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After posting my Vegan Cauliflower Nachos last week, several readers asked if there was a way to make a dairy-free cheese sauce without nuts, and possibly with cauliflower instead. Since I’ve already made a Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce, I knew a creamy sauce was possible using cauliflower, but I figured I should officially try my hand at making a dairy-free cauliflower “cheese” sauce once and for all.
This dairy-free cauliflower cheese sauce is just about as healthy as it gets. It’s almost entirely vegetable-based and is lower in fat and calories than its cashew-based counterpart. It’s perfect for those who need to follow a nut-free, dairy-free, or low-fat diet.
Will it fool anyone into thinking they’re eating real cheese dip? Probably not.
If you want a truly creamy, fake-out queso, make my cashew queso because THAT recipe will fool people. This recipe is for those of us who want something that isn’t as nut-heavy, possibly because you want to eat it more often, or because you want something that is properly combined over pasta, or because you have special dietary needs. If you fall into one of those categories, this is the sauce for you. It’s healthy, creamy, and totally guilt-free.
Though it does take a bit of time to roast the cauliflower for this sauce, you can be busy doing other things while it cooks. (Bonus points if you use that time to prep some salad dressings or lunch bowls for the week!) Once the cauliflower is done, you simply blend it up with a handful of ingredients, and then your sauce is ready to go. It makes a great topping over roasted vegetables, baked french fries, vegan nachos, and pasta. The possibilities are endless, so I hope you’ll enjoy it.
Dairy-Free Cauliflower Cheese Sauce (Vegan & Paleo)
Makes about 3 cups
Ingredients:
1 pound cauliflower
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 1/4 cups water, or as needed to thin
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the cauliflower florets and garlic cloves in the olive oil and arrange them into a single layer. Roast until fork-tender and golden, about 30 minutes.
Transfer the roasted cauliflower and garlic to a blender, and add in the water, salt, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast. Blend until very smooth. Adjust any seasoning to your taste, and then serve warm over your favorite vegetables, nachos, or baked fries.
Ingredients
- 1 pound cauliflower
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 1/4 cups water , or as needed to thin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. In a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the cauliflower florets and garlic cloves in the olive oil and arrange them into a single layer. Roast until fork-tender and golden, about 30 minutes.
- Transfer the roasted cauliflower and garlic to a blender, and add in the water, salt, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast. Blend until very smooth. Adjust any seasoning to your taste, and then serve warm over your favorite vegetables, nachos, or baked fries.
Nutrition
Per Serving: Calories: 80, Fat: 3g, Carbohydrates: 10g, Fiber: 3g, Protein: 4g
Note: Feel free to try other methods of baking the cauliflower, such as steaming or boiling. I roasted the cauliflower because I love the flavor of roasted cauliflower and it’s an easy, hands-off approach to cooking it. If you make other substitutions to this recipe, please leave a comment below letting us all know how it worked for you.
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Reader Feedback: What’s your go-to vegetable topper? Other than a good cheese sauce, I love to use this Creamy Cucumber Tahini Dressing over everything, too.
This sounds so good! I’m on a meal plan at the moment that it quite restrictive. Would it be possible to use a vinegar instead of the oil? And what are the effects of leaving out the nutritional yeast?
It will be less cheesy and a little more runny without the oil and nutritional yeast, but if that’s what works for your diet, it’s worth trying. I would only add vinegar if you think it will work taste-wise. (It would be very potent, so start with a small amount.)
Is the serving size 3 cups? So is it 10 carbs for all 3 cups? I can’t wait to try this!
The serving size is for 1 cup of sauce. Hope that helps!
I made this with frozen cauliflower. I cooked it for longer added less salt and a little less. It turned out great!! I just turned vegan and all I miss is cheese!!
Absolutely WONDERFUL! Your recipes are amazing. Thank you for this amazing cheese replacement, Megan!
Have you tried this recepie with nachos? or over any other Mexican food? 😀 <3
Made this with a pound of purple cauliflower I had on hand – it came out beautiful and tasty, too. Thanks for this recipe – it’s nice to have something low cal and nut free.
Cauliflower nachos are definitely in my future!
Can’t wait to try this… just need to buy the nutritional yeast. Thank you so much for the recipe!
I was highly pessimistic about this actually turning out creamy like your photo or tasting good for that matter. What a pleasant surprise, I made it tonight and it was delicious! Super creamy, great flavor and easy. I made black bean patty’s, added roasted sweet potato, arugula, avocado and a dollop of cauli-cheese. I followed the recipe exactly except for maybe a little more garlic. These were fantastic. I’ll be making these again for sure. There in plenty left over for “nachos” tomorrow… going to look for that recipe next. Thanks Megan
Brilliant and delicious! I’m totally hooked!
I couldn’t get past the cauliflower flavor in this to use it as a cheese sauce, so I knew my family wouldn’t either. Maybe I needed to continue working with the other ingredients more. In any case, I do see the version I ended up with working out as a tasty cheezy cauliflower soup in my house. Thanks for yet another fun twist on veggies, Megan! ?