Community Pick
Cheese Sauce (Vegan)
"This is the simplest and best tasting vegan cheese sauce recipe we've found. We got it from our cousin Diana P. who got it from who knows where. We like it best for nachos. It works well for mac'n'cheese as well as enchiladas or any recipe that calls for a cheese sauce."
photo by Alisha W.
- Ready In:
- 15mins
- Ingredients:
- 8
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 1⁄4 cup raw cashews
- 1 1⁄2 cups cold water
- 2 ounces pimientos (half of a 4 oz. jar)
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1⁄2 - 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies (optional)
directions
- Rinse cashews with hot water while combining the remaining ingredients (except chiles) in a blender.
- Add cashews to blender and process on high for 1-2 minutes.
- Cook in a sauce pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick.
- Add chiles and serve or use in other recipes that call for cheese sauce.
Questions & Replies
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Reviews
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I think the reason this includes lemon juice is because many vegan cheese sauce recipes call for something called Rejuvelac, which is made by soaking whole wheat grains, letting them sprout a day, grinding them with water and then letting the resulting mixture ferment a day on the counter before straining. It's kind of sour, but it's not at all like lemon juice. My advice is, if you're not making Rejuvelac, leave out lemon juice. I've made many vegan cheese recipes, and if I don't have a batch of Rejuvelac on hand I just deal with i and omit it. They all come out well. Real secret is the nutritional yeast. That's what gives it the cheesy flavor. Also, if you soak the raw cashews for at least 2 hours before making recipe, this sauce will come out much smoother, almost like melted Velveta. Also reduce the water to a 1 to 1 1/2 ratio (cashews to water). You can add additional water to thin if you need to..much easier to thin a thick sauce than to thicken up a thin sauce. You can leave out cornstarch if you follow this method, and best of all, you don't have to cook it if you prepare it this way... perfect for raw food enthusiasts. Several dashes of tumeric will make it yellow, if you're concerned about aesthetics. -
Absolutely the best cheese sauce ever!!! I went vegan 8 months ago... that's when I found this recipe and have been making it ever since. I must have made it at least 20 times and most of the time they're double batches. This sauce is so amazing!!! Everyone who's tried it cannot believe that it's non-dairy. Neither of my sons are vegan yet they eat it constantly... I can hardly keep it in the fridge. I use it as a spread for my veggie burgers, with chips and pretzels as a dip and on all of my mexican food... especially my breakfast burritos. It tops off many rice and bean dishes as well. Great on a bagel with some sliced cucumber, onion and tomato and a squeeze of lemon juice with some hot sauce. I follow the recipe to the tee... sometimes I will add a bit more water just to thin it out a bit if I'm using it as a sauce. I thought that I would die without my cheese when I went vegan but, this has truly saved me... it's the best!!! Thank you PhrostyWindow for posting this recipe!!! -
I made this last night with a few small changes - so amazing! I prefer red peppers to pimientos, so I sauteed 1 small-med red pepper in olive oil for a few minutes to soften it, then added it into the mix. I also used organic veg broth instead of water for a bit of extra flavor... So unbelievably good, fast & easy! I made vegan burritos with spelt tortillas, spicy veggies, refried beans & homemade guacamole, and poured this cheese sauce on top... I can't say enough about how delicious this is! THANK YOU -
Wow! So easy and yummy! I made it as stated here with a few additions. I used roasted red peppers, as that's what I had on hand instead of the pimentos. I also added a pinch of tumeric ( for color) onion powder, garlic powder, and cayenne. What put it over the top was smoked paprika sprinkled on top! Vegan crack....watch out!
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F****ing amazingly delicious!!!!!! Thank you thank you!!!!
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Tweaks
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Tastiest and easiest-to-make vegan cheese sauce I've ever had! Really does taste like cheesy nacho dip. Love it with nachos, as pretzel dip, and on bean dishes, burritos, and even naan burritos! I make a double batch and probably would do well to make a triple batch I love it so much. So far I have made it only with 1/2 arrowroot flour and 1/2 cornstarch (NOTE: cornstarch thickens as it cooks, while arrowroot thickens as it cools). I am going to try with all arrowroot as an experiment. I love the chewy dehydrated "skin" that forms on top of the pot of cheeze after it cools somewhat -- would like to figure out how to make this as it's delicious! I use roasted red pepper instead of pimiento. I like it both with the lemon juice and 1/2 the amount of lemon juice in the recipe instructions. I use a full teaspoon of coarse gray celtic sea salt and use heaping tablespoons of folic-acid-free nutritional yeast. I add some chopped homemade pickled jalapenos at the end. So, so good. Thanks for sharing!
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I enjoyed this sauce; although I made a few changes. As some other readers, I did not have pimentos on hand so I used roasted red pepper instead. Also, I didn't want the added starch of the cornstarch, so I simply cut the water amount in half in order to make a thicker sauce. I did think the lemon was a little too strong, but that might be because my sauce was more concentrated due to the reduced water. I will definitely make again, but with less lemon.
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This is a really nice gravy. I call it a gravy because I do not find it cheesy what-so-ever. It does look like cheese, but definitely does not taste like cheese. It does taste very good on a variety of things, just don't expect it to be cheese. Also, I like to use carrots for coloring instead of piment.
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This sauce is amazing! I use it when ever I make nachos. If you want it a bit richer, use vegetable broth instead of the water. yum!
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Holy smokes This was soo good, I never write reviews for anything (this is my first!) I didn't have any pimentos so I used fire roasted tomatoes with chiles instead. I also added a little oil as per another reviewer. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe. Oh I made some pizza rolls with the sauce - they are in the oven right now. This sauce would be amazing for nachos & I am planning on making a Mexican casserole tomorrow with brown rice & beans & the rest of the can of tomatoes & this amazing sauce - I can't wait!
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I love food!! All kinds of food!
Experimentation is the mother of all great recipes.
