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!
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
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 10-15 minutes. Drain.
- Blend: In a blender (high powered preferred, a food processor will also work), add the cashews, lemon juice, 3 cups of the water, nutritional yeast, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and the salt.
- 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 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.
NUTRITION INFORMATION
Naomie
Great flavor!! My first time making a vegan cheese recipe. I tried to use it over nachos as I used to with cheddar. While it baked, the chips absorbed the moisture. So basically. I made nachos casserole. If I used this in enchiladas would the tortillas absorb or would it say “cheesy”.
Looking for advice
Nora
Oh yes, I would not bake it with chips. For nachos, drizzle it over chips instead of baking it. If you use it inside enchiladas, it will stay cheesy. In fact, I have a recipe for Vegan Enchiladas where I use it here.
Kathy
Thanks you for this recipe! I can’t even believe how good this turned out. I didn’t even use the nutritional yeast and it was so good. I used it on Enchiladas instead of cheese (added right before serving). My husband, to my great surprise, raved (and raved) about it. Don’t hesitate to try this recipe!
Nora
Thanks for the wonderful comment! I’m glad you loved it.
Haley
I’ve made this multiple times and it is the best! My husband, not vegan or plant based at all, absolute loves it too. It tastes just like that terrible for you nacho cheese and I love that it’s full of healthy ingredients.
I add a generous amount of turmeric to give it a bright yellow color, and just a heads up it is a huge amount of sauce!
Thank you for the awesome recipe.
Nora
Thanks for the wonderful comment! I’m glad you all enjoy the recipe.
n d
Easy and delicious! My first time making plant based cheeze sauce and wow, tasty! I followed the recipe as written but added a little can of diced green chilis (not drained) while I was cooking it on the stove top and it made it like a bomb queso! Thank you for the recipe!
Katie
Just made this! Turned out amazing. So happy I now have a quick and easy cheese sauce. I didn’t measure out the sriracha whoops lil too spicy but still drool worthy.
Nora
I’m glad it came out amazing!
Mona
This is delicious! Thank you for sharing 🥰
Nora
You’re welcome!
C. Jane
This is amazing!
Thank you.
Kira
Is there anything is can use in place of the nutrition yeast?
Nora
There is nothing to use in place of it, but you can leave it out if necessary.
Mary
Delicious, versatile, and so easy! Having it on Beyond Sausage tomorrow, and on purple cauliflower tonight! Thanks.
Nora
You’re welcome! Glad it’s delicious!
kristine
can you freeze it?
Nora
Yes, though you may want to re-blend it once thawed, as it may be a little chunky after freezing.
Kristene Rodrigues
I made this tonight…my first attempt at making any non-dairy cheese anything, and I couldn’t be more pleased! I’m extremely sensitive to dairy proteins, and commercially available vegan cheese products are both exorbitantly expensive and not at all tasty. We used some with the recipe as written, and then added Chipotle Rotel to the rest. Yummy! Now I can’t wait to try other vegan cheese recipes.
Thanks so much for your contribution!
Nora
You’re welcome! I’m glad you found something that works well for you. 🙂
Nicole S
Made this for dinner tonight for some friends who can’t have dairy. They couldn’t stop talking about how good it was. I love how easy this recipe is. I did up the spices a bit and added chunky salsa, so good. Thanks for a delicious recipe.
Nora
You’re welcome! Glad everyone enjoyed!
Perla Richards
Is this GLUTEN FREE CHEESE TOO?
Nora
Yes, it is gluten free.
Carrie
This was delicious! I did add a couple of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce because we like things pretty spicy. I am excited to use the rest to make your enchiladas tomorrow. Very addictive. I have a list of recipes that are non vegan guest approved and my husband and I agree that this definitely made the list.
Nora
I hope you enjoy the enchiladas! I love the spicy additions to the cheese sauce.
Adreanna
Hi there! I can’t wait to make this tonight! I was just wondering, I know it makes 12 servings but how big is each serving? 😁
Nora
I’m not exactly sure, but I think about 1/4-1/3 cup per serving. You could divide it by 12 when you make it if you really need to know. 🙂 Thank you and enjoy!
leah lachinsky
I made this for the first time today and Im wondering how long will this keep in the fridge?
Nora
It will keep for 4-5 days in the refrigerator. Thanks!