In recent years, cashew meal has come to the market, and many people are wondering how this simple ingredient can be used and if there are benefits of using it in place of other ingredients.

With more and more people being diagnosed with celiac disease, gluten intolerances and more people looking to avoid glutens through paleo and ketogenic diets, cashew meal is rising in popularity!

Making cashew meal is pretty simple. However, it can be difficult to grind your raw cashews to a point where they are coarse and crumbly without turning into butter or having the oils separate! Purchasing a bag from the store may be the way to go if you are a beginner and want to give it a try.

how to make cashew meal

Cashew meal is a great alternative to flours for those with gluten intolerances or those with diets where gluten is restricted. There are plenty of cashew meal recipes out there from muffins, to breading on fried chicken!

Cashew meal adds a lovely richness, creaminess, slight saltiness and sweetness to your recipes and can add a moistness to baked goods. Not to be confused with cashew flour, cashew meal offers a coarser and crumbly grind texture.

Cashews are full of monounsaturated fats, fatty acids and magnesium. The nutrients found in cashews are great for your blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol control, bone health, the immune system and your metabolism. All great reasons to include more cashews into your diet!

What Is Cashew Meal?

Cashew meal is made from raw cashew nuts. The nuts are pulsed in a blender or food processor until a coarse and crumbly texture is formed. The cashew nut meal is then ready for use and can be used in a number of recipes.

Although not the most versatile ingredient, it is a great gluten free alternative for ketogenic and celiac diets.

Cashew meal taste of mild nuttiness, slightly sweet and savory. The texture of cashew meal is coarse and crumbly and can be used in place of flour in recipes such as bases for cheesecakes, tarts, protein balls and more.

If you are looking to use cashew meal as a flour replacement in recipes you can simply substitute 1/4 cup of cashew meal for every 1/2 cup of flour.

You can easily experiment with your own recipes, this is part of the fun with ingredients that are fairly new to the market. Let your imagination run wild.

You can of course make your own cashew meal from home by grinding raw cashew nuts down into a crumbled and coarse texture. It can be difficult to keep the cashews from forming into butter, if you don’t have a great blender or food processor, you may want to stick to purchasing it from the store.

Click here to buy cashew meal now.

Cashews
Cashews

What’s The Difference Between Cashew Meal And Flour?

Some people confuse cashew meal for cashew flour, assuming they are the same thing. They are both made from cashew nuts, meaning they are basically the same thing. However the big difference is their texture difference in baking.

The main difference between cashew meal and cashew flour is how coarsely ground the cashews are. Cashew flour is a finer grind than cashew meal, with cashew meal being quite coarse and crumbly. It gives more of a bite in recipes rather than a light airiness to baked goods like flour does.

Cashew flour is great for thickening soups, sauces, baking cakes, etc. Cashew meal however is perfect in recipes where more whole wheats are called for, like in bases to cheesecakes, tarts, protein balls, muffins, etc.

Cashew Meal Benefits

Cashew meal is a great alternative to gluten laden flours for those with celiac disease, gluten intolerances or those on ketogenic or paleo diets. Cashew meal can act as a great substitute for certain flours, especially whole wheat, in many recipes.

It is also a fun ingredient to experiment with, as it is a fairly new ingredient to the market, there aren’t as many recipes for its use as other ingredients. Therefore why not try out your own recipes and see how it goes!

Cashew meal can be substituted for flour in many recipes such a cookies, muffins, cakes and more! You just need to use half the amount you would have used in flour.

Cashew meal is also full of nutrients. Monounsaturated fats, fatty acids, magnesium and essential amino acids, and other vitamins and minerals make this a super healthy alternative to nutrient lacking flours.

These nutrients can help your blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol control, bone health, the immune system and your metabolism.

How To Use Cashew Meal

Cashew meal can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used as a replacement for flour in a variety of recipes. For every 1/2 cup of flour, 1/4 cup of cashew meal is needed. You can use this in cookies, cakes, muffins and a lot more.

Cashew meal is also a great ingredient to use in place of cookies in bases of tarts, cheesecakes, slices, etc. Simply replace the cookies you’d normally use in your cheesecake base for cashew meal and increase your nutrients.

The same goes for many recipes, whether that be cookies, cakes, protein balls, etc.

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What Is A Cashew Meal Substitute?

An easy substitute for cashew meal is almond meal or almond flour. It is another nut flour that is also gluten free and offers similar qualities of taste and texture to that of cashew meal.

If you are struggling to find cashew meal, almond flour or almond meal is a perfectly good substitute. If your recipe requires 1/2 cup of cashew meal you can simply substitute it with 1/2 cup of almond meal or almond flour.

You can read more about almond flour vs cashew flour here.

Conclusion

With more and more people being diagnosed with celiac disease and the growing number of those with gluten intolerances and restrictive diets such a paleo and ketogenic. Cashew meal is a great alternative to gluten-laden flours.

Cashew meal is made with only one ingredient; cashews, it is easy to make at home, it is full of nutrients and provides a lovely rich flavor in baked goods.

Cashew meal can be used in a range of recipes where flour is called for and is all in all a great ingredient for those with gluten intolerances and those who want more nutrient dense ingredients in their recipes.

Click here to buy cashew meal now.

If you want to learn more, you can find all our guides to cashew products here or you can click here to find out if cashews cause constipation.

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