• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Little Bites Of Joy
  • Home
  • About
    • About Andreea
  • Garden Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Little Bites
    • Soups
    • Salads/Dressings
    • Mains
    • Sweet Stuff
    • Free of Flour/Sugar
    • DIY
  • Our Flowers
  • Shop
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My account
  • Calendar
  • Blog
    • Gardening
    • Herbs & Wild Edibles
    • Simple Lifestyle
  • Resources
    • Garden Coaching
    • Interviews
    • Testimonials
  • Contact Us

Vegan Creamed Nettles (no flour)

April 19, 2023 by andreea fegan 1 Comment

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin1
1 Shares

Vegan and flour-free, these vegan creamed nettles are the perfect spring side dish that’s also full of goodness.

vegan creamed nettles

Vegan creamed nettles are one of my top favorite dishes to make in the springtime, when nettles are abundant and begging to be harvested. If you enjoy creamed spinach, then creamed nettles will quickly win your heart.

vegan creamed nettles

A Little Introduction To Nettles

nettles

I’m including a super short introduction to nettles, because I have already covered all the benefits of nettles in this longer article here. But for now, here’s a short summary.

Stinging nettles are typically a wild edible, but many gardeners and herbalists grow them since they keep on giving, all throughout spring and summer. They are a deep green chlorophyll-packed green that has stingers on its leaves and stems, so be careful to wear gloves! These stingers are not actually harmful to us, and in fact have bene used in herbalism to promote circulation in arthritic hands (people actually touch them on purpose!) That said, you probably don’t want to eat them raw. Blending or cooking them releases the stingers and make them edible.

How To De-stem Nettles

Click the video to see how you can take the nettle leaves off the stem.

Using gloves, hold on to the stem with one hand, then pull the leaves off with your other hand.

Vegan Bechamel

Béchamel is a french sauce typically made with butter and flour. It’s made with a roux or flour and butter, after which milk is typically added. I’m currently not doing flour these days, or butter, and wanted to formulate a creamy sauce that has similar characteristics but in vegan form. You’ll be pleasantly surprised that this béchamel works really well as a vegan, and flour-free alternative.

The secret is in cashews. Cashew milk, in particular, when heated through and left to simmer becomes quite thick, almost like a cream sauce made with flour. This vegan cream of mushroom soup uses this technique and it’s delicious.

vegan creamed nettles

This Recipe Is

  • Creamy & Silky smooth
  • Comforting & Warming
  • Done in under 10 minutes
  • And the perfect side dish this spring
vegan creamed nettles

Vegan Creamed Nettles Recipe

  • 1/2 cup raw cashews
  • 2 cups water
  • a pinch or two of salt
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 4 large handfuls of nettles, washed, and de-stemmed (they cook down)
  • Freshly ground black pepper and flaky salt, optional

Prepare the nettles: First, plunge the nettles in boiling water for about 3 minutes until they wilt and turn bright green. Drain, give them a good chop so they’re easier to chew, and set aside.

Make the cashew béchamel: Blend the cashews, water, salt and garlic in a high speed blender until completely smooth (you can also use a regular blender or food processor in a pinch, but it won’t be as smooth)

Add the nettles and the béchamel to a heavy bottom pot (like cast iron) and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 5 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken. Sprinkle generously with black pepper and flaky salt, and serve.

vegan creamed nettles

Vegan Creamed Nettles (No Flour)

Andreea Fegan of www.LittleBitesOfJoy.com
Vegan and flour-free, these vegan creamed nettles are the perfect spring side dish that's also full of goodness.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup raw cashews
  • 2 cups water
  • pinch or two of salt
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 4 large handfulls of raw nettles washed, and de-stemmed (they cook down)
  • Freshly ground black pepper and flaky salt, optional

Instructions
 

Prepare the nettles

  • First, plunge the nettles in boiling water for about 3 minutes until they wilt and turn bright green. Drain, give them a good chop so they're easier to chew, and set aside.

Make the cashew bechamel

  • Blend the cashews, water, salt and garlic in a high speed blender until completely smooth (you can also use a regular blender or food processor in a pinch, but it won't be as smooth)
  • Add the nettles and the béchamel to a heavy bottom pot (like cast iron) and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 5 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken.
  • Sprinkle generously with black pepper and flaky salt, and serve.

Pin It For Later

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin1
1 Shares

Filed Under: Gardening, Herbs & Wild Edibles, Mains, Recipes Tagged With: gardening, wildedibles

Previous Post: « What To Grow In The Spring Garden
Next Post: 33 Things You Can Do For Earth Day »

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. All About Nettles and Why You Should Grow Them - Little Bites Of Joy says:
    May 27, 2021 at 3:28 pm

    […] check out the vegan creamed nettles post here (photo below)! This recipe is flour-free, dairy free, and […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

So Happy You’re Here!

Categories

  • April 2021
  • April 2022
  • August 2021
  • August 2022
  • Breakfast
  • December 2020
  • December 2021
  • December 2022
  • Dessert
  • DIY
  • Drinks
  • February 2021
  • February 2022
  • Free of Flour/Sugar
  • Gardening
  • Herbs & Wild Edibles
  • January 2021
  • January 2022
  • July 2021
  • July 2022
  • June 2021
  • June 2022
  • Little Bites
  • Mains
  • March 2021
  • March 2022
  • May 2021
  • May 2022
  • November 2020
  • November 2021
  • November 2022
  • October 2020
  • October 2021
  • October 2022
  • Recipes
  • Salads/Dressings
  • September 2020
  • September 2021
  • September 2022
  • Simple Lifestyle
  • Soups
  • Sweet Stuff

Recent Posts

  • How To Grow Potatoes
  • How To Cook Dried Beans
  • Grilled Grapefruit with Pistachios and Cinnamon Honey
  • Dahlia Resources
  • Simple Pasta With Greens (and 9 variations)

Products

  • summer flowers CSA 2025 Summer Blooms CSA $140.00
  • dahlia CSA 2025 Dahlia CSA $140.00
  • spring blooms CSA 2025 Spring Blooms CSA $140.00
  • Seasonal Eating Ebook Seasonal Eating Cookbook (Digital) $20.00 Original price was: $20.00.$10.00Current price is: $10.00.
  • Seasonal Eating Cookbook Hardcover Seasonal Eating Cookbook (HardCover) $30.00

Copyright © 2025 Little Bites Of Joy on the Foodie Pro Theme