Vegan Cheese Sauce

This Vegan Cheese Sauce recipe is easy to make and tastes good on just about everything! It's made with vegetables and cashews for an oil-free, dairy-free cheese sauce. You'll love it with pasta or vegetables, on nachos, and taco bowls, or used as a dip with chips or veggies.

Course Appetizer, dinner, Snack

Cuisine American, Mexican

Keyword dairy free, healthy, quick, vegan

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Total Time 35

Servings servings of ½ cup

Calories 85kcal

Author Rachel

Equipment

Vitamix

Ingredients

For the cheese sauce

1 small yellow onion diced
1 cup cauliflower florets diced
1 small Yukon gold potato diced
2 medium carrots sliced
2 to 3 cloves garlic
⅓ cup raw cashews soaked in hot water for 20 minutes
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
⅛ teaspoon turmeric

More spices to add for a Mexican flavor (for nachos, tacos, etc.)

1½ teaspoons cumin
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste

Instructions

Steam the onion, cauliflower, potato, carrots, and garlic until all the vegetables are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.
1 small yellow onion, 1 cup cauliflower florets, 1 small Yukon gold potato, 2 medium carrots, 2 to 3 cloves garlic
Cool slightly and transfer vegetables to a high-powered blender.
Add ½ cup water, soaked cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, and spices.
⅓ cup raw cashews, 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ⅛ teaspoon turmeric, 1½ teaspoons cumin, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Blend for 2 to 4 minutes or until completely smooth and silky. Add more water if needed to help it blend smoothly and get it to a thickness you'd like. Add more salt and spices to taste.
Serve with chips, mix with pasta, use for nachos, or anything else you like using cheese sauce for!

Nutrition