The best vegan queso recipe made with dairy free ingredients for that perfect creamy cheesy tangy flavor. It's so easy to make and loved by everyone!
This queso recipe reminds me of the one I get at Mexican restaurants, except it's made without the dairy so doesn't leave me feeling bloated and yuck! It uses 9 simple easy to find ingredients and a much healthier version.
This recipe was originally published on May 2, 2016.
If you love Mexican cheese dip you will absolutely love the taste of this vegan queso! It's a white queso easily made in a blender. If you prefer an orange Mexican cheese then try out my vegan nacho cheese sauce!
Ingredients
I brought this vegan queso blanco to a party, slipped it on the table and watched as it was devoured. No one knew it was vegan (or gluten-free as some recipes use flour). Everyone stuffed their face and it was glorious.
With the right blend of foods, you can create the most amazingly smooth queso dip, without any cheese! My dirty little secret is the pickled jalapeño juice, it gives it that true white queso dip flavor: creamy, cheesy, with the jalapeño tang! Here's what you need:
- Cooked potato
- Roasted garlic
- Raw cashews
- Veggie broth
- Unsweetened cashew milk
- Mild green chiles
- Mild pickled jalapeños
- Pickled jalapeño juice
- Seasonings and spices
How to Make Vegan Queso
This queso blanco dip is incredibly easy to make. Throw it all in a blender and BOOM. Bathe worthy dip at your tongue tip.
- Blend all ingredients until smooth. Pulse in the extra pickled jalapeño slices for some texture .
- Pour into a pot and heat over medium-low heat so it doesn't burn until thick and melty.
- Pour into a bowl and serve with everything!
What to Serve With Queso Blanco
As much as I'd love to eat this dairy-free Mexican white cheese dip like a soup, I usually try to use some self control and pair it with other tasty foods either as a dip or topping. Here's some of my favorites:
- Homemade Oil Free Tortilla Chips
- Crisp veggies like celery, carrots, peppers, or jicama
- Vegan Nachos
- Vegan Taquitos
- Mexican Rice
- Pinto Beans
- Breakfast Burritos
- Loaded Vegan Burritos
- Refried Bean Burrito
- Veggie Burrito Bowls
- Crispy Potato Tacos
- Soft pretzels or pretzel chips
- Oven Baked French Fries
- Crusty bread
- Baked Potato
- Vegan Scrambled Eggs
- Mix with pasta
I also like to use leftovers of this vegan cashew queso to mix into other recipes. You could mix it into a filling for enchiladas, burritos or even taco meat.
Try mixing in things like tomatoes and black beans for a loaded version of this cheesy dip!
Preparation Tips
When making this vegan queso dip recipe over and over and over again (because you will!) make sure to keep these suggestions in mind:
- Add in some extra flavor by mixing in some vegan chorizo, Mexican salsa, or tomatillo salsa verde.
- If you are not using a high speed blender, you can soak the cashews overnight, boil them for 30 minutes or grind the dry cashews into a fine powder using a coffee grinder in order to help get them smooth.
- You can boil, microwave or bake the potato but keep in mind if you boil it there will be more moisture in the potato so you will need to let the dip cook longer to thicken.
- I used red potatoes but any starchy potato will work, just don’t use sweet ones.
- I used a veggie broth without tomato in the base. You can sub water for the broth but the flavor will change a bit and you may need more salt.
- This dip is best enjoyed hot, serve it in a slow cooker on low. (High will likely burn it.)
Make Ahead and Storage Tips
- To prepare this dip ahead of time, roast the garlic, cook the potato, and soak the cashews (if needed) up to 3 days in advance.
- This vegan queso blanco dip will keep in the refrigerator for up to one week.
- You can also freeze for up to 3 months!
- To reheat, take out of the freezer the night before and slowly defrost to room temp. Then heat in the microwave or stove top on low heat whisking well until the smooth creamy texture returns.
- Sometimes freezing can change the texture, simply give it another blend in the blender and you're good to go!
Common Questions
This vegan queso recipe is made from all whole food, amazing ingredients! The creaminess is a combo of potato, cashews and cashew milk, with flavor coming in from all of the other ingredients including jalapeños and jalapeño juice.
Because this dip is made from simple whole food ingredients, it is much healthier than traditional queso dip.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week, or freeze for 3 months. Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave, whisking often to get to that creamy texture.
Most queso dip is made with white American cheese, but sometimes cheddar, mozzarella, or cream cheese is used as well. This queso blanco recipe avoids all of that for a healthier version!
More Vegan Mexican Recipes
If you're like our family and need Mexican food on a regular basis, you need a variety of recipes to choose from!
All of these plant based dishes are made from only whole food ingredients making them a healthy choice for your family (to learn more about how to figure out what is in those store bought varieties check out this guide on reading food labels):
- Healthy Crunchy Taco Cups
- Vegan Mexican Chili Cheese Dip
- Mexican Tequila Lime Chickpea Soup
- Vegan Enchilada Casserole
- Cinco De Mayo Roundup
Also check out these other vegan cheese recipes:
The Best Cream Vegan Queso
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked potato , about 1 medium sized potato (see note)
- 4 cloves garlic , roasted (add up to 4 more for extra garlic flavor)
- ¾ cup raw cashews , see note
- 1 ½ cups veggie broth (use low sodium to keep the salt low)
- 1 cup unsweetened cashew milk (almond would work too)
- 4 ounces chopped mild chiles (one small can)
- ½ cup jarred mild pickled jalapenos , divided
- 1 tablespoon pickled jalapeno juice (juice from slices above)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (see note)
Instructions
- Place all ingredients except for ¼ cup pickled jalapenos into a blender and blend until smooth.
- Add last ¼ cup jalapenos and pulse until chopped. You can also just add them at the beginning but I liked the flavor of some chopped jalapenos in the dip.
- Pour the liquid into a pot and heat over medium low heat on stove until it reduces and gets nice and thick and gooey. Depending on your stove, you may need to up the heat to get it to thicken nicely, even bring it to a boil then reduce the heat.
- Stir frequently to prevent sticking. It took about 10 minutes for me to get the right consistency but you can make it however you prefer it. Serve hot!
- Serve with everything!
Notes
- Makes 3 cups. Serving is ½ cup per person
- If you are not using a high speed blender, you can soak the cashews overnight, boil them for 30 minutes or grind the dry cashews into a fine powder using a coffee grinder (do not boil them for this method).
- You can boil, microwave or bake the potato but keep in mind if you boil it there will be more moisture in the potato so you will need to let the dip cook longer to thicken.
- 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).
- I used a veggie broth without tomato in the base. You can sub water for the broth but the flavor will change a bit and you may need more salt.
- The amount of salt needed may vary depending on the sodium in your broth.
- If you freeze this, and you can, take out of the freezer the night before and slowly defrost to room temp. Then heat in the microwave or stove top on low heat whisking well until the smooth creamy texture returns.
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.
Sarah Perrin
Hey! I can't wait to try this recipe. It's really awesome that your friends and the people at the party didn't realize it was vegan BUT I also cringed a little bit because what if somebody had a nut allergy? It's just my friendly suggestion - but I think it's important to label allergens! That and there might have been some dairy free people that missed out. Gosh I miss cheese.
veggiesdontbite
Thanks for your concern but the parties I host are all for my friends and I know if there are any allergies. Also, all the people I know with allergies know never to eat anything at a party that is unknown. We always ask even for us because you never know where meat can be hiding! I feel that we each need to take control of our own health and needs and we should never assume or rely on others for serious allergies and food needs. Hope you give it a try! It's delicious!
Bethe
Nut allergy and was wondering if something can be used in place of cashews?
veggiesdontbite
Hi Bethe! Sorry to hear about your allergy! In all honesty I think the cheese sauce is best with cashews as they give the creamiest result. However you can try leaving them out to see how it is. You could also try using some sunflower seeds but the flavor may come through a little strong. I also use white beans sometimes to add creaminess so you could try a little of that too. Let me know if you find success with any of these!!
Agness of Run Agness Run
I love the Mexican food. And queso is on of my favourites because of the cheese flavour, love this recipe, Sophia!
veggiesdontbite
Thank you so much!!! I love Mexican too!
JB
This is amazing! I can't believe how much it tastes like cheese! Thanks for the life changer!
veggiesdontbite
Ah!!! This made my day! Thank you so much for making and for letting me know!! So happy you guys like it.
Angela
OMG! Sooo glad I finally tried this! Been vegan for a year now, my husband wasn't too worried about cheese but that has been my biggest cheat over the past year. Haven't liked any of the cheese replacements in store, focused more on other homemade meals we can both enjoy. I will go with more garlic as I didn't taste it at all. I will also go with the full salt next time also. Cumin was the standout flavor to me. Makes a huge batch (since it's all MINE) so I will definitely freeze some for later!!! Can't wait to try more of your recipes!! THANK YOU!!
veggiesdontbite
Angela you totally made my night! Thank you so much for sharing. Definitely up the garlic, I often add a ton because I'm a garlic fanatic, especially roasted, but I know now everyone is. We bring this to parties all the time and no one believes me that there's no dairy! LOL! So happy you loved it, please get in touch if you have any questions or need any recs! Happy eating!
Tanya
Thought I'd share: I didn't have pickled jalapeños so I used 2 cans of green chilies. It came out much milder (I can't wait to try it the original way tho). Next day I was looking for something to do with asparagus. I took the leftover queso and blended it with raw asparagus. I then warmed the soup through and voila! Creamy, cheesy asparagus soup!! Love it!
veggiesdontbite
Thank you SO much for sharing Tanya!! And omg, I am drooling over the soup idea! That sounds so good! I must try it soon! What a creative way to use the queso.
heidi
I'll just add my thanks to the many comments here--we just LOVED this queso, and even better: our omni friends did too! Their little kids gobbled it up. We had enchiladas and the guys were adding it to it for extra kick. Thank you for such a great recipe!
veggiesdontbite
Oh wow!!! Thank you so much for your kind words. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite recipes and I am loving that so many others love it too! Thank you for being here Heidi!!
Laura
I love making queso! I typically do it with white beans, but this potato idea is interesting . . . might have to try that next time!
veggiesdontbite
Thank you Laura! I've done the white beans from sauces but never cheese. I love love the texture and creaminess the potato gives. Definitely give it a try!!
Vegan Heaven
This looks so creamy and cheesy, Sophia!! Yummy! 🙂 Love how easy the recipe is!
veggiesdontbite
Thanks Sina!! It's SO SO easy!!
Michelle Blackwood
Wow, such a great dip with lots of flavors Love the idea of including pickled jalapeno juice!
veggiesdontbite
Thanks Michelle! It's so yum!!
Healing Tomato
An absolutely delicious and wonderful recipe. I love that this recipe is Vegan. It is hard to go completely cheeseless diet, but, this will help tremendously.
veggiesdontbite
Thank you!! This would help a ton!!!
Cassie
I love that this line of skincare products is vegan! I've really been looking for sustainable and cleaner beauty products that I know contain all natural ingredients. This is such a great opportunity to try some new products out and take better care of my skin!
veggiesdontbite
Cassie you would love them!! Vegan and natural and they work!! Triple threat!! Lol.
Kimberly
Wow this looks so good. I'm a few days late for Cinco de Mayo but will definitely be making this soon - I'm a sucker for anything with a cashew base.
As for Osea, I started using their products a few months ago and wow, what a difference already! I actually got my mother some of their products for Mother's Day. They are so many more products of theirs that I would love to try.
veggiesdontbite
Hey, you're never late for Mexican in my book!! Lol!! Isn't it amazing how fast OSEA changes your skin?! I'm loving it!!
Mandy
Sophia!!!! We made this yesterday and I CAN'T STOP EATING IT!!! Good lord. Let's see, how have I used it....dipped roasted potato wedges in it, broccoli, bell peppers and then today it saved an otherwise bland broccoli soup! I only used 1/2 cup of broth (the rest water) because our broth contained tomato and then I also cut the salt by a teaspoon...and since I knew Willow wouldn't be eating it, I didn't hold back on the heat! AMAZING recipe, my friend! We still have some leftover and I plan to toss some noodles in it tomorrow! And then I'm sure I'll cry when it's gone! Haha!! <3
veggiesdontbite
AHHHHH!!! SO SO SO happy you love it!!! Isn't it addicting?! I am using it in enchiladas this week because Brandi got me craving it, LOL. I love the idea of noodles in it. Another reader made it in a baked noodle dish and it looked awesome. I was going to try a baked Mexican noodle casserole with it, if it turns out good I'll blog it!! Thank you again for trying it and letting me know!! Much love to you and happy mothers day!
Julie
This queso looks amazing! Can't wait to try it! I just went to the Osea site....wow! I had never heard of them and am so happy I do now. So many things I would love to try...I love masks...the red algae mask, the cleansing mud....I'm kind of jumping up and down right now! 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway and the recipe!
veggiesdontbite
Thank you so much Julie!! So glad you checked out OSEA!! They are so awesome!! I'm so in love with the products!!
Alisa Fleming
That looks like the absolute perfect ingredient blend for cheesy goodness and surely dazzles at parties!
veggiesdontbite
Thanks Alisa!!