Easy Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce is made with soaked, raw cashews, blended with water, nutritional yeast and spices; and warmed on the stove until it reaches nacho cheese perfection! Optional but good: Add Sriracha to taste or keep it mild for kids with sensitive palates. Serve nacho cheese sauce with chips, or even drizzle on steamed broccoli or baked potatoes!
Last week, we ate at the Veggie Grill near us. Oh my goodness, I could eat there every day! Unfortunately (or fortunately, for the budget!), it’s a good 25 minutes away, so we really don’t get there often enough. We do live near Portland, THE Mecca for vegan food, but it’s far enough that with 3 kids and traffic, we rarely make it to the city for good vegan eats.
Anyhow, we got the nacho appetizer to share, and that’s when I started thinking about the fact that I really needed to up my nacho game. I was anxious to come home and try to re-create the nacho cheese sauce they had. It was SO good. And mild enough that I knew my kids would totally go for it.
I do have a tried and true recipe on the blog for Vegan Queso Dip with Cashews that is somewhat similar to this one. It’s amazing and a real crowd pleaser, but it is quite spicy and has chunky tomatoes and green chiles in it, which my kids aren’t crazy about. It’s also thicker, and makes for a better dip with chips than a pourable sauce.
I hope you love this Easy Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce! It’s:
- Creamy and rich
- Mild, but spice adjustable
- Pourable; not too thick
- Kid-friendly
- Easy and Quick to prepare
- Versatile: Enjoy with chips, on a baked potato or drizzle on steamed vegetables!
Want more delicious vegan Mexican recipes? Try any of these:
Ultimate Fully Loaded Vegan Nachos
Cauliflower Walnut Mushroom Taco Meat
Roasted Vegetable Enchilada Casserole
If you make this recipe, let me know how it goes! Rate it, leave a comment and tag a photo @noracooksvegan on Instagram or find me on Facebook. Enjoy!
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Easy Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups raw cashews
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice (from about 1 large lemon)
- 4 cups water, divided, plus more as needed to thin
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
- 1-2 teaspoons Sriracha, optional
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, optional for color
Instructions
- Soak the cashews: You can either do a quick soak, or soak the cashews for several hours or overnight. To quick soak, simply boil water in a tea kettle or on the stovetop, cover the cashews with the boiling water and set aside for 10 minutes. Drain.
- Blend: In a high powered blender, add the cashews, lemon juice, 3 cups of the water, nutritional yeast, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and the salt. Add optional turmeric to make the cheese more yellow/orange.
- Warm: In a medium saucepan, add the cheese sauce from the blender. Using a whisk, warm over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it begins to bubble and thicken. Add the last cup of water, depending on how thick or thin you want the sauce to be.
- Add more salt to taste, and Sriracha if using, depending on your spice preference. If the cheese sauce sits for a while, or you refrigerate the leftovers, it will thicken. Simply warm it again on the stove, adding water as needed to thin. Serve over tortilla chips, steamed broccoli, baked potatoes and more.
Video
Notes
- Raw slivered almonds may be able to subbed for cashews, but they will need to be soaked very well. If you need a nut free cheese sauce, check out my Nut Free Vegan Cheese Sauce.
- You do really need a high powered blender for this cheese to get smooth and creamy. A food processor or regular blender just won't be able to get it very creamy. I use a Vitamix blender and love it.
Nutrition
I was looking for a quicker queso to make last minute to go with baked potatoes, and this hit the spot! My kids, who granted probably don’t remember what real dairy tastes like, shouted “THIS TASTES LIKE REAL CHEESE!!”
It won’t fool someone over the age of 10 that it’s real cheese, but who cares, it’s so tasty!! About to go make it again right now to have on some burritos!
Hi Vanessa. How delicious to use with baked potatoes! I’m thrilled the kids loved the cheese sauce! We sure love it at our house! Thanks for sharing your wonderful review and fun feedback! I love it! Wishing you happy cooking!
Yummy! Great recipe!
I loved this recipe, but had LOTS left over after making a double batch. How long do you think it will last if refrigerated? Can it be frozen?
You can freeze it, yes. After freezing and thawing it might not be as smooth, but you can either whisk it well or blend it up again. It can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. Thanks, glad you loved it!
OMG! made this tonight , to use with your Skillet Enchiladas recipes, It is the best cheese recipe I have ever tasted, so glad i decided to try your recipe instead of using store bought vegan brand.
Its amazing. Im going to use it for mac and cheese also, thanks again your a genius <3