Sweet Potato Cheese Sauce (Vegan)
This Sweet Potato Cheese Sauce is packed with wholesome ingredients, amazingly delicious, and diabetes-friendly. Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, and dairy-free.
Delicious on steamed vegetables, veggie pizza, and so many more recipes, this vegan cheese is going to become a family favorite.
You’ll love this sweet potato sauce because it’s…
- Full of wholesome ingredients
- Creamy
- Healthy
- Low glycemic
- Oil-free
- Vegan
- Amazingly delicious!
Ingredients for sweet potato cheese sauce
Incredibly some of the ingredients used to make this amazing sweet potato sauce are so wholesome and simple, you may even already have everything needed in your kitchen. At my house, we eat a lot of sweet potatoes because not only are they delicious but they are loaded with nutrition.
- Sweet potatoes
- Onions
- Carrots
- Raw cashews (or white beans)
- Nutritional yeast flakes
- Lemon juice
- Few spices
How to make sweet potato cheese sauce
The recipe card at the bottom of the page has the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions.
Begin by peeling and dicing the sweet potatoes. They can be a little tricky to peel, so a potato peeler may be just what you need to keep those fingers safe.
Dice up the onion and carrots. Personally, we usually have baby carrots on hand for snacking like with my Spinach Artichoke Dip, so I tend to just include a few of those and don’t even cut them up.
Place the diced vegetables in a stockpot with enough water to cover them well. Cook on medium-high heat until they are tender which should be around 15 minutes depending on the size of the chunks of potatoes.
Once they are cooked, drain the water from them but reserve 1 cup of the broth to use in the recipe.
Next, add all the ingredients–cooked sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, and cashews (or white beans), along with the spices and seasonings in a food processor or blender.
I love to use my Vitamix blender because it is so powerful, so I don’t soak my cashews. However, if you’re using another type of blender, it might be necessary to soak the cashews in warm water for about 30 minutes prior to blending. This will help the cheese sauce to be nice and creamy.
Use raw cashews or white beans
The original recipe for this vegan cheese sauce calls for 1/2 cup of raw cashews. However, some folks are avoiding nuts due to allergies or the fat content, so white beans can be used instead.
The white beans will need to be a softer variety such as northern beans, navy beans, or white kidney beans. Garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas) are just not soft enough to allow the sauce to be nice and creamy.
Allow it to process in the blender until creamy and smooth. It will continue to thicken as it cools and especially after refrigeration.
Pro tips for making sweet potato sauce
- You really can use almost any variety of potatoes. I love to use russets, red potatoes, or yellow potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Just make sure they are cooked until soft.
- To reduce a little bit of fat, try using 1/4 cup white beans + 1/4 cup cashews. I like to use at least a few cashews because it comes out the creamiest.
- 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.
- 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.
- Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. Freezes well but will need to be put back in the blender for a spin after defrosting to get creamy again.
- If you’re looking for a firm cheese instead of a sauce, check out this Sliceable Vegan Cheese.
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.
Use this deliciously healthy sweet potato vegan cheese sauce in recipes like Nachos, Tacos, Veggie Pizza, and Spinach Lasagna.
*Originally published April 2018.
More amazing vegan cheese recipes
- Best Vegan Cheese Sauce
- Cashew Vegan Mozzarella
- Nacho Cheese
- Vegan Ricotta
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese
- Easy Vegan Cream Cheese
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Sweet Potato Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup sweet potatoes peeled and diced
- 1/4 cup carrots peeled and diced
- 1/4 cup onions chopped
- 1 cup veggie broth from cooked vegetables
- 1/2 cup raw cashews OR 1/2 cup cooked white beans
- 4 tablespoons nutrition yeast flakes
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- pinch paprika
- 1/2 pinch cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Begin by peeling and dicing the sweet potatoes. They can be a little tricky to peel, so a potato peeler may be just what you need to keep those fingers safe.
- Dice up the onion and carrots. Personally, we usually have baby carrots on hand for snacking, so I tend to just include a few of those and don’t even cut them up.
- Place the diced vegetables in a stockpot with enough water to cover them well. Cook on medium-high heat until they are tender which should be around 15-minutes depending on the size of the chunks of potatoes.
- Once they are cooked, drain the water from them but reserve 1 cup of the broth to use in the recipe.
- Next, add all the ingredients–cooked sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, and cashews (or white beans), along with the spices and seasonings in a food processor or blender.
- Allow it to process in the blender until creamy smooth. It will continue to thicken as it cools and especially after refrigeration.
Video
Notes
- You really can use almost any variety of potatoes. I love to use russets, red potatoes, or yellow potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Just make sure they are cooked until soft.
- To reduce a little bit of fat, try using 1/4 cup white beans + 1/4 cup cashews. I like to use at least a few cashews because it comes out the creamiest.
- 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.
- 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.
- Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. Freezes well but will need to be put back in the blender for a spin after defrosting to get creamy again.
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.
About Terri Edwards
Hi guys! I am the content creator behind EatPlant-Based and a licensed Food for Life instructor with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. I am passionate about sharing healthy recipes and tips to empower others to get healthy. I’m so glad you’re here! Read More…
Although diabetes is not a concern for me in particular, I love the idea of using sweet potatoes as a base for a sauce (one of my favorite ways to do plant based cheese sauces is the potato-carrot-onion route, so I’m already a fan!) I’m going to try this using half cashews and half white beans, and also add a tablespoon or so of mellow white miso for some added ‘funk’.
@Carolyn Blakeney, I like your idea of adding the white miso. I’m going to add that to the next batch of this sauce that I make. Today. 🙂
Loved your original cheese sauce… this is better! Made it with garbanzo beans and a few cashews. Really good
Really?! That’s awesome, Greg! I never would have thought to try it with garbanzo beans. So glad that it turned out well for you. 🙂
@Greg, thanks for your take on the bean variety to use. I’ve always got garbanzo beans in my pantry so will go half and half as you have done. Along with adding the white miso that Carolyn Blakeney suggested.
Thank you for a lovely recipe, will definitely try it! I recently came to learn with great disappointment that nutritional yeast is basically outright MSG (Medical Medium Anthony William) and so now use Himalayan salt to season instead.
One thing I really missed since switching to a whole food plant based diet was mac and cheese. This amazing recipe solved that problem. It’s absolutely delicious.
Love the original “cheese” sauce: this one is even better. I always use white kidney beans. This stuff is good so many different ways. FYI, I just learned recently that nutritional yeast should not be refrigerated, used to put mine in the freezer. The funky smell that it has was exacerbated by refrigerating it. Now I just keep my yeast in an air tight containet in my cupboard.
That’s great! One of the registered dietitians in a hospital where I teach said she likes the sweet potato version even better than the original too. I’m still trying to make up my mind about which one I like best. So hard to decide! Thanks so much for letting me know how much you like this one.
Would this sweet potato vegan cheese sauce work well with your Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole?
Oh yes, indeed! It’s fabulous with the Hash Brown Casserole.
I just made this… omg… where have you been all my life!!
So easy and so delicious.
Thank you.
Ha! LOVE it, and so glad that you do too! 🙂
Oh my GOSH! Just made this and it is amazing. I make both an all-cashew cheese sauce and one with yellow potatoes and use them both in certain applications. But THIS! I’ve already added it to my “favorite recipes” list. I am using it today on (Portobello) Philly cheese steak sandwiches and hope to have enough left over for a small pizza with some leftover WFPB whole wheat pizza dough I need to use up! Thank you so much! Honestly…I just want to eat it with a spoon.
That’s fabulous to hear! I’m so happy that you love the sweet potato cheese. Thank you for the great feedback!
My three small grandchildren have milk allergies and one has a nut allergy. They are visiting in three weeks so I found this recipe online and made it for mac and cheese. I just used canneli beans as one can’t have almonds. I must say that the onion and garlic were too overwhelming. I made macaroni noodles to add to the sauce and two bites in I couldn’t eat anymore because of the bitterness. Might try it without the spices and onion and see if that works.
So sorry to hear that yours didn’t turn out well, as this is the first negative feedback that has ever been given for the recipe. When I take it to classes that I teach and share it to Facebook and other social media, the feedback comments are always overwhelmingly positive. Did you use only the recommended 1/4 cup onions and 1/2 tsp of garlic powder? There is also a white potato version of it that might better suit your tastes preference. It is included in this list of other cheese recipe options. https://eatplant-based.com/cheese-recipes/
Can you substitute the nutritional yeast with yeast extract?
Nutritional yeast is usually sold in flakes and has a nutty cheesy flavor. Though I’ve never used yeast extract, I don’t believe it has the same flavor so shouldn’t be used to replace nutritional yeast in this recipe.
Can I freeze this in a glass sauce container?
Hi Lindsay- I freeze my cheese sauce in glass jars all the time. Some recommendations are to use wide-mouth jars for freezing.
This cheese sauce is so good and so easy. I have made it countless times. I usually add lots of cayenne powder. I then take about half of the recipe and put it in a separate bowl and add diced green chilis and more spice for my take on queso. We use it as a dip, on nachos, baked potato and tacos. My non-vegan friends like it as well.
Hi Doug- That sounds delicious! I love your additions to use is as queso. YUM!
What is the best way to re-heat this recipe. I tried a small quantity in the microwave but that did not work very well. It formed a crust
Hi Mello- Has it been frozen? If so, you’ll want to spin it in a blender again to get the right creaminess. If it’s only been refrigerated, it should heat up well in the microwave. Add a little bit of water or veggie broth (1-2 Tbsps) if needed to get the right consistency.
I made this today. It is the best wfpb cheese sauce recipe I have found yet. Very creamy texture. Thank you. I like cheese sauce with “zip”. Before I embraced a plant based diet, I loved old “sharp” cheeses. I added 1 Tbsp of sauerkraut juice to this recipe. It did the trick for me. It doesn’t add a sauerkraut taste but does add that “zip”.
My husband who turns up his nose at plant based, very much enjoyed this. It is a keeper for us.
Hi Maggie- I would have never even thought of adding a little sauerkraut juice for a zip. What a great and unique idea! I’m thrilled that this one will be a keeper at your house. 🙂