Best Vegan Cheese Sauce
When I first switched over to a healthy plant-based lifestyle back in 2013, one thing that I really missed was CHEESE. Cheese for pizza, tacos, baked potatoes, lasagna, and so much more. That’s why I came up with this amazing best vegan cheese sauce recipe ever!
One of the best things about it is that it can be made with either cashews or white beans for those avoiding nuts. Better yet, do a combination of both to reduce the fat but maintain the creamy rich texture.
This is the BEST cheese sauce because it’s…
- Versatile and can be made with cashews OR white beans
- Flavor-packed
- Creamy
- Cheeesy
- Veggie-loaded
- Customizable
- Low-fat
- Vegan
- Oil-free
- Freezable
Three versions to choose from
1st Version: Originally, I made it with 1/2 cup raw cashews.
2nd Version: Now, I sometimes sub out white beans–like navy beans or cannellini–to lower the fat content even more. For those avoiding nuts completely, this is a terrific nut-free cheese sauce.
3rd Version: Nowadays, I mostly make with a combination of the two–1/4 cup cashews + 1/4 cup white beans. It has a warm creamy texture with less fat. This easy vegan cheese sauce has so many options!
What is vegan cheese sauce made of?
Incredibly some of the ingredients used to make this amazing cheese sauce are…
- potatoes
- onions
- carrots
- cashews (and or white beans)
- nutritional yeast flakes
- lemon juice
- spices
What is nutritional yeast?
Nutritional yeast is what makes this vegan cheese sauce taste like cheese. It has a nutty, cheesy flavor and is yellow in color. Unlike baker’s and brewer’s yeasts, is a deactivated yeast used for seasoning.
It’s an inactive form of the yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Though it is the same strain of yeast bakers use to leaven bread, nutritional yeast has been pasteurized to dry out the yeast. This process helps to extract its nutritional benefits.
Nutritional yeast is exclusively for seasoning and cannot be used for leavening in baking. Even so, it can normally be found in the baking section of many grocery stores. I usually purchase my nutritional yeast online.
How to make vegan cheese sauce
I have a Vitamix blender and so don’t take the time to soak my cashews. That thing is powerful and everything that goes into it comes out creamy. However, if your blender isn’t jet engine speed, soaking the cashews in warm water for at least 30-minutes before adding to this recipe will help this recipe come out more creamy.
Begin by dicing up the potatoes, carrots, and onion.
In a medium pot, bring about 3 cups of water to a boil. Place potatoes, carrots, and onion in a pot and allow to cook until veggies are tender approximately 15 minutes. Cooking time will vary based on how small the veggies are diced.
When veggies are tender, drain and place them in a blender. NOTE: reserve 1 cup of the broth, and add to blender. Add all the remaining ingredients, and blend until smooth.
Now, it’s ready to use in nacho cheese dip, mac-n-cheese, topping for steamed broccoli, or anything else you need a creamy, cheesy sauce in. This recipe makes approximately 1 quart and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
I often freeze this recipe when I have lots leftover, which admittedly isn’t that often. Most of the time, I freeze it in a wide-mouth mason jar which makes defrosting it later in the microwave much easier. Simply remove the lid and place it in the microwave to defrost.
Once the cheese sauce is no longer frozen, I place it in my blender and take it for a spin for just a minute which brings it back to its original creaminess. It’s as good as freshly made then.
InstantPot instructions
Yes! You can also use your InstantPot to make this cheese sauce!
Simply add the potatoes, carrots, onion, and one cup of water to your Instant Pot. Set on MANUAL for 10 minutes. Once finished, use a spoon, dishcloth, or potholder to turn the VENT knob for a quick release to allow the pressure to come down. Then add all other ingredients to a blender and process until smooth. Easy-Peasy!
Tips for making this recipe
- Soaking cashews or not. I have a Vitamix blender and so don’t take the time to soak my cashews. That thing is powerful and everything that goes into it comes out creamy. However, if your blender isn’t jet engine speed, soaking the cashews in warm water for at least 30-minutes will help this recipe come out more creamy.
- Potatoes to use. You really can use almost any variety of potato. I love to use russets, red potatoes, or even sweet potatoes. Just make sure they are cooked until soft.
- Save that broth. One of the steps of this recipe is to boil the potatoes, onions, and carrots on the stove. Remember to save some of that broth for adding to the blender.
- Tweaking to your taste preference. Most likely this cheese sauce will come out amazing as soon as you dip that spoon into the blender (after it has stopped, of course) to give it a taste. However, if it needs a little tweaking, first try adding a little more salt or nutritional yeast, as those two ingredients can make a big difference, in my opinion.
*Original publish date February 02, 2015.
Your dairy-free cheese sauce questions answered
Q: How long will this vegan cheese sauce last in the refrigerator?
A: This sauce will keep in the refrigerator for about 7-10 days in an airtight container. I love to use quart mason jars.
Q: Can this vegan cheese sauce be frozen?
A: YES! Freezing is also an option. Simply defrost and place in a blender for a freshen up spin and it will be back to its original creamy texture.
Q: Which vegan cheese is best?
A: All of mine! LOL! Seriously though, I have a lot of different dairy-free cheeses to choose from. That a peek at these yummilicious ones.
- Best Vegan Cheese Sauce
- Cashew Vegan Mozzarella
- Nacho Cheese
- Vegan Ricotta
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese
- Easy Vegan Cream Cheese
Q: What recipes use vegan cheese sauce?
A: I am so glad that you asked! I have a number of great recipes that use this cheese sauce. The options are really endless!
- Cheesy Vegan Scalloped Potatoes
- Loaded Potato Skin Bites
- Vegan Chili Cheese Fries
- Vegan Cheddar Broccoli Soup
- Easy Vegan Pizza
Ways to use this sauce
Who doesn’t love pasta? This vegan oil-free cheese sauce is amazing on mac and cheese as well. It’s the perfect comfort food and can even be made gluten-free by using brown rice pasta.
Just add salsa to this cheese sauce, and you’ve got delicious Nacho Cheese Dip to serve with tacos and nachos. It’s amazingly delicious!
Other ways to use this cheese sauce are:
- Over a baked potato
- On steamed broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, or another veggie
- Drizzled over pizza, lasagna, or tacos
- In cheezy grits for breakfast
- On my Chili Cheese Fries or Nacho Supreme
- Any other wonderful way you can think of!
Nutritional information
1/4 cup serving (WITH BEANS):
- 5 calories
- 28 carbs
- 0.14 grams fat
- 1.9 grams of protein
1/4 cup serving (WITH CASHEWS):
- 41 calories
- 4.6 carbs
- 1.8 grams of fat
- 2 grams of protein
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Best Vegan Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup potatoes peeled & diced
- 1/4 cup carrots diced
- 1/4 cup onion chopped
- 1 cup broth from veggies
- 1/2 cup raw cashews (or 1/2 c white beans)
- 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 pinch paprika
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper optional
Instructions
- In a medium pot, bring about 3 cups of water to a boil. Place potatoes, carrots, and onion in the pot and allow to cook until veggies are tender--approximately 15 minutes. Cooking time will vary based on how small the veggies are diced.
- When veggies are tender, drain and place them in a blender. NOTE: reserve 1 cup of the broth, and add to blender. Add all the remaining ingredients, and blend until smooth.
- I have a Vitamix blender and so don't take the time to soak my cashews. That thing is powerful and everything that goes into it comes out creamy. However, if your blender isn't jet engine speed, soaking the cashews in warm water for at least 30-minutes before adding to this recipe will help this recipe come out more creamy.
- If you prefer, white beans such as northern or navy beans can be used in place of the cashews for those avoiding nuts. Or, even use a combination of 1/4 cashews and 1/4 cup white beans to lower the fat content but keep the rich creamy texture and flavor.
- Now, it's ready to use in nacho cheese dip, mac-n-cheese, topping for steamed broccoli, or anything else you need a creamy, cheesy sauce in. Many of those recipes are linked above.
- This makes approximately 1 quart and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer
To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
Good stuff. I added jalapeño juice instead of lemon juice for a bit of kick and tart.
Thanks!
If I use instant pot, would it work to use an immersion blender, rather than pouring into regular blender? Actually if cooked on stove time? Looking forward to try this recipe.
Hi Cindi- I think a blender would be the best bet for getting it nice and creamy. If you’re planning to use white beans instead of cashews, the immersion blender might work, but if you’re using cashews it just wouldn’t get the creamy texture needed. Good luck!
This is always my go to recipe for cheese sauce.Tried others. This is the best!
So happy to hear that! Thank you, Kathi! 🙂
I tried this recipie today and it came out super good for “vegan cheese”, I didn’t have any carrots or potatos so I boiled up some opnions and cabbage and used the white bean recipe and it turned out really good! Definitely recommend 😉
I haven’t tried this recipe specifically but it’s very similar to one that I make so I know it would be amazing and I’m definitely going to try with 1/2 beans. I have a good blender but not a great one and I just add my cashews to the pot with the veggies and let them cook with very good results, always smooth, never gritty. Thought this might be useful for some people.
Thanks for your recipes, I appreciate the work you do
Hi Donna- That’s a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
If you had to say, do you prefer the taste with the cashews or beans? I don’t like plain beans but I know it won’t taste like beans so I’m wondering which you prefer to use? I am excited to try this!
Hi Eileen- To me, the cashews really add flavor and creaminess, so I use a mixture of beans and cashews to achieve the perfect flavor and lower the fat content.
This is so delicious. I cooked fusilloni macaroni, mixed it with this “no cheese” sauce and baked 30 minutes at 350. I loved it. Serving with a side of stream broccoli. All I can add is YUM! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Julia- I LOVE reading your comment and am so glad you like the cheese sauce!
I think that if you have been vegan for a long time, this may taste like cheese. For someone who is just starting to give up dairy, this does not taste anything like cheese. Perhaps adding extra ingredients like peppers or salsa will make it a little more appetising. For me, this will take a lot of tweaking to make it something that my family might enjoy. I truly appreciate this recipe though because it gives the basis of a creamy sauce. I will continue to find flavors to make this something enjoyable for my family. Thank you.
Thank you for this great recipe! Had it over rice and broccoli tonight. Perfect vegan Divan.
Hi Lisa- Yum! Serving it over rice and broccoli sounds delicious. So glad you enjoyed it and hope you’ll find lots of new uses for it.
Tried this cheese sauce for the first time tonight. My friend and I both have to be dairy-free. What I miss the most is cheese. It has been very hard to find a cheese sauce that I liked and would be willing to serve to guests in my home. I came across your recipe and decided to give it a try. My friend and I both loved it when we tried it. We had real cheese sauce as a back-up for the guys and kids in case they didn’t like it. However, both hubby’s loved it and couldn’t tell the difference! They were shocked when we told them what they were actually eating. We left that until after dinner. 😊 Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I can’t wait to try some others.
Hi Darlene- That’s so amazing! I love that everyone loved the cheese sauce. That’s a serious WIN! 😀
@Terri Edwards, Yes it is. Thank you so much!
This is THE BEST plant based cheese sauce I have ever made and I have made several recipes! I did 1/2 beans 1/2 cashews!!!!
Hi Andrea- YES! For the WIN! So glad that you liked it. I love that it’s versatile enough to be made with cashews, beans, or a combination of both. Thanks for letting me know it was a success.
Holy crap! I’m not a vegan but after eating the sauce I could be. I was super skeptical at first but I foresee myself eating a lot more broccoli in the near future. Awesome job!!!
Hi Chrissy- HA! I’m so glad that it made a believer out of you. Hope your future is full of broccoli and lots of vegan cheese. 🙂
This turned out great. I was out of potatoes, but had instant mashed potato buds on hand to use instead.
So flipping delicious and so easy! I left the skin on the potato for added fibre and vitamin C and cannot fault it. Want to try it with white beans next. I’ve been craving chip shop chips (a proper UK comfort food!) with cheese sauce and that is what we’re now having for tea tonight!!
Mine taste like potatoe. The texture and color perfect. Thoughts?
Hi Terry- It shouldn’t taste like potatoes at all. Everyone in the classes I serve it to can’t believe that it’s made from potatoes. It sounds like you might need to add more nutritional yeast, salt, and lemon juice to me.