Go Back
–+ servings
A landscape-style photo of a pewter spoon pouring yellow plant based nacho cheese sauce over a white bowl of it on a brown granite countertop with a pale purple and white striped cloth napkin.

Plant-Based Nacho Cheese Sauce

Liz
Luscious and creamy with a slight kick, this Plant-Based Nacho Cheese Sauce is a healthy low-fat vegan queso you'll want to drizzle on everything. Use it on anything from nachos to pasta to a dip for oil-free fries and more. You can make this vegan nacho cheese sauce in the blender in only 5 minutes and it's good for the rest of the week.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine American, Mexican
Servings 8
Calories 73.5 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 Blender or a food processor may be used
  • 1 Blender spatula not necessary, just makes it easier to get all of that vegan queso goodness out of the blender!

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • Blend: Add all the ingredients to your blender and blend on high for at least 1 minute to 90 seconds to ensure everything is smooth. You may want to stop and scrape down the sides at least once. Even my Vitamix doesn't catch everything sometimes (when I use a lot of spices, they like to stick to the side of the blender).
  • Adjust flavors: Taste the mixture. Does it need more acid? Add more lemon juice. More salt? Add more miso paste or salt, depending on what you're using.
  • Too thin or too thick? If it's too thick, add a little plain unsweetened non-dairy milk. If it's too thin, add a little more nutritional yeast (or see my substitution ideas for this ingredient in the article above).
  • Use or store: If you're using this vegan queso right away, you can either drizzle it directly on whatever you want (like bell pepper nachos!) or you can warm it either in the microwave or in a small pot over medium-low heat. If storing, you can pour it into an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 5 days. Tip: since this recipe has turmeric in it, I recommend storing it in a glass jar or container since it will stain a plastic container. I do not recommend freezing sauces with tofu in them.

Video

Notes

  • Finding the Right Size Silken Tofu: You can find 16-ounce packages of silken tofu in the refrigerator section at your local grocery store, that's where I buy mine even in my little town that has almost nothing. But if you can only buy your silken tofu in the shelf-stable 12-ounce aseptic containers, you can either use 1 + ¼ of those, or just use one pack and add 2-4 tablespoons of soaked raw cashews, soaked raw sunflower seeds, cooked white beans, or dehydrated potato flakes.
  • Substitution for Silken Tofu: If you can only find soft or regular tofu (don't use firm), you can use this and just add a little plain unsweetened non-dairy milk (just enough to blend). If you don't want to use tofu at all, you can do 1+½ cups drained and rinsed canned (or cooked from dried) white beans, 2 cups boiled and drained peeled potatoes (or gold potatoes, which you can leave the skin on), or 1 cup of either soaked raw cashews or soaked raw sunflower seeds (and you will need water or plain unsweetened non-dairy milk to blend, and how much depends on how long you soaked them so start with equal parts nuts/seeds and liquid and adjust from there.
  • Lemon Juice: If you don't have fresh or bottled lemon juice, you could do apple cider vinegar or white vinegar to taste. I'm not sure how lime juice would taste but you could try it!
  • Fire Roasted Green Chilies: If you're OK with added sodium, pickled jalapeños are a great substitute here (and don't use as much lemon juice or vinegar). If you want zero added sodium you can: roast your own chilies (or saute them in a pan) OR add something else spicy that you like such as crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper.
  • Cholula Original Hot Sauce: Again, if you like another hot sauce better, use that. For zero added sodium, just add your preferred spice to add heat to your tastes.
  • White or Yellow Miso Paste: This is to replace the salt in the recipe, but I also love the little hint of umami flavors. Per Dr. Michael Greger of NutritionFacts.org, the soy in miso has a protective effect so the sodium in miso paste will not affect us negatively. Please feel free to omit or use a pinch of salt if that is what you prefer.
  • Nutritional Yeast: If you hate nutritional yeast or you can't have it, you can just add more of the seasonings, hot sauce, and lemon juice to taste. If you need to thicken the sauce (since the nutritional yeast does help thicken it), you can use potato flakes, cooked white beans, soaked raw cashews or raw sunflower seeds, or even a cooked potato.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.25cupCalories: 73.5kcalCarbohydrates: 7gProtein: 7.6gFat: 2.6gSodium: 138.3mgPotassium: 357.8mgFiber: 2.5gSugar: 0.26gVitamin A: 0.02IUVitamin C: 6.6mgCalcium: 97.8mgIron: 4.53mg
Keyword plant based cheese sauce, plant based nacho cheese sauce, plant based queso, vegan cheese, vegan cheese sauce, vegan nacho cheese sauce, vegan queso, vegan recipe, wfpb
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!