Vegan Cheese Sauce

This delicious, creamy cheese sauce is entirely plant-based. It’s perfect for vegans, vegetarians, and everyone else who likes good food!

This versatile cheese sauce is made using vegetables, seasonings, and nutritional yeast.  You can use it as a dip, to make vegan mac and cheese, or season it to make nachos.  It’s a blank canvas waiting for your culinary artistic touches!

🥘 Ingredients

For this simple vegan cheese sauce without nuts, you need the following ingredients:

• potatoes
• carrot
• chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• water
• vinegar (regular or apple cider)
• salt
• lemon juice
• nutritional yeast flakes (do not confuse with the yeast you use to make bread)
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• cayenne

🔪 How To Make Vegan Cheese Sauce

To make it, you start by cooking the potatoes and carrots in a pot of boiling water until they become soft.

Once they become soft, drain them in a colander.

Next, add the cooked vegetables, chickpeas, water, vinegar, and lemon juice to a blender or food processor.  

Blend or process on HIGH until they are well combined.

Add the salt, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, and a dash of cayenne and process or blend until it becomes smooth and creamy.

You can use the sauce immediately or refrigerate for later. If it thickens up too much in the refrigerator, whisk in water until desired consistency.  Re-heat in the microwave.

Vegan Mac and Cheese

To make mac and cheese, boil macaroni noodles according to the directions on the box.  

Meanwhile, make the Vegan Cheese Sauce.  Once the macaroni noodles have finished cooking, drain them, and then stir in the cheese sauce.

📖 Recipe

Vegan Cheese Sauce

This delicious, creamy cheese sauce is entirely plant-based. It's perfect for vegans, vegetarians, and everyone else who likes good food!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 20 mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 12

Calories 39 kcal

Equipment

• Equipment
• Pot
• Blender or Food Processor

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup potatoes diced large
• 1 cup carrots diced large
• 1 cup chickpeas
• ½ cup water
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ½ cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• dash cayene

Instructions

 

• Boil the carrots and potatoes until they become soft.
• While the carrots and potatoes are cooking, combine the salt, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, and cayenne and set aside.
• Drain vegetables and rinse with cold water in a colander.
• Place the vegetables, chickepeas, water, vinegar, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor and process until blended. Add the seasoning blend and process until smooth and creamy.

Keyword pasta

Vegan Nacho Sauce

To make Vegan Nacho Sauce, prepare the vegan cheese sauce according to recipe directions.  In step 4, also add ½ teaspoon smoked paprika.  If you like the taste of cumin, you can also add ½ teaspoon.

Once the sauce is smooth and creamy, you can add chopped jalapeños for a spicy nacho cheese sauce or leave them out for a more traditional nacho sauce.

Veggie Sauce

This sauce can also be used to top cooked broccoli or cauliflower. Think of it a healthy way to get picky eaters to eat their veggies.

Be sure to come back and tell us how your cheese sauce turned out!