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I’m pretty confident that this is the best vegan nacho cheese sauce you’ll ever taste. It came to me after making a batch of my dairy-free Alfredo sauce. That one is made with blended onion and cashews, so I started thinking to myself… what else can I blend with cashews?
As it turns out, a can of green chilies completely transforms them.
When you add a few jarred jalapeño slices, lemon juice, and salt, it tastes like the kind of cheese you’d get at a movie theater or baseball game. (Is there actual cheese in those? Who knows?)
Once you try this vegan cheese sauce, I’m convinced you’ll fall in love. It’s the kind of recipe that makes you not miss dairy, since you can use it on all sorts of comfort food, like vegan nachos, burrito bowls, tacos, and more.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Featured Review
“Every vegetarian blogger calls their vegan cheese sauce the best ever, but I crown yours the best ever! My husband and I couldn’t believe how it tasted just like the nacho sauce that you get at the stadiums. This is one of your best recipes! Thank you so much for your hard work.” – Christine
Vegan Nacho Cheese Ingredients
- Cashews. Use unsalted, unroasted cashews for the best flavor. If you don’t have a powerful blender, you might want to soak these in water for up to 2 hours, then drain them before blending.
- Green Chiles. These are sold in 4-ounce cans, so you’ll use the whole thing in this recipe! It adds depth of flavor with minimal effort.
- Lemon Juice. Use fresh lemon juice for the best flavor. It adds a tangy taste you’d normally get from cheese.
- Fine Salt. This is crucial for flavor. I use the Real Salt brand, which is a pink Himalayan salt.
- Jarred Jalapeno Slices. This is to help make the sauce taste like the kind you’d get at a stadium. (Fresh jalapeno will make the flavor different, but it could still be okay.) I like adding several slices for a spicy kick and extra briny flavor.
Need a nut-free recipe? Try my vegan cheese sauce, which is made with boiled carrots and potatoes. It also has the traditional orange color you’d expect!
How to Make Vegan Nacho Cheese
Step 1:
There’s no need to soak raw cashews if you are using a high-speed blender, as it will easily pulverize them. If you don’t have a powerful blender, place the cashews in a large bowl and cover them in hot water.
Let them soak for up to 2 hours. Drain well before adding them to the blender, then proceed with the recipe as written.
In a high-speed blender, combine 1 cup of unsalted cashews, 1.5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1/3 cup water, a 4-ounce can of green chiles, several jarred jalapeno slices, and 3/4 teaspoon of fine salt.
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Step 2:
Secure the lid and blend until the sauce looks smooth, about 60 seconds.
Taste the sauce and make any adjustments you like. Add more jalapenos for a spicier flavor, or a pinch of garlic powder or onion powder if you’d like. For a runnier consistency, add another tablespoon of water and blend again.
Fun Fact: No cheese is naturally orange. All natural cheese should all be white, like this dip! Orange-colored cheddar cheese and nacho cheese-style dips are dyed orange, typically using annatto seed. Check out NPR’s story on the history of cheese to see how adding orange color was sparked by an act of fraud in the 17th century.
Storage & Serving Tips
This cheese sauce will thicken as it sits, so if you’re not going to use it right away, you may need to stir in an extra tablespoon of water to thin it out again.
Serve it in a bowl for dipping, or drizzle it over tortilla chips, tacos, black beans, french fries, or even pizza!
Storage Tip: Leftover nacho cheese sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Thin it out with water as needed, if it thickens when chilled.
Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce (No Nutritional Yeast!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup cashews (not roasted or salted)
- 6 tablespoons water
- 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon juiced)
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt (I use Real Salt brand)
- 1 (4-ounce can) diced green chilies (I use Rio Luna organic)
- 6 jarred jalapeno slices (optional, but recommended)
Instructions
- In a high-speed blender, combine the cashews, water, lemon juice, salt, diced chilies (along with their juices), and jalapeno slices. Secure the lid and blend until very smooth.
- Serve right away with your favorite tortilla chips for dairy-free nachos, or use it as a topping for tacos, burrito bowls, and more. This nacho cheese sauce will thicken when you store it in the fridge, so add a tablespoon of water to thin it out again, if needed. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze it for up to 3 months.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
More Dairy-Free Recipes to Try
If you try this vegan nacho cheese sauce, please leave a comment and star rating below, letting me know how you like it.
I make this at least 1 to 2 times a month. I use it on black bean burgers, vegan black bean bowls, tofu, practically anything! It is fast and easy, tastes great and the creamy consistency reminds me of the “real” cheese I used to eat. Thank you for the vegan options!
I’m so happy to hear that, Dawn! This is hands-down my favorite cheese sauce, too. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. ❤️
This is so good. I’ve been mixing it into chili beans. I could eat that every day (and I have been 🙂 )
I LOVE this!!! I pour it over everything! Over broccoli is my favorite!!
Is 6 table spoons of water correct? It did not come out smooth
Question I have
Hi my name is Kaylyn and I have never made this recipe before but I do have a few questions.
At my house I have an induction stove top and oven too that was installed this year in January 2024. When I turn on my stove the numbers go from 1 to 9. 9 is the highest and 1 is the lowest. I have heated my dairy free cheese free yeast free pesto with my gluten free corn free pasta quite a few times on heat 5 for a few minutes and it turns out fantastic.
How hot should this sauce be turned to on an induction stove and for how many minutes?
How much water should be added at a time when I’m heating this sauce up?
I’m now allergic to raw cashews and experience severe diarrhea and stomach cramps when I consume them but have no problems with eating cashews that are roasted with olive oil and no added salt. Would that would they work in the sauce? I also have a ninja blender how long would I have to soak them? I can’t tolerate jalapeños because they give me cold sores. I can’t use canned chilles either because they contain added corn by products and additives. The milder peppers don’t seem to give me cold sores. Can I use fresh anathiem peppers instead?
Hi Kaylyn,
I say this kindly and gently…it would mean a lot to those of us in the allergy community if people, like yourself, didn’t describe your digestive sensitivity as an allergy. For people with food allergies, exposure to trace amounts of their allergens that cannot be seen, smelled, or taste, will often trigger a life-threatening immune response that can kill them in minutes as their throat closes and their heart fails. People in the non-allergy world can get the wrong impression that people with food allergies won’t be harmed by “a little bit” or won’t be harmed if the food is cooked, etc. Thankfully, epinephrine shots can often be used as a last resort for food allergies and often will halt the progression of anaphylaxis, but it’s not a guarantee. Someone dies from anaphylaxis due to food allergies in the US every 2 days, usually due to somehow not understanding the severity of what it means to have a true food allergy and, thus, not taking the necessary precautions. It would mean a lot to us in the allergy world trying to navigate anaphylactic food allergies if you could talk about your digestive sensitivities as such, rather than mistakenly label them as a food allergy. Before my daughter was diagnosed with true (life-threatening) food allergies, I used to use the word allergy to describe those foods that didn’t sit well with me digestively, so I definitely get it.
Delicious sauce for dipping chips
I loved it so much! Best vegan nacho cheese and very addictive 😋
Every vegetarian blogger calls their vegan cheese sauce the best ever, but I crown yours the best ever! My husband and I couldn’t believe how it tasted just like the nacho sauce that you get at the stadiums. This is one of your best recipes! Thank you so much for your hard work.
Dangerously good!!
My husband and I loved this recipe, making it again tonight to spread on top of black bean burgers. It’s easy to control the heat with the jalapeños and it goes with everything!
I have been a vegetarian for about 25 years and love finding new recipies. We grow our own greens and vegetables and I am constantly searching for recipies for specific ingredients (without meat or poultry). Your Stuffed Zucchini Boats were fantastic!!I made them two nights in a row(had lots of zucchini). I stumbled upon your website in looking for a Zucchini recipe. Thank you so much for complete, accurate recipies with helpful hints and excellent instructions.