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
This was really good! I had to substitute lime juice for the lemon juice. I put it on my potatoes and broccoli that I usually smother with cheese and butter.
This recipe was LIFE CHANGING!!! I halved the recipe because I only had one cup of cashews at home. It turned out perfectly and was more than enough to cover our three vegan burrito bowls. I’m still pretty new to a plant based lifestyle and am loving it, but I’ve missed having something cheesy to go with Mexican food. This sauce is a game changer! I’m so glad I found your recipe when googling “vegan nacho cheese” and look forward to trying more dishes from your blog. 🙂
Thank you so much, I’m glad you love the cheese sauce so much! I totally know what you mean.
By far the BEST vegan nacho “cheese” sauce/vegan queso I have made. I made this in a Vitamix blender and didn’t find it necessary to heat on the stove (blended on high for 2-3 minutes, sauce was very warm and ready to enjoy). I did add fresh jalapeños for extra heat! The sauce is smooth, creamy and perfectly seasoned (smokey and spicy). I can’t wait to add green chiles and make Green Chile mac & cheese.
Thanks for another great recipe.
You’re so welcome!!
Fudging amazeballs. Best nacho cheese ever xxx
This recipe is so incredible! It’s fast, easy, creamy Deliciousness! I made a large amount and we just put it on everything! My favorite way to use it is on loaded sweet potatoes! I added a few drops of liquid smoke because why not! Thank you Nora for such amazing recipes! ?
I’m happy to hear that, thank you so much!
I make this EVERY week due! My daughter can’t get enough~ fantastic recipe! I also add a can of green chiles, so good!
I’m so glad! Thank you!
Thanks for the recipe Nora. It looks delicious, will try this.
You’re welcome!!
good
My first time making cashew cheese and I’m so glad I tried this one first. Wow!! So good!! Thank you! I adjusted spices to taste, I liked a little more, but that’s just a preference. I even thought about trying it with some rotel and veggie sausage to mimic a childhood dip we ate. Overall a real winner, thanks for sharing and will definitely be trying more of your recipes!!
I’m so glad it came out great! Thanks for the comment!!
This is my very first recipe review. And I had to, because this is delicious. As a new vegan I am spend a lot of time online looking for recipes to fulfill certain Cravings since I have been a meat eater for the better part of 25 years. I used 1.5x all the spices a nutritional yeast suggested but this was spot on and I actually ate nachos for Breakfast because it was that good! Thank you kindly, I’ll be looking for more of your recipes.
Wow, that’s so great to hear! Thank you so much for the wonderful comment!!
So versatile!! You can cook it in a saucepan to thicken it up and use it as a spread, or water it down as a cheesy soup base – we’ve don’t both and both are amaze-balls! The smoked paprika is absolutely great and adds almost a bbq flavor – but it isn’t necessary and the flavor can get old if you eat a lot of it – you can use regular paprika or add a little of any salsa – really the only essential ingredients are the cashews, the salt and the nutritional yeast – the recipe is very forgiving – I don’t usually measure anymore – and I usually add more nutritional yeast than the recipe calls for because – well, nutritional yeast is awesome – but the first time, at least for me, following the recipe is good because it gave me a base line to follow-ish. Just please don’t not make it just because you don’t have smoked paprika on hand – just leave it out or use regular and it’ll still be really good (but I do recommend trying it with it eventually!)
Thanks so much for the great comment!!
This is the best cheese sauce I’ve ever had. Thankyou so much xx
I just have to say how completely happy I am making and trying this recipe tonight. I have not had a nacho “cheese” really satisfy my cravings since before I went vegan (5 years ago now) and this recipe HIT THE SPOT. I omitted the siracha and added jalapeño juice for the spice and just wow. Thank you so much. I live for your recipes and this was no exception.
Thanks so much for the great comment!
This is it! While I do appreciate, and like, the cheesy (sp?) sauces with carrot and potato, THIS is the bomb… the one that is the splurge, the real thing… the one you can serve to your carnivore friends (or family) and they won’t bat an eye. Thank you so much!! ?
You’re welcome!
Does this freeze well?
It freezes quite well, but when you thaw it, warm it up, add water as needed to thin it and whisk very well to make it creamy and smooth again.
Hey Nora! This sauce is INCREDIBLE! Made it earlier in the week for nachos, and they were amazing! My question is if I wanted to make it just a regular cheese sauce (and not a nacho cheese sauce), should I just omit the smoked paprika and chili powder? I’ll still be making it as is for Mexican, but would like to use it for soooo many other things as well, including mac and cheese!
Sure, you could just leave out a few of the spices. You might want to check out my Vegan Mac and Cheese, as the sauce is quite similar but a bit more plain.
This recipe is easy and delicious!
New family staple for sure. Thank you Nora! <3
You’re welcome!
Is it good hot? Do you recommend heating up in the stove or microwave? Tks
It is best warm or hot. It heats up much better on the stovetop, plus I add a little water to thin as needed when rewarming. It gets too thick in the microwave but sometimes I still do this if I’m in a hurry!
Hello, I just made this today and love it. However, mine isn’t as creamy as the photo. How do you get the creamy consistency? Should I have blended in my food processor longer?
A high powered blender is really what you need to make a super creamy sauce from cashews. Such as a Vitamix. If using a food processor or regular blender, it may not get as creamy unfortunately.
I only have a food processor and I have made (Nora’s) cashew cheeses successfully. I soak the cashews the night before and blend them a little longer in the processor than the recipe might normally require. It gets really smooth and creamy, but you do need to plan ahead.
The enchiladas and the walnut meat taco was delish! I made the cheese sauce and had a question about how long will it be good to tore in the fridge? I making baked potatoes and have some left that I want to
Use to top my baked potatoes. Thanks for your reply
It will last 3-4 days in the refrigerator. That sounds great, thank you!
I’ve made quite a few cheese sauce is trying to find the perfect recipe. I believe I have found it! Definitely my new favorite.
Thanks so much!
Hi Nora I hope u know how awesome you are!!!!! So I have a question could I use tofu for this recipe instead of the raw cashews? Thanks for all your yummy recipes!
You are so kind, thank you! Tofu won’t really work the same way here, unfortunately! Cashews are what really make this sauce creamy and cheesy tasting. You might want to check out my Nut Free Nacho Cheese Sauce though, if you are looking for a nut free alternative.
I had just finished blending a jar of salsa, so I didn’t clean out my blender when I whipped this up. It’s delicious!!! Because of the salsa, I omitted the chili powder. I also halved the recipe because it is for my daughter and I for nachos. I wish I hadn’t because it’s so good, I want it on everything! I think the smoked paprika really makes it!
I’m glad it’s good!
Hello, I love your recipes. I love to make vegan creations, especially during the pandemic. However, my struggle with vegan cheese is real. I have tried packaged cheese, not my preference. However, I do love a well-loaded vegan nacho, but sometimes I have given several times using cheddar cheese. Yes, please don’t judge me. Like I said with cheese the struggle is real. It is not like I just discover becoming a vegan. I am a 47-year vegetarian turned one year vegan. So, I say that…I will try cheese sauce. It sure looks yummy. I will give you an update. Again, thank you for sharing your recipes.
I understand the struggle, and I think you just may love this nacho cheese. It tastes nothing like the store bought stuff. Stay well during this time, and I hope you enjoy the recipes!
whoooo, that is spicy! but delicious. Thanks!
You’re welcome!