieve a more pudding like consistency.
The taste was amazing but it was mostly drinkable Thank you
Nikki
Hi Valerie,
I would say that this most likely happened because your mangoes were juicer or smaller than mine were. Make sure you’re using a full 250g of mango flesh.
And the simplest way to make this more like a pudding and less like a smoothie is to use less water.
Next time, try adding only half of the ice/water mix to begin with, and just keep adding small amounts until the consistency is just right.
Let me know how you go!
Marilyn
Looks yummy Nikki. Would it work well and taste just as good substituting the mango with peaches?
Nikki
Hi Marilyn,
I’ve never tried it with peaches, but the texture is pretty similar, so it should work out the same.
As for the taste, if you’re a fan of peaches, I’m betting it would taste mighty fine!
If you give it a try, let me know how it goes.
Marilyn
Thanks for your reply and I shall report back soon.