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:Â 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
How long does this last in the fridge?
Hi Kat. This will last about 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
Yummmmy! I added Takii Umami Powder and Tajin classic seasoning to give it a little extra pepp and it was delish!
I used raw cashew butter in place of pureed cashews.
It’s expensive but cuts down the work and the clean up a lot!
I combined the cashew butter with the rest of the ingredients in the cooking pot and then heated it in the same pot.
It’s delicious!
Hi Melinda! Thank you for sharing your review and comments! I’m glad you loved the cheese sauce!
I’m pretty obsessed with this recipe. I have made it several times now, about to make it again tonight. I like how super quick and easy it is but moreso how flavorful it is. Just delicious! Highly recommend. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for taking time to share your great review and comments, April! I’m glad you love the cheese sauce!
This is a fantastic recipe! I find reasons to make this just so I can enjoy it. I double the spices and use Penzey’s chili con carne seasoning in lieu of chili powder.
Hi Tiki. Thank you for sharing your kind review! I’m so glad you love the cheese sauce!
Nora, this is the BEST vegan nacho cheese I’ve ever had in my life. I have been trying recipes since 2017 and I tried this in 2021 and I’m DONE. I love this! It’s such a great substitute. Nachos are my weakness. Now I have a substitute that’s healthy. Thank you so much!
Hi Alexandria. I’m thrilled that my cheese sauce has won your vote and your search is over! Thank you for sharing your comments, and for using my recipe!
Love that it’s fast, I don’t have to boil potatoes or carrots. Awesome addition for nacho night!!!
Thanks for sharing your review, Laura! I’m glad you love the cheese sauce!
Love it!!!
Would using Oat Milk instead of water at the end make it creamier?
I’m not sure, it might change the flavor a bit though.
Me encantan sus recetas.
Unbelievably good – I make a meat and a vegan chicken tinga – all the meat eaters left the dairy nacho cheese and were fighting over the vegan nacho cheese – I added a splash of Cholula chipotle hot sauce – amazingÂ
Thank you, Steph, for sharing your great review! I’m glad the cheese sauce was a hit!
I can’t fit all of the ingredients into my nutrabullet so I had to use my blender. Next time I’ll halve the recipe. But I must say, even a little gritty it was still DELICIOUS!
I’m glad to hear it! Feel free to cut the recipe in half, it does make quite a bit.
I have a question. How long does the cheese sauce last in refrigerator? Haven’t made it yet, but looks great. I would be the only one eating the cheese sauce. Thanks!
Hi Pamela. The cheese sauce will last about 3-4 days in the refrigerator. It also freezes quite well, and 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. I hope this helps!
Wow, Nora, this queso is really delicious! It definitely has an authentic cheesy flavor and texture. Do you think it could be frozen? It makes a generous amount.
I’m glad you loved the queso, Karen! It freezes quite well, and 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. Thank you for sharing your review!
This recipe is absolutely fantastic! My husband and I are not strict vegans but experimenting with vegan recipes as my husband cannot eat most meat and dairy. We were both raving, and I mean RAVING about these enchiladas. We easily could have eaten the whole 6 servings in the pan, but we reluctantly saved some leftovers haha. I can’t stress this enough- MAKE THIS RECIPE!!!
Thank you for your terrific and fun review, Morgan! I’m thrilled you guys loved the enchiladas and cheese sauce! Thank you!
So good even my kid likes it! Just wondering how many cups of sauce this recipe makes? Â I used 3 cups of water but I forgot to measure to figure out how much is a serving?Â
Hi Lisa. I’m glad the nacho cheese sauce is a hit! I would say it makes about 12 1/4-1/3 cup servings. Hope this helps.
So easy to make and I was surprised by how much it actually reminded me of dairy nacho cheese. Very tasty! I’m making it again
Thanks April! I’m glad you loved it!
You really inspire me! This is excellent! I was inspired to try something else from this, after soaking my cashews I put them in the vitamix with a jar of Picante sauce and some nooch and a little lemon juice and salt. Yum!!! Thank you so much!!!
Amazing! such a hearty and delicious recipe. Even in a not so high powered blender it works wonders. I put it on nachos with some olives, red onions, and impossible meat. Had to tone down the spice a little as my family doesn’t like spicy food but nonetheless it was delish!
I can’t believe it has taken me a year of being vegan to make this recipe.  Obviously, it has been awhile since I had the real deal nacho cheese sauce, but I am convinced this is better.  I made some black bean nachos with it.  Let’s just say it was a good thing no one was home to watch me eat them.  Oink, Oink!  Ha!  Amazing.  Thank you for this beautiful recipe.  I would hug you if I could.  Lol
LOL! Thank you, Melissa, for your fun and terrific review! I also love this cheese sauce. Thanks a lot for taking your time to share! Happy cooking!
Dear God that was delicious! I’m slowly having more plant based days and I could do this everyday if food is this delicious! Â
Hi Melanie…I’m glad you loved the cheese sauce! If you try my other recipes, let know how they go for you! Thanks for sharing!
holy. moly. best cheese* sauce ever.
Thanks Chloe! Glad you love it!
Great recipe! Had a lot of warmth and umami to it and it was delicious! We had a snack spread tonight and served it simply, over crunchy tortilla chips  dotted with jarred hot jalapeños. Instead of the lemon juice, which I had forgotten, I stirred in the same amount of jarred  jalapeño  juice instead. Super tasty and delicious, and quite filling! Thank you for a great recipe!Â
Hi Alexia. Your snack spread sounds so fun! I’m glad you loved the cheese sauce. Thank you for sharing!
Love it!  I just 1 teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of jalapeño salt!  Amazing!
Glad you love it, Kathryn! Thank you!
The best in texture, taste, and color. I am so happy I made this cheese to use in my seitan enchiladas. My family loved the taste and the tumeric is a must for the color! Thank you for my new favorite cheese recipe.
Hi Janice. I also love the color that turmeric give this sauce! I’m glad you love the cheese sauce! Thank you for taking the time to share!
Overlooked the name “casserole”and said WOOPS cause i planned on making actual enchiladas! They were scrumptuous!