This is my FAVORITE & very Best Vegan Cheese Sauce! It's carrot free, oil free, and SO easy to make. I even share my easy trick to make this sauce even EASIER to make. Instant Pot & Stovetop instructions.
Every vegan needs a cheese sauce. People will literally go to battle over what their favorite recipe is and every blogger out there has what they claim is the best. But this is the actual BEST ONE for many reasons. 🤫
I'm sure you've tried your fair shares of cheese sauces, and so I have I. I've lost count. There's a lot of good ones out there and a lot of flops.
Let me just tell you... there's nothing worse than a cheese sauce that tastes like carrot. Just. No. I can't
Why THIS is the Best Vegan Cheese Sauce
Okay, let me start by saying, there's nothing wrong with vegan cheeses from the store and if you wanna make a sauce outa that it's gonna be good, not so healthy, but definitely delicious. But this is not that cheese.
I like to have a cheese sauce in my fridge that I could eat the whole jar and still feel great. What can I say... I'm an indulgent person and if I can eat something delicious, voluminous, and that will still keep me feeling my best, I'm gonna do it, OKAY?
Anyway. I've deemed this the Best (healthy) Vegan Cheese sauce for these reasons...
- it does not contain any carrot
- it's SO easy & made even easier with a quick cheat 😉
- it's creamy, slightly sweet & slightly spicy (if you choose)
- it can be straight up Queso.
- it's so versatile! Soup? Tacos? Cheese Fries? Casseroles? Yes to all the above
Let's make it!
I've given you a few different methods to make this recipe, but they're really all pretty similar. You can choose your own adventure!
Stovetop
The Stovetop method will obviously be the most time consuming. However, it's still not that long. So if you don't have an instant pot this works great! Toss your squash and all the other ingredients into the pot and cook until tender! Blend, season and go!
Instant Pot
The Instant Pot is your quicker and easier choice. Toss everything in, set it and walk away (that's my favorite part! 🤣) Release the pressure, blend, season and goooo!
The Really Lazy (I mean EASY version)
THIS is the method I use the most when I make this cheese sauce. If you could pick the easiest path of three you totally would right? I use my Instant Pot, because that's the least work.. but then I take it a step further and use FROZEN BUTTERNUT SQUASH. Yup.
Listen, I love some fresh squash, but I'm just not always in the mood for all that preparation! So I dumb it down even more by straight up buying frozen butternut squash. It works absolutely fabulously. Just toss it in and cut down on that extra prep time. NOTE- You should cut back on the broth when using frozen squash, but it's noted in the recipe for you. 😘
Customize it!
After your Best Vegan Cheese Sauce is all done, feel free to customize it however you please! I like to stir in green chilies and my favorite salsa for a quick Queso.
Serve it over nachos, pasta, burritos, tacos, steamed veggies, rice, casseroles... literally everything. You should have a jar prepped in your fridge at all times. Just saying. 😎
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Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below! Take a picture and tag me on Instagram @samcookskindness !
Browse some other prep ahead sauces!
Recipe
The Best Vegan Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound peeled and chopped butternut squash (FROZEN WORKS GREAT for a shortcut!)
- 2 medium potatoes, russet or white peeled and chopped
- ⅓ cup raw cashews
- ½ medium onion roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 1 cup vegetable broth (if using frozen squash reduce to ¾ cup)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ⅓-½ cup nutritional yeast adjust to taste
- 2-4 shakes Tabasco style hot sauce optional
Optional Queso Version
- ¼-⅓ cup your favorite salsa
Instructions
Stove Top
- Add prepared squash, potatoes, cashews, onion, garlic and vegetable broth to stockpot. Mix well, cover and cook over medium heat for 12-18 minutes until vegetables are fork tender. (Time may vary depending on size of chopped vegetables OR if using frozen squash. I recommend checking every 5-10 minutes for doneness.)
- Allow to cool enough to be safely blended. To high power blender, add contents of stockpot, apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast and Tabasco. Blend on high until very creamy. Adjust salt to taste and thin to desired texture if needed with additional broth, water OR unsweetened soy milk.
Instant Pot
- Add prepared squash, potatoes, cashews, onion, garlic and ¾ cup vegetable broth to instant pot. Pressure cook for 7 minutes. Natural release for 8 minutes and then carefully release remaining pressure.
- When cool enough to safely blend, add all ingredients from instant pot (including broth) to blender with apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast and Tabasco. Blend till very smooth and creamy! Adjust salt to taste and thin to desired texture if needed with additional broth, water OR unsweetened soy milk.
Queso Version
- To make your cheese sauce Queso-y, simply stir in your favorite salsa after blended!
Deborah Weisblatt says
Love your YouTube videos!!! I'm on LWP too and I was wondering if you sub cashews for white beans to make this lower in calorie density. OR if you tried and decided that the 1/3 cup cashews are worth it!!! Thanks! 🙂
Sam says
Thank you!! You can absolutely sub white beans for the cashews! I have done it in the past, it's good, but not as good. Usually, I use cashews as it's not a ton for the whole recipe and this makes a big batch. 🙂
Deborah Weisblatt says
Also...what's bad about carrots? 😉
Sam says
😅😅😅 I love carrots!! But I don't want my cheeze sauce tasting like them!