Super cheesy vegan cashew cheese sauce. This smooth and creamy sauce is wonderfully satisfying and simply delicious drizzled over almost anything!
I suddenly realized that we didn’t have a fabulous cashew cheese sauce – that you can use to drizzle over things – on the blog yet. So I had to remedy that situation quickly.
Because this is really a staple recipe. Something to drizzle on anything and everything. Pizzas, pastas, potatoes, salads, you name it, if it’s a savory dish, it would likely benefit from a drizzle of this cashew cheese sauce.
For those who don’t eat nuts, we have a vegan cheese sauce that is entirely nut free, and when it comes to cashew recipes, we have a sun dried tomato cashew cheese and a cashew dressing that you will also love.
But when it comes to a cashew cheese sauce that is just dying to be drizzled on a homemade vegan pizza, well, this is the stuff.
How To Make Cashew Cheese Sauce
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
Whipping up a batch of cashew cheese sauce is super easy, you just need a nice sturdy blender to do it.
We don’t even pre-soak the cashew nuts, it’s just too easy!
But if your blender is a less sturdy machine, then soak the nuts first. Put them in a bowl and pour over some boiling hot water from the kettle. Let them soak for 15 minutes, and then drain and rinse.
If, however, you have something like a Vitamix then you can also just go for it. No soaking required!
Just add raw cashews, nutritional yeast, crushed garlic, lemon juice, sea salt, ground black pepper and some water to your blender jug.
Blend until smooth, and that’s it.
Storing Tips
Make up a batch and then keep it in a sealed container in the fridge where it will last up to 5 days.
It is also freezer friendly if you do want to freeze it. Thaw it in the fridge and then stir it up very well before using.
More Vegan Cheese Recipes
- Sliceable Cashew Cheese
- Vegan Cheddar Cheese
- Vegan Cream Cheese
- Vegan Nacho Cheese
- Vegan Mozzarella
- Vegan Ricotta
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Classic Vegan Cashew Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup Raw Cashews (150g)
- 2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast
- 1 Clove Garlic crushed
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice freshly squeezed
- ¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- 5 Tablespoons Water
Instructions
- Add the cashew nuts, nutritional yeast, crushed garlic, lemon juice, sea salt, black pepper and water to the blender jug. Blend until very smooth and creamy.
- For a thicker cheese, use less water. For a thinner salad dressing consistency, use a little more water.
- Serve drizzled over baked potatoes, vegetables, pizzas or pastas.
Video
Notes
- If you have a strong blender then there is no need to soak the cashews first. If you know that your blender will struggle though then you can soak them in hot water for 15 minutes before blending. Place the cashews into a bowl, pour over boiling hot water from the kettle and leave to soak for 15 minutes. Drain and rinse and then continue with the recipe.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Elle says
Hey Alison,
Haven’t made this recipe yet, but I will as soon as I get myself some Cashew nuts!
I wondered how I can subscribe to your blog please, loved reading it!
And, would I be allowed to include this recipe in my blender recipe section at Smoothiesailor.com.au? Full links & credits to you, of course 😀
Cheers, Elle
Alison Andrews says
Hi Elle! So glad you like the blog! You can subscribe here. We don’t allow republishing of our full recipes, but we do love being featured on other blogs, if you use a single image with a link back to the page for the recipe, we have more information on our policy here and the kind of sharing that we love to see. All the best! 🙂
Elizabeth says
Wonderful & easy ~Thank you!
Alison Andrews says
Yay! So pleased to hear that Elizabeth, thanks for the awesome review! 🙂
Debi says
I just tried this recipe as well, I do not have a powerful blender, so started in a food processor to see how that would work, and then moved to the blender. I did have to add more liquid, so I added Almond Milk and it turned out super creamy after the extra liquid was added. It took me about 1/3 cup of extra liquid to get to the right consistency.
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for sharing Debi! 🙂
Marleah says
Hi Alison! I was wondering if i could sub the raw cashews for raw cashew butter, and if so how much cashew butter should i use? I sometimes dont have access to raw cashews but can get it already in the butter form.thanks in advance!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Marleah, I honestly have no idea, it would have to be a case of trial and error to figure out the amounts and if it works. Sorry I can’t be more help! 🙂
Brenda says
I made this and really loved it I used cashew milk as well as water to thin it out.I live in Canada and the cashews were so expensive! Can you substitute any other nut or seed….. Example:sunflower seeds?
Alison Andrews says
Oh such a pity the cashews are pricey over there! I really don’t know about sunflower seeds for this recipe, but I did find another recipe that uses them, maybe give that one a try. 🙂
Sharlene says
Thank you for sharing this recipe. It was so easy & turned out so creamy. The small smoothie cups for the Ninja worked great for this.
Alison Andrews says
Great Sharlene, thanks for sharing! 🙂
Gina Sanders says
How long can you keep it, and does it need to be refrigerated?
Alison Andrews says
Yes, keep it in the fridge, it will last a few days.
Tania says
just made this sauce to go on our veggies tonight! really nice sauce recipe. i added quite a bit more water though as i like my sauce extra runny. will maybe do half a garlic glove next time as my kids found it a bit strong. not me though! as a family we are converting to a plant based diet. so now we can add this to the list of recipe keepers! thanks!
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic Tania! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Nikki says
I am still in the process of fully converting to vegan and struggling with my cheese addiction so I’ve been trying several cashew cheese recipes. I halved this one, but forgot to halve the amount of lemon and purposefully kept the whole garlic clove (yum). With the smaller portion of cashews and liquid it was a little hard to get the mixture to catch in the vitamix blades and I ended up using about 4.5 tbsp water but it still came out quite thick and creamy, though in flavor it has more of a sour cream taste! Unintended but splendid… a cheesy-ish sour cream. Heaven.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Nikki! Yes, it gets harder to blend when you cut the portion down, but glad it turned out well! 🙂
Christina Laureys says
Love this recipe! Tonight I’ll be using it to top baked delicata squash stuffed with brown rice and veggies. Sriracha is a great add-in to this delicious sauce!
Alison Andrews says
That sounds awesome Christina! Thanks for sharing! ?
Carolyn says
Fabulous! Used a Vitamix. Super easy to play around with proportions. I used less garlic and more water. Thanks a million! ?????
Alison Andrews says
Great stuff Carolyn! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Michelle says
Just tried this recipe with my nutri ninja and it’s tastes amazing. So much easier than soaking cashews overnight!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! So glad it worked out great! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Sammy says
This didn’t work for me:/ I have a vitamix as well, but when I tried to blend everything together, the majority sat underneath the blades and I couldn’t blend much of it together at all. What am I doing wrong?
Alison Andrews says
Have you got the tamper (stick) attachment? That would be super helpful when that happens. Otherwise just give it a stir (with a spoon that won’t scratch the blades) and try and get it out from under there, add a little more water and blend again. It’s quite a creamy sauce, as opposed to a thick cheese, so it is usually quite easy to get it going in the blender. You could also do it in the food processor, it won’t be as smooth, but you could do it there as well if you’re having trouble in the blender.
Samantha Keith says
This happened to me as well. So disappointed… I spent well over a half hour scraping and trying to mix but ended up throwing it out. The push stick just barely touches the blades so it can’t get underneath while mixing.
I suggest to anyone trying it to double the recipe.
Lisa says
I have to agree with Samantha. The recipe needs to be doubled to work in a full size Vitamix – otherwise the ingredients stay below the the blades and never get smooth. I doubled the water and worked almost a half hour scraping down. Finally the extra water made it blend about 75%. I used roasted cashews that had not been soaked. I wondered if the roasted aspect made the difference? However, it is very difficult to find un-roasted cashews except from certain health food stores or on line. From now on, it’s either soak if at all possible, or double the recipe. All that said, it was delicious. The nutritional yeast gives it a nice flavor. BTW, Vitamix now has a personal size attachment for smaller amounts and smoothies. Mine is in the mail. I suspect this recipe will work well with the smaller 20 oz attachment.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Lisa, thanks for sharing your experience – I wonder if your vitamix is the really large one, we have the 5200 and only the large size jug and it usually just covers the blades so it’s enough for it to blend. But yes if it’s not covering the blades on your blender probably a good idea to increase the recipe so that it’s easier to blend.
Haley says
Do you soak the cashews first?
Alison Andrews says
No, we don’t! But we do have a high powered (Vitamix) blender.
Patty says
Thanks and had Cashew Sauce at Sprial Diner in Fort Worth Tx.
I loved it and made this and can’t thank you enough.
Patty
Anna Andrews says
Super cheesy!