This vegan cheese sauce is so creamy and amazing you won't believe it's made with a healthy vegetable base! A huge hit even with dairy eaters.
This is absolutely the best vegan cheese sauce recipe. It's made in a blender and perfect for mac and cheese, baked casseroles and anything else that requires cheese sauce!
This recipe was originally published on 7/8/2015
It's pure magic how you can take vegetables and create this incredibly creamy healthy cheese sauce, without even using milk! I know you probably doubt me, but I promise you need this. I have used this strategy to make my vegan white cheese sauce and my vegan nacho cheese sauce with success!
Ingredients
The gooey base of this cheesy vegan sauce comes from potatoes. When you blend cooked potatoes at high speed, it creates a stretchy texture.
I figured this out one day when I was making the pizza crust for my Thai Chickpea and Veggies Pizza and used a blender instead of a food processor.
You will notice this vegan cheese sauce has no nutritional yeast. I am not a nutritional yeast fan, and I don't really think it tastes cheesy, but if you like it feel free to add some in!
Here is what you need to make this recipe:
- Potato
- Red pepper
- Orange carrot
- Sweet or yellow onion
- Raw cashews
- Garlic
- Lemon juice
- Chickpea miso
- Ground mustard seed
- Paprika
- Sea salt
How to Make Vegan Cheese Sauce
Thank goodness this recipe is so easy to make, because it's in our regular rotation! Here are the steps you need to follow:
- Load all ingredients into a blender.
- Blend on high until you get a creamy gooey consistency.
- Use nice and hot!
Preparation Tips
When it comes to creating the best vegan cheese sauce, there are few key things to remember:
- If you have a regular good blender instead of a high speed one you can still get creamy awesomeness by grinding the cashews with a coffee grinder first. Grind them dry and simply add to the blender with everything else.
- You can also soak them overnight before boiling with the veggies, but this still may not give as creamy of a result as the grinding.
- You can thin out the consistency of the vegetable cheese sauce with some extra liquid.
- Use either water, dairy free milk, water from the boiled veggies, or pasta water if making mac and cheese.
- When you measure the veggies, measure them packed in not just loosely scooped up.
- Start with a little salt, and once everything is blended taste the cheese sauce. Add more salt if necessary.
What to Make With This Cheesy Vegan Sauce
This plant based cheese sauce recipe is amazing with everything! Seriously there are SO many things you can do, so little time. Here are some of my top faves:
- Mac and cheese of course, SO good.
- Drizzle it over veggies, okay maybe it's more of a drench than a drizzle.
- Enjoy as a dip with chips, crackers, or veggies, or apple slices.
- Load it onto a baked potato.
- Nacho cheese dip, I add chopped nacho jalapeño slices.
- Top your favorite tacos.
- 7 Layer Taco Dip.
- Roasted Poblano Mac and Cheese.
- Mexican Nacho Burger.
- Smother Oven Baked Fries.
- Pair with Vegan Pigs in a Blanket.
- Top Vegan Scrambled Eggs.
- Use on your favorite homemade pizza.
- Include it in your favorite dairy free cheese casseroles.
- Eat it with a spoon...Don't judge, just try it.
Substitution Suggestions
I tried a variety of combinations for this dairy free cheese sauce, I did after all spend years of trial and error, and the ingredients listed are the best for creating the correct flavor and texture. Here a few swaps you can experiment with:
- If you can't have cashews you can try other nuts such as macadamias, walnuts, or pine nuts. Just note that the flavor will be affected.
- For a completely nut free sauce try white beans or sunflower seeds. (I didn't care for the sunflower seed version but others have.)
- You can also leave out the cashews without replacing, but the texture will not be as thick and creamy.
- Red potatoes are suggested but any other starchy potato will do. Avoid sweet potatoes or other root veggies.
- Chickpea miso has the right flavor, white miso can be used but the taste will be more mild. Some have even completely left it out and still liked the flavor!
Flavor Suggestions
You can adapt this recipe to make different flavors of vegan cheese sauces. Any time you mix in an addition, start with a little and blend in more a little at a time until you get the flavor you want.
If you want chunks of the add ins, pulse them in instead of blending, or stir in with a spoon.
- Salsa
- Jalapeños - fresh or pickled
- Taco seasoning
- Chili seasoning
- Chives
- Roasted red peppers
- Sun dried tomatoes
- Broccoli (cooked and chopped)
- Caramelized onions
- Vegan sausage
- Mushroom bacon
- I prefer this vegan cheese sauce without nutritional yeast, but for those that are a fan feel free to shake some in.
Make Ahead and Storage Tips
- Prep this vegan cheese sauce recipe in advance by cooking the veggies and roast the garlic. Store in the fridge in an airtight container until ready to use.
- Store the prepared cheese sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- You can freeze this for up to 3 months so you can have vegan cheese sauce at your fingertips any time!
- When you defrost, leave it on the counter all day so it can slowly come to room temp.
- Feel free to return the defrosted sauce to the blender
- You can reheat this in the microwave or in a pot with a splash of nondairy milk (I use cashew) and mix well. Add splashes of milk and mix until you have the right consistency. It may need more salt depending on how much milk you add.
How to Make Vegan Cheese Sauce in an Instant Pot
Instead of boiling the vegetables, you can use your pressure cooker.
- Put all the ingredients (except for roasted garlic and lemon juice) into an instant pot with 2 cups of water.
- Set it to manual high pressure for 5 minutes.
- Let it naturally release.
- Blend in a high speed blender until smooth.
Common Questions
There are a number of recipes out there that all use different methods for creating cheese sauces with only plant-based items. This recipes uses potatoes, veggies, cashews, and seasonings to create a thick and creamy sauce.
There are some plant-based store bought cheeses available, but it's best to make your own with whole foods!
Many use dairy free milk and nutritional yeast to capture the cheese flavor, but I've had better luck with veggies and chickpea miso.
This sauce for one! Vegan Parmesan is also really easy to make and tastes so good!
More Vegan Cheese Recipes
Now that you know how easy it is to make your own homemade vegan cheese sauce, you need more varieties to try! Here are more plant based cheese recipes I know you'll love:
Best Vegan Cheese Sauce Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked potato (about 3-4 potatoes, see note)
- 2 tablespoons cooked red pepper (about ⅓ of a medium sized pepper)
- 3 tablespoons cooked orange carrot (about 4-5 baby carrots or one medium sized)
- 5 tablespoons cooked sweet or yellow onion (about ½ a small)
- ½ cup raw cashews (see note)
- 1 teaspoon roasted garlic (about 2-4 cloves, depending on size)
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ¾ teaspoon chickpea miso (see note)
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard seed
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt (can use less or more depending on taste preference)
- Your favorite pasta if making Mac and Cheese
Instructions
- Roast the garlic by peeling and wrapping it in tin foil with a splash of veggie broth. Roast at 400 F (205 C), in a regular or toaster oven, while you cook the veggies.
- Put potatoes (peel if you don't want specks of skin), red pepper, carrots, onion and cashews in a pot and cover with water. If you don't have a high speed blender and are grinding the cashews, then don't boil but grind them dry and place them in the blender.
- Cook over high heat until water boils, about 15 minutes if uncovered. Turn heat to medium and boil another 20 minutes, until potatoes are tender.
- When done, drain water (keeping some to thin out sauce if prefer a thinner sauce), separate veggies and put the cashews in the blender. I use a fork to fish out the veggies, then drain the cashews over a pasta strainer.
- Measure out the needed amount of each veggie and place each in the blender. Add the rest of the ingredients.
- Blend on high until you get a creamy gooey consistency. If you have a tamper tool use it to help mix the sauce as it blends. If you don’t have one, then you will need to stop and push down the ingredients every once in a while.
- If you want to thin it out, add some of the reserved cooking water, 1 tablespoon at a time until you get the desired consistency. Use nice and hot!
To make the ultimate Mac and Cheese:
- Cook your pasta according to package directions.
- Drain pasta reserving about 1 cup pasta water.
- Add the pasta back into the pot and add desired amount of cheese sauce.
- Then add pasta water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well in between additions, until you get the desired consistency for your Mac and Cheese. If your pasta is too starchy (as some gluten free pastas are) you can also use regular water or even non dairy milk to do this. Add salt if needed, it most likely will since the sauce is no longer as concentrated. Devour!
Notes
- Makes 3 ½ cups sauce. Serving size for nutrition info is ½ cup.
- Nutrition info is for cheese sauce only.
- I used red potatoes but any starchy potato will work, just don’t use sweet. It also won't work to substitute with something that is not an actual potato (such as another root vegetable).
- If you are not using a high speed blender, you can grind the dry cashews into a fine powder using a coffee grinder (do not boil them for this method). You can also soak them overnight prior to boiling with the veggies or just boil them with the veggies.
- You can make this nut free by eliminating the nuts, however you will lose some of the thickness and creaminess. It will still be pretty good in taste, but just lacking some of those elements. You can also try subbing with another nut if you are allergic to cashews, I suggest walnuts or macadamias, however the flavor will be different. I did try it with multiple nuts and liked the taste of the cashews best.
- If you don’t have chickpea miso, you can try using a white miso although it will be a little more mild in flavor so you may need more. See the comments for others that have tried using white miso.
- I did not add any liquid to this when I made it, but depending on what you use it for, you may want to thin it out with some water, water from the boiled veggies or pasta water if making mac and cheese.
- You can reheat this in the microwave or in a pot with a splash of nondairy milk (I use cashew) and mix well. Add splashes of milk and mix until you have the right consistency. It may need more salt depending on how much milk you add.
- You can also freeze leftovers in a freezer safe container as it freezes great. Defrost slowly when ready to eat. You may think it didn't freeze well, but as you heat it up the consistency comes back!
- Cook the veggies and roast the garlic. Store in the fridge in an airtight container until ready to use.
- This can be mixed into any baby food or be used for a toddler as a dip. You could also just blend the veggies on their own for baby.
Recipe by Veggies Don’t Bite, visit our site for more great plant-based recipes.
Nutrition
Nutrition and metric information should be considered an estimate.
Nikki
I'm so glad I found this recipe because nutritional yeast is ridiculousy expensive where I live. It's so good!!! I made it with 1 tsp white miso since I couldn't find chickpea miso and it turned out great. I would decrease the amount of red pepper the next time I make this since its flavor was a little bit overpowering for my taste. I love how it turned out though and I will definitely make this recipe again.
veggiesdontbite
Thank you so much Nikki! I'm thrilled you liked it!
Dawn
Hi there! I hate asking for substitutes on a recipe, especially when this one says it’s SO good! Unfortunately I can’t eat potatoes, OR nutritional yeast, so I was super pumped to find a recipe with no nutritional yeast but now I’m hung up on the potatoes! Do you have a suggestion for a replacement for that? If it’s just the starch that’s missing, could tapioca starch or something be added?! Help! I really want a creamy cheese sauce!
veggiesdontbite
Hi Dawn! So the potato gives this recipe the texture it needs to be gooey and also contributes to the creaminess. The only thing I can suggest, and I have no idea if it will turn out since I haven't tried it, is to sub some of the potato with white beans, and then add more cashews. You could also sub some for cauliflower to get some of that creamy addition. You may have to adjust the other veggies to get the right flavor...they all play an important roll but were measured in those ratios. Let me know what you try!!
Carol
I wonder if Yuca would work? I use frozen for yuca fries. They're very starchy after I boil them before baking
veggiesdontbite
Hi Carol, I believe something tried that and it didn't work. Potatoes give this gooey consistency and have a creamy element in their flavor. I have never had yuca so not sure if it has the same creaminess. If you try it let me know!
Catt
I can't do potatoes either - but I can do YAMS! Look for white yams/sweet potatoes. Not the orange ones or the purple ones. They work great where any other potatoe needs to be!
veggiesdontbite
Thanks Catt! In order to get the texture and creamy flavor this cheese sauce has, you need to use a regular potato. You can try subbing the white yams, as long as you know it won't end up the same. So sorry you can't do regular potatoes!
Krystle
This is the best vegan cheese sauce I’ve made to date. The only thing I couldn’t find was chickpea miso, I used 1 tsp of white miso instead. It’s so good. I plan to purchase some chickpea miso online to truly make this recipe as written, I am sure it will be even better.
veggiesdontbite
I'm so happy to hear Krystle!! I think the white miso is works just fine. I'm thrilled you like it!!
Virginie
The texture of this is uncanny... it's really like melted cheese. If I hadn't made it myself, I'd think it was full of oil and chemicals. It's really wonderfully unbelievable, kudos!
Personally I find that the taste of the red pepper comes through much too strong and it's not garlicky enough but that's personal taste and I'll modify appropriately the next time. In the meantime, I'm really really impressed with the texture! Thanks for sharing.
veggiesdontbite
Hi Virginie! Yay! So happy you liked it. I'd definitely put less red pepper and more garlic to make it exactly what your taste buds desire! We like to add chopped jalapenos too! Thank you so much for the great review and comment!
Andrea
I used a russet, red, and a couple of Yukons because that’s what I had on hand and it turned out lovely and creamy. I had to use more miso because I only had white. It was a subtle, but good flavor. I froze half and am using the other half to make broccoli cheese soup. I thinned it with the veg water and added a bit of no chicken chicken bullion. It’s delicious! Thank you so much for a simple, straightforward sauce without nutritional yeast!
veggiesdontbite
Hi Andrea!! Thank you so so much for telling me! I love hearing reviews. And am thrilled you liked it!
Alecia Carter
Excellent recipe. We are a non vegan family who are fasting for 21 days. We all love this sauce. I will make it again even when we are not fasting. I used canned chickpeas instead of the miso sauce and frozen peppers. Thanks for this recipe.
veggiesdontbite
Wow! What an amazing message! Thank you so so much for your awesome review!
Chava
Question about the potato: White starchy potatoes are Russets and Idahos....low in moisture so the cooked consistency is fluffy and flaky---without fats/cream to make them stick together, they are granular and dry. A-laa baked potato.
Low starch (waxy) potatoes are generally the reds, white skinned varieties, as well as true new potatoes. These naturally contain a lot of water between cells preventing them from absorbing more water.... so when cooked they will retain their shape better: good in potato salad.
Yukon Gold, Red Gold and Kennebec fall somewhere in-between the two.
Which kind of potato are you recommending? "High starch red" is a bit of an oxymoron. I want to try the recipe, but really want to do it exactly! Have made and tasted many vegan cheeses that could only be labeled "FAIL" to the point of giving up and declaring that anything non-dairy is also just plain not-cheese! AND, recommending that if you really have a craving to taste cheese, just go out and buy yourself some cheese!
Thanks... willing to try one more time!
veggiesdontbite
Hi Chava! When I say starchy, I am more referring to not using a sweet potato or yucca root or something like that. I have had people do that and it fails. I use a red potato or white one! I don't think I called it high starch, just starchy to emphasize not subbing for something that is not. Let me know what you think!
Kata
Hi! I really really want to try this- it looks so easy and healthy! My onl hang up is I can’t eat miso or chickpea :(. Do you think I could substitute with something else?
veggiesdontbite
Hi Kata! So the miso here just adds some extra umami like flavor to the sauce. It helps deepen the cheesy flavor but you can totally leave it out. You may have to adjust the salt, or even try adding more of the paprika or ground mustard, but it will still be good. Let me know what you try!
Sheila
I've tried similar recipes, and they were merely edible. I think the chickpea miso was the secret. Excellent! I think I will use the leftover sauce, add a few other seasonings, and make nacho cheese for dipping. However, my processor vapor locks if the ingredients are warm, so I had to wait over an hour for the veggies to cool enough to blend. I would recommend cooking the veggies the night before if you have the same issue.
veggiesdontbite
Hi Sheila! Thank you so much for the great review! I am so happy you like it. One trick to try with the veggies is to drain them then run cold water over them That should cool them down!
Mrs. Johns
I just made this cheese and let me tell you, I cut every possible corner and it still came out amazing.
Frozen roasted red bell peppers (0.25 c), frozen carrots (0.25 c), frozen onion (0.33 c) jarred whole garlic (4 cloves), plain condiment mustard (1.5 tbsp) soybean miso (2 tablespoons), and... potato flour. The only thing true to the recipe was the raw cashews and lemon juice, unless you’re using fresh. I was shocked at how amazing this turned out. I couldn’t have been lazier. I put everything but the potato flour in the blender with a cup of water, blended it, poured it out into a bowl and mixed in the potato flour (1 c) with more water (1.5 c). Next time, I will just blend the potato flour in the blender (after everything is puréed first) instead of stirring it in by hand.
I couldn’t stop tasting it. This recipe is, in my opinion fool proof. I was acting on desperation and was beyond satisfied. I can’t say I’m going to follow directions any better given how PHENOMENAL the lazy method turned out. Thank you so much for sharing this genius recipe!!!!! Absolutely delicious!
veggiesdontbite
I am crying laughing, this is the best review I have ever read! I am SO happy you loved the recipe! And for sharing what you did to help others who may also need the lazy route! Heck, I may need the lazy route next time! Thank you SO SO much for the awesome review!
Jennifer Bishop
This was amazing! Have made it 3x!
The first time i made it I used hemp seeds as thats all i had on hand. This made it a better "cheese" for nacho cheese. Stronger flavour. Cashews add a bit of a sweetness i find.
I also added a teaspoon of vegan becel each time i made it. So delicious!!!!
veggiesdontbite
I'm so happy you liked it!! The added lemon, miso and ground mustard help cut any sweetness in the cashews, but I loved that you used hemp seeds with success! Did you add the same amount of hemp seeds? Thank you so much for the great review!
Debbie Nall
What happens if I leave out the peppers? They just tear up my stomach when I eat them. Do you think it will still be as good?
veggiesdontbite
Hi Debbie! Every ingredient contributes to the final flavor of this cheese sauce. If peppers bother you, I'd try it without and maybe upper the carrots a tad? You can add more miso as well to try and gain back some of that pepper flavor. Let me know what you try!
Nikki
Just wondering if you’d tried using the instapot with this recipe, and if so, how long did you cook the veggies. The recipe looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it!
veggiesdontbite
Hi Nikki! Ah the instapot. I am embarrassed to say that I have had one for over a year and have yet to tackle it. Hahaha. I swear it's on my list! I have used it as a rice cooker if that matters. LOL
Lindsay Shreeve
I made it in the instant pot. Doubled ingredients, put the garlic in raw, and put 2 cups water. Set to manual high pressure 5 minutes, natural release. Blend in high speed blender. Turned out fabulous!!
Ellen
Hi Lindsay! Did you chop up the veggies before putting them in the Instapot or did you throw them in whole?
Dianne
I am firm believer in following a new recipe to the letter the first time I make it, then tweaking it as necessary the next time. This one can't be improved on. The taste, texture, and mouth feel are the closest thing to dairy cheese I have ever had. Thank you!!!!!
veggiesdontbite
Hi Dianne! I so appreciate someone that follows a recipe once before making it their own. I love to see personal takes on my recipes but I too often get messages on how it didn't work out only to find out the recipe wasn't followed. LOL! But I am SO SO happy you loved this! You can definitely do a lot to it though, I like to pulse in some pickled jalapeños for nachos, or even some Fieldroast sausage for a Mexican dip. So many yummy ideas! Thank you so much for leaving a review!!
Tina
Omg, you are a genius!!! I’m also not a big nutritional yeast person so I was excited to try this recipe.
It is so good, my husband ( who misses cheese quite a bit) is honestly in heaven eating this nacho cheese right now.
I also absolutely love your cookbook!!!
Tina
veggiesdontbite
Awe! Thank you so much Tina!! I am not a fan either and wanted to create something healthy and not processed either. I am so so happy you liked it!