Learning how to make a good cheese sauce is a must for any vegan cook. I’ve tried a few different variations, but my favourite way to make a nacho-worthy cheese sauce is actually inspired by this vegan mac and cheese recipe.
I love the idea of making something so decadent out of vegetables and nuts. It’s basically a healthy soup disguised as a lucious, creamy, cheesy sauce.
I have upped the cheesy taste, colour and gloss to be the perfect nacho cheese sauce and it brown’s up beautifully in the oven. I use this over nachos of course, but it is simply delicious on it’s own as a dip and is perfect for vegan quesadillas. All of the ingredients are pantry staples (or should be) so you can whip this up for last minute entertaining or a quick nacho dinner.
It’s a super simple 3-step recipe and once you master the timing and prep, you’ll be knocking it out in 20 minutes. I used to soak the cashews, but have saved myself a step and just cook them with the vegetables and they soften up perfectly for blending.
So you simply boil the potatoes, onions, carrots and cashews for 15 minutes. Drain and retain ¾ C of the broth. Then blend all of that with the remaining ingredients, except the nutritional yeast and olive, until soft. Finally, add in the nutritional yeast and olive oil, blend to combine, and that’s it!
I feel like a vegan’s cheese sauce becomes quite personalised over time so I would love to hear how you adapt this recipe to your own taste and also what you use it for!
So far I have used this sauce for
- Nachos – pour over corn chips, salsa and black beans and bake for 20 minutes. Serve with your favourite condiments.
- Quesadillas – Simple nacho cheese sauce and salsa quesadilla is an easy lunch favourite in our house
- Queso dip – It’s pretty delicious on it’s own, just serve with tortilla or corn chips.
- Mac n Cheese – Smother cooked macaroni for an indulgent vegan mac and cheese.
- Veggie sauce – Pour over roast vegetables
- As a sandwich or toast spread – yummy with mushrooms
Let me know in the comments below if you made this. I also love to hear your ideas and substitutions. Share your creations on Instagram with #IHTBvegan @coastingwiththe90s
Vegan nacho cheese sauce
Ingredients
- 1 C potato - diced
- ½ C carrot - sliced
- ⅓ C brown onion - chopped
- ½ C raw cashews
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ C coconut cream
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- ¼ tsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water (about 1L) to the boil and place in the potatoes, carrots, onions, cashews and ½ teaspoon of salt. Continue to boil for 15 mins until the potatoes are soft.
- Drain the vegetable and cashews, retaining ¾ cup of the broth. Place the cooked vegetables, cashews and broth into a blender (or large mixing bowl if using a stick blender.) Add in the coconut cream, garlic, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and paprika. Blend on high speed until smooth.
- Add in the nutritional yeast and olive oil, blending for an additional 30 seconds. Taste and adjust lemon juice and nutritional yeast seasoning to your liking. Serve over corn chips and salsa for easy nachos or simply enjoy as a dip.
Delicous as a pasta sauce! And I love that its made from vegetables so i feel better about eating lots of it 😉 Thanks for the recipe!
Haha yesss best non-guilty pleasure 🙂 Thanks for your review!