This oozy, gooey vegan cheese sauce is just as good as the real thing! Versatile and easy to make, it's delicious on pasta, nachos, and more.
You don’t have to be vegan to fall for this vegan cheese recipe! It’s creamy, tangy, and rich, with a crave-worthy oozy texture just like that of dairy-based cheese sauce. Even Jack – the biggest real cheese lover I know – adores this recipe. Last time I made it, we stood at the counter, scooping it up with tortilla chips. We only got halfway through the first batch before we decided to make a second. Yep, it’s that good!
Serve this vegan cheese as a dip with tortilla chips or fresh veggies, toss it with pasta to make vegan mac and cheese, top it onto a baked potato, or drizzle it over chips to make a vegan nacho platter. Once you have it on hand, you’ll find endless ways to use it, and you won’t be able to get enough!
Vegan Cheese Recipe Ingredients
This dairy-free cheese is not only delicious – it’s good for you, too! Unlike processed vegan cheese that you might find at grocery stores, it’s made of a short list of whole foods ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- Yukon gold potatoes and cashews – They’re the key ingredients for giving vegan cheese recipes oozy, creamy texture.
- Sweet potatoes – You couldn’t make a cheddar-style cheese sauce without an orange ingredient! Sweet potato gives this recipe its vibrant color, and it adds a light sweetness that’s delicious with the rich, tangy flavors here.
- Nutritional yeast – It gives this dairy-free cheese the nutty, savory flavor of the real thing!
- Garlic and onion powder – They add delicious depth of flavor.
- Apple cider vinegar – It gives this vegan cheese a bright, tangy finish. Yum!
To make this cashew cheese recipe, start by boiling the potatoes. When they’re tender, transfer them to a high-speed blender. Add the nutritional yeast, garlic, onion powder, cashews, and vinegar, along with water, extra-virgin olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Blend until the mixture is completely smooth and creamy, adding more liquid as needed. Then, enjoy!
Best Vegan Cheese Variations
Though I love this recipe as written, I also like to change it up from time to time. Here are a few of my favorite variations:
- Change the veggies. If you don’t have sweet potato on hand, swap in carrots or butternut squash.
- Make it smoky. Add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika, to taste. I love to serve this variation as a loaded queso dip with guac, pico de gallo, and black beans!
- Spice it up. For extra heat, blend a tablespoon of pickled jalapeños or a chipotle pepper from a can of chipotles in adobo into the cheese.
Let me know what variations you try!
More Plant-Based Basics
If you love this vegan cheese recipe, try one of these plant-based basics next:
- Cashew Sour Cream
- Sriracha Baked Tofu
- Coconut Whipped Cream
- Vegan Bacon
- Homemade Oat Milk
- Marinated Tempeh
Then, check out this post for more of my favorite vegan recipes!
Vegan Cheese
Ingredients
- ¾ cup peeled and diced Yukon gold potato
- ¾ cup peeled and diced sweet potato
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup raw cashews
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup water
To make your cheese spicy or smoky, try adding:
- ½ to 1 chipotle pepper from canned chipotles in adobo
- 1 tablespoon pickled jalapeños
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
Instructions
- Place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold water by about 1 inch. Add a few pinches of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until fork-tender, 8 to 12 minutes.
- Drain and transfer to a high-speed blender with the garlic, cashews, apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, olive oil, and water. Blend until smooth.
- For spicy vegan cheese, add the chipotle pepper or pickled jalapeños. If you’d like a smoky flavor, add the smoked paprika.
- Serve with tortilla chips for dipping or over pasta to make vegan mac & cheese.
This was so good! And this is coming from somebody who loves cheese and is trying to eat less dairy.
Hi Julia, I’m so glad you loved it!
This was so delicious! I’m not a vegan per se but I enjoy vegan and vegetarian food. I am always trying to find delicious meat and dairy-free recipes. This was so easy to make and I love how quickly it came together. It was creamy and satisfied my mac and cheese craving.
Hi Dee, I’m so glad you loved it!
Hello I was wondering what I could use instead of sweet potatoes, can I just use more Yukon potatoes?
Carrot can be used instead – or you could skip but it’s going to be a beigy-white color that might not make you think “cheese”. Hope that helps!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Can you freeze batches of this sauce?
Hi Jeanine, So excited to try this! I’m in New Zealand where we don’t have Yukon gold potatoes so just wondering if I should be using a waxy or floury potato? Thanks so much, Kate
Hi Kate, a waxy potato is best!
Do you think it would be horrible if I omitted the cashews seeing as only 1/4 cup is used? My SO is allergic.
Hi Haley, it’ll work with raw, shelled, sunflower seeds… or without. If the sauce seems too starchy, add an extra tablespoon of olive oil to replace the richness that the cashews add. I hope this helps!
Would it be a mistake if I use russet potatoes instead of Yukon gold?
Hi Sarah, I think it’ll be fine!
This looks delicious! Can you use russets potatoes instead of the yellow Yukon since I can’t find any right now.l?
I have some of your cashew cream sauce already made..how do I do this with the prepared sauce?
Hi Frankie, apologies for my slow reply. You can blend it with the remaining ingredients. Skip the additional water and add it only as needed to blend.
The best vegan cheese I’ve had! Do yourself a favour and double the recipe 🤣
Hi Janis, I’m so glad you loved it!
Sooooooo yummy & satisfying!
I made the “plain” version, with the following modifications: omitted the garlic, used 1/2 the ACV, didn’t peel my potatoes/sweet potatoes (my blender pulverized them into tiny flecks which was fine with me), and used some of the cooking water from the potatoes as the water in the recipe 🙂 Definitely will be my “go to” for mac&cheese, cheesy broccoli/cauliflower, etc! Thank you! 🙂
I’m so glad you loved it!
My granddaughters are allergic to nuts…what can I substitute in place if the cashews.
They are also allergic to gluten, dairy, eggs and coconut, besides nuts.
I am having a very hard time coming up with recipes. help!
Hi Paula, I’d try it with sunflower seeds if you have a powerful blender (they can be a bit more gritty than cashews). Otherwise, you can omit the nuts and use a bit less water in the recipe. I hope that helps!
This was the perfect queso for watching the Super Bowl! Is it possible to freeze what I didn’t use?
I’m glad you loved it! I haven’t tried freezing it (I’m not sure the texture will be creamy again once it thaws). It’ll keep well in the fridge all week. When I have extra, I put it over pasta and make mac & cheese (stir in some pasta water if it’s too thick). Hope that helps!
This was delicious in mac and cheese , baked with a topping of sliced tomatoes and a gratin of panko, minced garlic and flat leaf parsley sauteed in evoo. Oh, and I thinned the sauce with about a quarter cup of the pasta water. It’s a versatile sauce, and my only caveat is to be careful with the apple cider vinegar…I used the recommended amount, and though I think it s a good addition, it can overpower all other flavors. Thank you for a nice recipe!
Ooh sounds delish!
Can it be warmed up or will that ruin the texture?
Hi Ashley, it can be warmed! It’s actually warm right out of the blender. If you want to make it in advance, store it in the fridge. Gently heat it when you’re ready to eat, stirring in a little water to loosen it up since it thickens a little in the fridge.
This is one of the things that I love about your site. You come up with alternatives that are made with real food, not weird, processed ingredients.
Ha, well melted vegan cheese can get really funky 🙂 We’re so obsessed with this version, I hope you love it!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I used cauliflower and sunflower seeds and it probably wasn’t as cheesy as the original, but it still tasted good and came out like the real thing texture wise. I’m not vegan but I keep kosher and so I like recipes that are not meat or dairy. Also this is great for sneaking veggies into something that feel decadent. Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Is there anyway to make this without the cashews. I’m allergic to nuts 🙁 but really am dying for homemade vegan cheese. Store bought vegan cheese is killing my bank account
Hi Lauren, you can skip them. We thought they added a nice extra bit of richness, but it still works without them. Reduce the water to 2 tablespoons and add the additional 2 tablespoons only if it’s necessary to blend.
This recipe is T. A. (totally awesome). We had it dolloped all over steamed cauliflower. My teenage son keeps asking when I’m going to buy ‘real cheese’ again (despite me explaining why I had stopped). He totally loved this recipe. YAY!!
Yay! I’m so glad you all loved it 🙂
Lauren, I’ve also added sunflower seeds in the past to cheeses, if you can have those! Might be worth a shot 🙂
White beans instead of cashews. (: