Silken Tofu Cheese Sauce
Silken Tofu Cheese Sauce is a creamy, cheesy, and incredibly delicious 5-minute low fat sauce that is super easy to make in your blender. It's high protein and super flavorful and you'll want to put it on everything from pasta to potatoes to veggies and more. Make up a batch and use it all week long!
Equipment
- 1 Blender or a food processor may be used, but how smooth it gets depends on the strength of your machine
- 1 Blender spatula not necessary, just makes it easier to get all of that vegan cheese sauce goodness out of the blender!
Ingredients
- 16 Ounces Silken Tofu, drained, see Notes section below for substitutions
- ½ Cup Plain Unsweetened Soy Milk, or any plain unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice, fresh is best but bottled is fine
- 1 Tablespoons White or Yellow Miso Paste, to taste, see Notes section below for substitutions
- ½ Teaspoon Dijon Mustard, or use ¼ to ½ teaspoon ground mustard
- ⅓ Cup Nutritional Yeast, see Notes section below for substitutions
- 1 Teaspoon Granulated Onion
- 1 Teaspoon Granulated Garlic
- ½ Teaspoon Dried Thyme
- ½ Teaspoon Paprika, I use sweet paprika for this recipe, but smoked paprika should work
- ¼ Teaspoon Ground Turmeric
- ⅛ Teaspoon Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to the blender: I like to plop in the tofu first (scrape the empty container out with a spatula), then add liquids, then spices.
- Blend: Sometimes my spices like to stick to the sides of the blender. If this happens to you, stop the blender and scrape down the sides with a spatula. Then continue blending.
- Taste: Stop the blender and stick a spoon in there. Taste the cheese sauce. If it's not salty enough, add more miso. Not cheesy enough? Add more nutritional yeast and possibly more granulated onion and granulated garlic. Blend again if you add anything.
- Use: Pour on cooked and drained pasta, bake potatoes, steamed or roasted veggies, or anything you like! I like to make air fryer French fries (oil-free of course) and make cheese fries. Yum. If you need to heat the cheese sauce, you can microwave it in a microwave-safe dish or pour it into a small nonstick pot and heat gently over low heat until warmed.
- Store: If you heated the sauce, let it cool to room temperature. Store in an airtight jar (if you use a plastic container, the turmeric will stain it! Plus I find food tastes better when stored in glass) in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Use the sniff test if not sure. When reheating, pour the amount you want to use either in a small microwave-safe dish or pour it on your food and then heat it up.
Video
Notes
- Silken Tofu: This recipe calls for 16 ounces 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.
- To Substitute the 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, 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.
- Yellow or White 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. If you're fine eating salt (or if you eat the potassium chloride salt substitute) you can go ahead and use that. If you are totally avoiding added sodium, you can leave it out.
- Nutritional Yeast: This is key in making the cheese sauce taste cheesy. This recipe does NOT have an overwhelming "nutritional yeast" flavor. If you are not a huge fan, make sure you buy NON-FORTIFIED nutritional yeast as I find this has a more mild flavor. Sari makes the best flavor but it's a little pricy so I often buy cheaper brands like Anthonys which I still enjoy. If you can't eat nutritional yeast, try a little extra miso, onion, and garlic.
- Soy Milk: Any unflavored, unsweetened non-dairy milk will work. And in a pinch I've just used water!
- Thickens in the fridge: Because of the nature of tofu, silken tofu sauce recipes can thicken while in the fridge. To thin your silken tofu cheese sauce, add a tablespoon or two of plain unsweetened non-dairy milk (any) or water and stir (or place on an airtight lid and shake briefly).
Nutrition
Serving: 0.25cupCalories: 66.2kcalCarbohydrates: 5.6gProtein: 6.6gFat: 2.7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gSodium: 104.5mgPotassium: 272.7mgFiber: 1.6gSugar: 0.5gVitamin A: 17.95IUVitamin C: 0.67mgCalcium: 40.4mgIron: 1.6mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!