Vegan Cheese Sauce is a delicious and healthy alternative to the traditional dairy-based cheese sauce. It’s made with a variety of plant-based ingredients, such as raw cashews, potatoes, carrots, seasonings, nutritional yeast and a few more ingredients. A delicious cheese sauce that can be used in a variety of dishes.
As you’ve probably guessed from reading my blog, I focus on flavor first when it comes to cooking. Oh, that doesn’t mean that I’m not health-conscious, I was a nurse for decades, after all. But I do believe that you can enjoy everything in moderation. The only exception to that are those who are living a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. For people following this lifestyle, it tends to be about health and personal ethics and morals. I totally get that. I actually have a few friends who are vegan. That’s why I wanted to share this delicious vegan cheese sauce with all of you. I love this recipe because it can be a healthy alternative to cheese sauce for anyone or a great way to include vegan friends and family members in party festivities.
Vegan Cheese Sauce
This vegan sauce features a creamy potato, carrot, and onion base. I combine it with cashews, almond milk, nutritional yeast, and a few other ingredients, and then blend it all together until it’s rich and creamy. While it doesn’t taste exactly like cheese sauce, it’s close. It’s also delicious, so who cares?! Good food is good food. That’s what I always say. I’ll serve this at parties and get-togethers so my vegan friends and family have a tasty dip to enjoy, and it’s always a hit.
Why You’ll Love This Vegan Cheese Sauce Recipe
- It’s creamy and delicious and the cheese sauce is made with raw cashews, which gives it a rich and creamy texture.
- It’s easy to make and this cheese sauce can be made in a blender or Vitamix in a matter of minutes.
- It is a healthy alternative and can be used in a variety of dishes, such as macaroni and cheese, nachos, and quesadillas, and as a dip for vegetables, crackers, and bread.
Vegan Cheese Sauce Ingredients
You’ll only need a few simple ingredients to make this recipe, and you can find them all at your local grocery store. Even the nutritional yeast is available everywhere these days.
- Potatoes
- Carrots
- Onion
- Water
- Raw cashews
- Unsweetened almond milk
- Nutritional yeast flakes
- Lemon juice
- Garlic powder
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Cayenne pepper
How to Make Vegan Cheese Sauce
This recipe is incredibly easy to make. If you can boil water and turn on a blender, then you can make this recipe easily.
Step 1: Boil the Vegetables
Bring 4 to 5 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Then, add the potatoes, carrots, and onions, bring to a boil again, and reduce the heat. Cook the vegetables until tender.
Step 2: Drain
Drain the water and reserve it.
Step 3: Blend the Cheese Sauce
Add the vegetables, 3 cups of the reserved water, cashews, almond milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne pepper to a Vitamix. Blend on high until smooth and creamy. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Reserving the boiling liquid is important. It adds so much flavor to the sauce.
- You’ll need a Vitamix or a large, powerful blender to make this sauce.
- Blend the ingredients while they’re hot, so everything combines easily.
Variations
- If you prefer a mild sauce, simply leave out the red pepper flakes.
- Try adding diced jalapenos for a kick of flavor and even more heat.
- Try omitting the garlic powder and boiling garlic cloves with the rest of the vegetables.
What to Serve with Vegan Cheese Sauce
Serve this sauce with all of your favorite foods like:
- French fries
- Sweet potato fries
- Pretzels
- Potato chips
- Pita chips
- Vegetable sticks
- Nachos
- Baked potatoes
Recipe FAQ
Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast that’s often added to a variety of foods and is often sold in the form of yellow flakes, granules, or powder.
Vegan cheese sauce can be made from a variety of ingredients, most often potatoes and other vegetables to create a creamy base.
Nutritional yeast will make vegan cheese taste like real cheese. Its tangy flavor is very similar to cheese.
Vegan cheese sauce will last for up to a week in the refrigerator.
Vegan cheese sauce freezes very well and will last for up to a month in the freezer.
Try This Delicious Vegan Cheese Sauce Today
This vegan cheese sauce is a delicious, healthy alternative to traditional cheese sauce, and it’s so good that even people who aren’t vegan will love it! It’s an easy recipe that comes together quickly, and with so much flavor and so many healthy ingredients, it’s a real winner. Try it, and I know you’ll fall in love with it.
More Delicious Vegan Recipes You’ll Enjoy
For all of you who are eating a whole foods/plant based diet, this is an excellent Vegan Cheese Sauce that you will definitely want to keep handy to use in many different recipes. My cheesy scalloped potatoes are amazing and this is the sauce I use for them.
Vegan Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 2½ cup potatoes, peeled and diced small
- ⅔ cup carrots, diced small
- ⅔ cup chopped onion
- 3 cup water, use the water you cooked the veggies in
- 1 cup raw cashews
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 3 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Bring 4-5 cups of water to a boil in a medium sauce pan.
- Add potatoes, carrots and onions.
- Bring back to a boil and reduce heat to low until vegetables are tender.
- Drain water, reserving liquid, and add vegetables to Vitamix.
- Add 3 cups of reserved water, cashews, almond milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt and cayenne pepper to Vitamix.
- Blend on high until ingredients are nice and creamy, about a minute.
Notes
Nutrition
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What is yeast flakes
HI Jeri, I am sending you a link to copy and paste in your search bar for nutritional yeast so you can see what the container looks like. And here is some info on what nutritional yeast is.
https://www.google.com/search?q=picture+of+nutritional+yeast&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjLj5H8oPTPAhXLwlQKHWB2Dd4Q7AkIaQ&biw=1600&bih=808#imgrc=RkEbD3F0zJzhpM%3A
“Nutritional yeast, commonly known as nooch, is popular among people following a vegetarian or vegan diet. It provides a non-animal source of protein that contains all nine essential amino acids (the ones you can obtain only via your diet, typically from animal protein sources).
Nutritional yeast is also widely regarded as a good source of B vitamins, including vitamin B12, another nutrient typically only found in animal foods. Perhaps best of all, nutritional yeast has a nutty, cheese-like flavor that can be used as a cheese substitute in recipes.” By Dr. Mercola