The Best Vegan ‘Cheese’ Sauce
The Best Vegan Cheese Sauce- Less than 10 ingredients to make this rich and creamy sauce that is packed full of flavor and nutrition!

This post was created in partnership with Bob’s Red Mill
I’ll be the first to admit that giving up dairy can be hard. In fact, I didn’t realize how easy I had it being vegetarian for so long. You can eat all the milk products you want. Soft serve ice cream, pizza, Greek yogurt, cheese, cheese, and more cheese.
But even after 3 years of not eating an ounce of dairy, there are some things I honestly don’t miss. Like queso, or vegan ‘cheese’ sauce. It is one of the easiest things to make at home and the texture and flavor is just as good as real dairy, in my humble opinion.
The Best Vegan Cheese Sauce Ingredients
So what do you need to make your own cheese sauce? The ingredients are pretty basic:
- Raw Cashews- Cashews not only add a punch of protein to the sauce but they also give it a rich and creamy texture, similar to real cheese sauce.
- Potato- The starches in potato thicken the sauce and give it that stretchy texture like real cheese. They also add a nice serving of potassium and vitamin C.
- Carrots- Carrots are used in this recipe mainly for color.
- Nutritional Yeast- If you’re unsure about this ingredient you can read more about it below. I highly recommend including it as this is what gives it a cheesy flavor.
- White Vinegar and Lemon Juice- Acid is needed to balance out the sweetness of the carrots and nutritional yeast. I like using a combination of vinegar and lemon juice for the most authentic flavor. That said if I had to choose one, I would stick with vinegar as the lemon might be more noticeable to sensitive palates.
- Garlic Powder- I prefer to use garlic powder because I find it’s not as strong and spicy as raw garlic. If you don’t have garlic powder you could also sauté one garlic clove and then add it to the recipe.
- Onion Powder- Both garlic and onion powder add savory depth to the sauce. I like using the powder forms to keep things simple since cooking garlic and onion adds an extra step. I don’t recommend using raw garlic or onion.
- Salt- Cheese sauce is obviously salty so we’ll need to add a good bit to the recipe. Start with 1/2 teaspoon and add more as desired by your palate.
- Water- The amount of water you’ll need to add will vary so start with a few tablespoons and add more as needed. Careful not to add too much at once so that it doesn’t get watered down.
What is Nutritional Yeast?
One of the key ingredients for making your own vegan ‘cheese’ sauce is nutritional yeast. This is NOT the same thing as brewer’s yeast which is used to bake bread or brew beer. Nutritional yeast is a byproduct of the fermentation of molasses which is then deactivated and used as a vegan nutritional supplement. It’s packed full of vital nutrients such as:
- Vitamin B12
- Vitamin B6
- Folate
- Thiamin
- Riboflavin
- Niacin
Plus each 1/4 cup serving has 8 grams of protein!
I would describe the flavor of nutritional yeast as slightly nutty and cheesy with a funky undertone. Some people are more sensitive to the funkiness and find it to be somewhat sweet but I think a lot of that has to do with how you’re eating it. I tend to pair it with more sour flavors which can help balance out any sweetness.
Bob’s Red Mill Nutritional Yeast is my favorite for it’s superior quality and the fact that it’s certified gluten-free. They actually have a recipe for Nutritional Yeast Cheese Sauce on their site but I based this version off of one of my favorite store bought cheese sauces. I have to drive 1.5hrs to Whole Foods in Atlanta to find it and while it’s definitely worth it, I’m happy to say that I’ve tested this recipe enough to know it comes pretty darn close. Close enough to save myself 3 hours plus the $10 in gas to get there and back.
How to Make the Best Vegan Cheese Sauce
Outside of soaking the cashews and boiling the potato and carrots, all you have to do is throw everything in a blender and blend until smooth!
This cheese sauce is so delicious and versatile, you’ll want to put it on everything. Of course my favorite way to eat it is with tortilla chips but I recently experimented with a chili cheese casserole and it was incredible. Keep an eye out for that recipe soon!
The Best Vegan 'Cheese' Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked*
- 1½ cups peeled and diced potato, any variety will work
- 1/2 cup peeled and chopped carrot
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast, I like Bob's Red Mill
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to toaste
- 1-2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
- water to thin
Instructions
- You can either soak the cashews overnight in a bowl covered by a few inches of water or do the quick soak method. To quick soak, bring a small pot of water to a boil then remove from the heat and add the cashews. Allow to soak for 30 minutes then strain and rinse before using in the recipe.
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil then add the diced potatoes and carrots. Boil for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are fork tender. Strain the excess water and allow to cool.
- Add the cooked vegetables, soaked cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and 3 tablespoons of water to the blender. Blend on high, scraping down the sides as needed or adding more water to help blend. I recommend adding just 1-2 tablespoons of water in between blending until the desired consistency is reached. It should be pourable but still thick and creamy. Taste test to see if you prefer more sour (vinegar/lemon juice) or more salt. Add more as desired and blend until smooth.
- Serve cheese sauce warm or refrigerate in a sealed container for up to 1 week. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop when ready to serve. You may need to add a splash of water when reheating. Just be careful not to water it down.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was created in partnership with a brand that I have used and loved for years, Bob’s Red Mill. As always, all opinions and text are entirely my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help make it possible for me to bring you quality content. For more delicious recipes and a coupon for $1.00 off any product, please visit Bob’sRedMill.com.
This is the BEST! I just made it and it’s so incredibly “cheesy”! And it looks smooth and creamy … just like yours. You are amazing Sarah!!!
Sometimes you just give up trying to reproduce foods from our past life using only plant based ingredients. But then, you did it on this recipe! It tops all!!
I’m so glad you like it! I actually just used some on baked potatoes stuffed with broccoli and tempeh bacon bits today. So good! :)
Now that does sound good! You could make a whole meal of steamed broccoli/carrots/cauliflower/red potatoes and this “cheese” sauce sprinkled with those tempeh bacon bits. Oooh! That will be on the menu next week!
We ended up using this batch on top of a plant based spinach lasagna. Family loved it!
WoW
This is soooooo Awesome!!!
Thank you!
Absolutely Delicious!!!
Wow, what an excellent no-cheese sauce! I altered it just a tad by only putting in one tablespoon each of vinegar & lemon juice. I was afraid it would’ve been to acidic if I added the additional any more. I also used ACV instead of white vinegar. Lastly, I used the boiling water from the veggies to smooth it out. Absolutely amazing! My omnivore wife loved it! So, much so, she says it would pass for the real deal at a barbeque in the south. This is definitely a keeper. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for the review, Brian! That was smart to start out with less acid…I think we might prefer stronger acidic flavors than most. Also great idea to use the starchy water from the veggies!
Hi! I just made the cheese sauce and I love it!!
Had it over tortilla chips plus jalapenos.
Thank you.
Do you think I could use cashew butter instead of cashews? This recipe looks like the answer to my dairy and gluten free prayers!!
That would probably change the ratios of liquid in the recipe and I’m not sure how to advise you without testing it myself. For best results I recommend using raw cashews. :)
Very keen to try this one, but just wandering if you can use apple cider vinegar in place of the white vinegar for this recipe?
You can! I prefer white vinegar because it’s less sweet than apple cider vinegar and you don’t really want any sweetness in a cheese sauce. But it will still provide the tang that you need for the recipe :)
So delicious! Next time I’m going to add some red pepper flakes for a little zip. I used cider vinegar as I didn’t have white and it turned out great. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
When you give the nutritional numbers at the end, what is the amount it refers to? Is that for a tablespoon?
It’s 1/8th of the recipe. :)
I loved this “cheese” sauce and my meat-eating hubby did too! We made nachos with it! Incredibly tasty and easy to make. Thank you for sharing this!!
You’re right. This is the best. Thank you for this.
Hi, I was wondering if I could substitute the cashews for something else since I’m allergic. If so, what do you recommend using in place of it?
Blanched almonds or macadamia nuts might work well! :)
I made two different vegan cheese sauces tonight… first time ever tasting any vegan “cheese” and this one was the CLEAR winner! Really delicious! The other sauce was made with cauliflower, and it was nowhere near as good as your recipe! I have plenty leftover to try tomorrow with some added chipotle, which I know will be fabulous. Winner!
I would love to try this recipe. Just wondering if I could leave out or substitute something else for the potato??
My Mom cannot have nightshades, gluten, or cauliflower :( Would really appreciate any helpful hints you could give me as I’m new to this vegan/WFPB diet!
Hey Tara! The potato is very important to this recipe because of its subtle flavor and starchy quality. That helps thicken and create a creamy texture to the sauce. There are some starchy veggies that could make a good substitution but I can’t say for sure without testing it myself. I would probably try Yuca root and just peel it prior to cooking. That can be hard to come by but it’s the best alternative I can think of!
I made two different vegan cheese sauces tonight… first time ever tasting any vegan “cheese” and this one was the CLEAR winner! Really delicious! The other sauce was made with cauliflower, and it was nowhere near as good as your recipe! I have plenty leftover to try tomorrow with some added chipotle, which I know will be fabulous. Winner!
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I’m interested in trying out some vegan recipes and chose this as my first! And WOW, am I impressed! I didn’t actually have cashews so I used canned beans, and I’d seen another recipe where they used white (Northern?) beans, but I only had kidney beans on hand. I’m impatient, so I just used those. Yes, there are flecks of the reddish kidney bean skins, lol, but this tastes amazing! I did add an extra tablespoon of nutritional yeast to make sure I got the most “cheesy” flavor.
Now, I’m going to go have some with tortilla chips for a snack while I research my next vegan recipe to try. Thanks!
Wow, I’m thrilled to hear it worked with beans! Thanks for the review, Mindy!
Ok…you might think I’m weird & you’d be right! I made this recipe & added some vegan pesto & put it over angel hair pasta with chopped tomatoes that I salt & peppered. It was really good! I guess you could just put pesto on your noodles & drizzle the cheese sauce over it….I’ll try that next time! I’m also thinking of turning this into a soup by adding plant milk then adding homemade croutons on top!
Would it be possible to use white beans in place of cashews? If not, what about cashew power?
Thank you
The texture would be quite different with beans, likely much thicker. I haven’t used cashew powder before but it seems like it could work. Might require some experimenting to figure out the exact amount though.
This is SO good! Perfect amount of acid. I added a few red pepper flakes and little smoked paprika. Delicious!