Irresistibly creamy 5 Ingredient Vegan Queso will be the appetizer or snack of your dreams! Whip up this tasty Tex Mex vegan cheese dip in just 10 minutes. All you need is a blender and 5 easy ingredients!
Giving up cheese can feel like a huge hurdle when going vegan. Thankfully, there are alternatives that will help during the transition!
Once you try my 5 Ingredient Vegan Queso, there’s no going back to dairy. This vegan cheese dip is rich and smooth, just like the real thing. It still has a cheesy flavor and is so much more fresh and satisfying than dairy versions.
Did I mention how easy it is to whip up a batch? All you need are 5 pantry-staple ingredients and a blender! Try serving it with tortilla chips, or add it to nachos and burritos.
You’re going to love this queso because it’s…
- Oh so creamy
- Cheesy and delicious
- The right amount of spicy
- And so easy to make!
Vegan queso vs. vegan queso blanco
Both vegan queso and vegan queso blanco are melted cheese dips. The difference lies in the flavor and color! Queso dip is usually made by melting orange cheddar cheese (or highly-processed Velveeta) and stirring in Ro-tel canned tomatoes and green chilies (or fresh sauteéd peppers/tomatoes/onions).
Vegan queso blanco has more complex flavors, blending together cashews, potatoes, green chiles, and jalapenos. This cheese dip has a spicier flavor and is always white.
Both dips are delicious served hot and with tortilla chips!
Ingredients you need
- Raw cashews – Use raw, unsalted cashews to avoid any disruptions to the flavor. If you do use salted nuts, make sure to test your vegan cheese sauce before adding any additional salt. You can also make my nut-free cheese sauce if nuts aren’t your thing.
- Lemon juice – Juice the lemons yourself for the best flavor, or use bottled if that’s what you have at home.
- Nutritional yeast – The golden ingredient! This is what will give the vegan queso its cheesy flavor. You can buy nutritional yeast in most major grocery stores or online.
- Canned tomatoes and green chilies – These will add texture and spice to each bite. Use Ro-tel canned tomatoes with green chilies for the best results! You could also use salsa for a different flavor, or chopped small onion, red bell pepper and minced jalapeño that have been sautéed.
- Salt – To round out the flavors and achieve balance.
How to make it
- Start by adding the soaked and drained cashews, water, lemon juice, salt, and nutritional yeast to a high powered blender.
- Drain the juice from the tomatoes and green chiles over a small bowl. Add the saved liquid to the blender. Keep the tomatoes and green chiles on the side for now. Blend on high for a few minutes until very smooth.
- Add the “cheese” sauce and the tomatoes and green chiles to a medium pot. Stir well and warm gently over low-medium heat. Stir frequently as to not burn the queso. The mixture will thicken slightly.
- Serve while warm with tortilla chips and enjoy!
Do I need a high powered blender to make this recipe?
A high powered blender, like a Vitamix, will make your life a bit easier when making this nut based dip. This tool has the power to pulverize the nuts into a creamy cashew sauce without soaking them for very long. You can use a regular blender or a food processor instead, but make sure the nuts are soaked in water for at least 4 hours beforehand. It still might not get super creamy without a high powered blender though.
How to store leftovers
This easy queso recipe can serve up to 10 people, meaning it’s perfect for potlucks, events, and parties! Store the leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container. It can even be frozen if needed, in a freezer friendly container.
The vegan queso cheese sauce will be delicious when reheated over medium-low heat on the stovetop or in the microwave for a minute or two. Add a little water if needed to thin it, as it will thicken in the refrigerator.
What to serve with queso dip
My queso will go perfectly with these Mexican-inspired recipes:
5 Ingredient Vegan Queso
Ingredients
- 2 cups raw cashews, soaked in hot water for at least 5 minutes
- 1/2 cup water
- 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; from about 2 small lemons
- 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 28 ounce canned Ro-tel tomatoes and green chiles
- optional fresh chopped cilantro and a few diced tomatoes, for serving
Instructions
- Soak the cashews for at least 5 minutes in boiling hot water. I do this by heating water up in my tea kettle, then pouring it over the top of the cashews to cover. You can also boil in a small pot for 5 minutes.
- Drain the soaked cashews and add them to a high powered blender along with the water, lemon juice, salt and nutritional yeast. Drain the juice from the tomatoes and green chiles and add the liquid to the blender as well (don't add the tomatoes and green chiles yet). Blend on high for a few minutes until very smooth.
- Add the cheese sauce and the Rotel tomatoes and green chiles to a medium pot. Stir well and warm gently over low-medium heat. Be careful not to burn the queso; stir frequently while warming. The mixture will thicken slightly, and you can add a little water if needed for a thinner texture.
- Sprinkle with optional chopped cilantro and tomatoes and serve warm with tortilla chips. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Cashew allergy? Raw slivered almonds may work here, but if you can’t have any nuts, try making my Nut Free Vegan Cheese Sauce, and add Ro-tel tomatoes and green chiles.
- I can usually find the 28 oz cans of Ro-tel tomatoes/green chiles but if you can only find the 10 oz cans, that is fine. Simple use 3 of them, but don’t add quite all the chunks of tomatoes. Or do for a chunkier sauce! If you don’t have Ro-Tol brand, another brand of diced tomatoes with green chiles will work fine.
- For a fresher alternative to canned tomatoes and chiles, in a small pan sauté a small onion, a red bell peppers, 1-2 jalapeños that have beed seeded and diced and even a few cloves of garlic. Once sautéed, add to the final cheese sauce in the pot, or blend in for flavor and a smooth queso. You will have to add a little more water to blend though.
This is amazing. Can I freeze it?
Thank you! I haven’t tried freezing it, so I’m not totally sure. It might not be quite as creamy when frozen, but if it’s not you could stick it back in the blender (once thawed) and blend again.
This is outstanding! Wow! Thank you for sharing the recipe!!!
You’re welcome!
I made this for New year’s party and everyone loved it, my non vegan friends too. I didn’t have rotel so I used some salsa and a tsp of chipotle paste. So far all of the recipes I have tried from Nora have been excellent! Thank you so much I would not be able to keep my husband vegan without your help.
You’re welcome! I’m so glad it was great!
Looks delicious. Can you suggest a nut-free alternative for this? I know that’s a hard thing to sub in a recipe like this.
For a nut free option, try making my Nut Free Vegan Cheese Sauce instead, and add rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles to it. It works quite well!
Hi Nora, I have a bit of this leftover, and am having a party in a week. Will it hold up if I freeze it, then thaw and re-melt it for the party? Thanks for the amazing recipes!
Yes, that should work quite well. You might have to whisk it really good to get it smooth again.
Question: can this be eaten cold? Also I’m a tad bit confused. Do you put the tomatoes and chiles in blender and then some on stove with the rest of cheese sauce? Also can you put this in a food processor instead of blended? Thanks in advance.
It can be eaten cold, or the leftovers can be re-warmed. In the blender, you will add the juice from the diced tomatoes and chiles but NOT the tomatoes and chiles. Add the tomatoes and chiles to the pot on the stove with the blended cheese sauce. It’s a chunky dip, like Rotel Dip if you are familiar. A food processor will not get this creamy like a high powered blender, it just can’t blend nuts well enough to get creamy. Hope that helps!
Someone served this at a party and I loved it. They gave me this link and I tried it myself and um.. I need some help. I’m not sure where I went wrong but my cheese sauce came out very gritty. I both soaked and blended for plenty of time, though. Is there anything you can think of that I might have done wrong?
I’m going to guess it’s because you didn’t use a high powered blender like a Vitamix. It just won’t get as smooth and creamy with a regular blender, unfortunately.
I used a higher speed Ninja that usually blends everything into smooth perfection. Perhaps I just didn’t let it go long enough?
If it usually blends cashew based sauces smoothly, then yes I think maybe let it blend longer. I have never used a ninja but I have had people say they just can’t get things like this as smooth with it.
Lena I used a Ninja but because of a previous experience I used boiling water and left cashews in for 30 minutes in the hot water.( turned off heat) As smooth as butter!
Thank you for sharing your experience, glad to hear it worked with a Ninja!
Did you use roasted cashews? If so, they won’t blend to a smooth, creamy texture.
Tired this recipe for the first time with out testing it (that’s how confident I am with all Nora’s recipes!) and it was absolutely delicious especially for someone who was a huge cheese lover! None of the guest could tell it wasn’t cheese .
Thank you for your confidence, Brittney! So glad you and your guests enjoyed it, this one is always a winner for me with guests!
I was wooed by all the comments so I decided to give this a try. I have to say this was surprisingly tasty! However, It was not amazing. Perhaps because I used two different brands of tomatoes and I think my nutritional yeast got moisture. Looking forward to making it again! However, this makes a LOT for one. Can the recipe be cut in half? (I noticed Rotel only comes in 10 and 28 oz., so I cant’ quite get to 14 oz). Thanks!
I’m glad you are looking forward to trying it again! The brand of tomatoes you use, plus having fresh nutritional yeast is key to making this taste good, so I hope it’s even better the next time. Yes, it can be cut in half. I would probably just use 10 ounces of rotel if you cut it in half. It’s flexible though!
Anyone tried over pasta? Maybe sans ??
Amazing!!! Just what I was looking for, even my teen likes it!
Thank you for this recipe, Nora! I used your recipe as written and this is definitely my go to base for that vegan queso fix. The only think I did differently is I added paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, and chiili powder. I just ran with the measurements until I liked the flavor. It really gave it that lovely Mexican flair that I love about the dairy filled queso.
Making this for the first time but hesitant to use canned tomatoes as they are often very acidi and have that obvious can taste- is interesting best to stick with cans or would fresh chopped tomatoes be a good substitute and keep well?
If you don’t enjoy the taste of canned tomatoes I would use fresh chopped tomatoes. I’m sure it will taste good, but it won’t have as much flavor as the canned rotel and chiles add quite a bit to the dip.
I thought about trying something similar with this using those containers of fresh pico de gallo that can be bought in most prepared foods sections of the produce aisle; either that or roasting some fresh tomatoes and chilis. I must go try… *dreaming of chips and this dip!*
Exactly what I was craving! I could eat this everyday.
I know this comment was from a long time ago but nutritional yeast is deactivated yeast.
I am not a vegan but am currently on a fast. I’m not familiar with nutritional yeast and yeast isn’t permitted on my fast. Will the taste of the queso be greatly effected if I omit it from the recipe?
No it will still taste great! You can leave it out.
As a huge cheese lover recently gone vegan, this tasted great!! I went a little light on the nutritional yeast as I don’t like the flavor that much. I could hardly taste it. Just a wonderful recipe. And I would have no problem sharing it with my dairy eating friends.
This was AMAZING!! I made it for a group of vegans and non vegans, and they couldn’t eat it fast enough! The group was scraping the bowl. Will definitely make this again, for probably EVERYTHING! I did not change anything in the recipe. I made it exactly as listed. Everyone needs this recipe in their collection.
Nora my husband and I have recently changed to a plant based diet. I am having a harder time than he with the no dairy aspect. Thanks so much for this recipe and others. I love your site and have tried your ranch recipe which was delicious so am very much looking forward to this queso!
You are so kind Alishea! I hope this queso helps you with cutting out dairy, I know that is a hard one! 🙂
I just tried this recipe, and the entire family loves it! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. 🙂
So great to hear!!
This has become a go-to recipe for burrito night. It’s so good with rice and beans!! I made it for a bunch of teenagers and they all loved it! Excellent recipe!
I’m so happy to hear this Connie, thanks for sharing! It’s a staple here, too. 🙂
Oh. My. Word. This queso is what I have been searching for! Just within the last month I went dairy free, but am constantly thinking about queso(crazy, I know). Thank you for sharing, knowing I have this recipe to satisfy my queso cravings has made life so much easier! 🙂
Thanks for your comment! Made my day! 🙂 That is exactly how I feel about this Queso, I can’t get enough! I’m so glad I could help satisfy your cravings!
28 oz of Rotel tomatoes seem like a lot. Just checking before I make it. Looks yummy!
That’s correct! It does make quite a lot, enough for a small crowd. 🙂 So feel free to cut the whole recipe in half if you don’t need that much.
I made it and loved the taste even before the tomatoes and chilies were added. Thanks for the recipe, It’s a keeper!
Thanks Pat! I’m so glad to hear it! We LOVE this queso. 🙂
What kind of nutritional yeast do you use? I have noticed a lot of taste difference in different brands.
I usually use Trader Joe’s brand but sometimes I get it at Winco in the bulk section.
Loved the queso! Any idea on serving size and nutritional information ? Thanks!
I’m so glad you loved the queso Nicole! 🙂 I did update the recipe with serving size and calories per serving just now. I would say it serves about 10 people, so that would be 160 calories per serving. Hope that helps!
Hello! I am so excited to make this today. Will it beep for longer than a day? Thank you!
Oh yes, it will keep for about 3-4 days, maybe longer in the fridge. 🙂 I usually make a lot and eat it for a couple days. It reheats well. If it’s really thick just add a little water and whisk a little bit. Let me know how it turns out!
As a non-vegan, I have to tell you, THIS QUESo IS LEGIT!!!!
Thanks Kristy! ??