The Best Vegan Queso You'll Ever Taste
Servings: 8
Calories: 110kcal
If you love queso but need a dairy-free option, this vegan queso is about to change your life. It's just as fast to prepare as the kind made with a block of Velveeta, but this recipe uses simple, whole-food ingredients like cashews and a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies. Once you taste it, you won't miss the traditional cheese version!
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Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews , soaked for up to 4 hours and drained
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies
Instructions
- Place the cashews in a bowl and cover with ½ cup of hot water to help them soften. This step is optional if you have a high-speed blender, but it can help them break down faster.
- While you wait, measure the lemon juice, nutritional yeast, turmeric (for color), and salt, and add them to the blender. Open the can of diced tomatoes with green chilies, and drain their juices directly into the blender, to help add more flavorful liquid for blending.
- Add in the cashews and their soaking water to the blender, and blend until the mixture is totally smooth, about 60 to 90 seconds. Stop and scrape down the sides of the blender as needed, and add an extra splash of water to help facilitate blending, if you need to.
- Transfer the cheese mixture to a large bowl, then stir in the can of diced tomatoes and green chilies. At this point, be sure to adjust any flavors to your taste, then warm the dip using a small crock pot, or by heating it gently over a stove top. As the dip is warmed, it becomes even more authentic. Serve with baked tortilla chips and fresh sliced veggies. (Note: The sauce will thicken as it warms up, so feel free to add an extra splash of water, as needed to thin it out again.)
- Leftover queso can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. It will thicken when chilled, so let it come to room temperature before serving, or warm it up with an extra splash of water to thin out the texture again.
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Notes
Nutrition information is for roughly 1/4 cup of dip, assuming you get 2 cups of queso from this recipe. This information is automatically calculated using an online ingredient database and is just an estimate, not a guarantee.
**Safety/Allergy Note: Since this dip is made with cashews, please label it when serving a crowd in case of nut allergies. Someone might not expect this cheese-looking dip to contain nuts.
Need a cashew-free alternative? Try my Vegan Cheese Sauce, which is made with veggies, or my Sweet Potato Queso.
Don't have nutritional yeast? I don't use it in my Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce, so feel free to omit it here if you prefer. You might want to add something extra for flavor, like a few jarred jalapeño slices.
Nutrition
Calories: 110kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 298mg | Potassium: 265mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 60IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 2mg