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.
Liza Shaw says
I love this! I’ve been eating it on everything, a tofu scramble, nachos, even spread on a sandwich 🙂 Thanks for such an easy recipe!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks for the great review! 🙂
Jessica says
Can I use cashew butter if it’s from say Whole Foods or MOM’s where it’s JUST the cashews that have already been blended? What would that ratio be?
Alison Andrews says
I have no idea of the ratios for that. You would have to experiment.
Alice West says
Fully Vegan here. I can’t wait to serve this to my “carnivore” friends. This is INCREDIBLE!!!! I used lime and added white pepper along with black pepper. I hope I can contain myself so I’ll have some left for tomorrow over roasted cabbage steak. (I rinsed and soaked raw cashew for an hour, pouring boiling water over them.)
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! So happy to hear that Alice! Thanks so much. 🙂
Brady says
Delicious! I doubled the recipe and added some dry mustard and some smoked paprika to it. Definitely my go-to nut cheese recipe!
Tricia says
Deliciously addictive! Making this again today! It’s also very versatile you can put it on so many things
Alison Andrews says
Yes, it’s super versatile! So glad you enjoyed it, thanks so much Tricia! 🙂
Tricia says
I made this and it was addictive! Delish
Shirin says
Alison, I wish to thank you so much for sharing your recipe and tips!
I joke that I am a vegan-wannabe only because I do not know how (or don’t want to) give up cheese!!!!! So, your recipe, that I just made a few minutes ago, is the thing that will probably shift me from a wannabe to an actual Vegan!
I used my vitamix, glad I did not have to soak. I wanted it thicker so I added only 4 TBS of water (not 5). I had to use a spatula to scrape the inside corners (some of the mix was crammed into the corners). It turned out creamy and delicious! I’m having it now on my blackbean burger and a small salad of spinach and broccoli. YUM!!!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Shirin! I am thrilled you love the cheese! We have a few cheese recipes on the blog, even a few that are sliceable. It’s heaps of fun to experiment. Thanks so much for your awesome comment and review. 🙂
Léo says
Cashews make a great base ingredients for many things for vegans. I gotta thank you for this recipe. I had been planning on making a sauce for pizza bites and yesterday I made it. It was just delicious. A mouthful of flavour and very creamy. I balanced seasoning my taste but the idea of the recipe is there. You only gotta play a little with it 😉
Roseanne Hutchison says
I made this the night before taco night! The recipe overall really worked for me – the ratio of cashews to nutritional yeast, garlic etc. 5/5 Loved the limited number of ingredients, 4/5 The amount of water was not enough. I had to add more water. Instead of writing the measurement as 5 Tbs, I would change it to 1/3 cup – 1/2 cup depending on preferred consistency. I will def make again! I might add some jalapenos to my next batch… Thank you for sharing such a great recipe!
Alison Andrews says
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks for sharing your experience. 🙂
Deidre says
This was so awesome. Just had it drizzled over a pizza. Cant stop thinking about all the things I can do with the leftovers! I did tweak it slightly by adding mustard powder and onion powder. So yum
Alison Andrews says
Sounds awesome Deirdre! Thanks so much for the awesome review! 🙂
Deidre says
You’re welcome! I added the leftovers to a pot of potato broccoli soup. It was so yum
Allison says
This is absolutely amazing. So delicious and creamy! It was great on tacos and I”m sure I’ll be using it for many other dishes and snacks. I love that it’s a totally RAW cheese sauce. It’s the best one I’ve ever made. Thank. you for a great recipe.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome Allison, so glad to hear that! Thanks so much for your awesome review! 🙂
Anya Sinclair says
Wow this is so yummy! We’re not vegan but trying to cut down on buying anything in plastic, and it’s hard to buy cheese in New Zealand that isn’t in plastic. Thank you!
michelle says
this was sooooooooooooooo good! made some flax meal wraps and sliced up some red onions, red bell peppers, and romaine lettuce and added this cashew cheese sauce. was really, really tasty and filling. even my kids liked it! thanks so much for posting such a yummy recipe.
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic! Thanks for posting Michelle! 🙂
Kim says
Just made this and it is superb. I have been looking for an easy go-to “cheese” recipe and I found it. I will be doubling it in the future just because it is so tasty. I made it as written except that I used the liquid lemon juice you buy in big bottles and it worked perfectly.
Thank you very much,
Alison Andrews says
Hi Kim! So glad it was delicious! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Ali says
Just made this for lunch to have on some pasta. I’m not sure how I feel about it! It was super easy to make and I think the creamy cashew base is one I’ll definitely use again. I’m veggie, not vegan, but trying to cut down on my cheese intake, and I think the nutritional yeast element is going to be somewhat of an acquired taste for me. I do have some commercial vegan hard cheese that I quite like so I think next time I’ll try grating that in instead. Definitely a recipe I’ll try again, but maybe with a few tweaks for my newbie palate!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Ali, I have heard this before about nutritional yeast being a bit of an acquired taste for some. You could try drastically reducing the amount and seeing how you go, like just use 1 tsp. You will lose some of the cheesiness, but it will still be delicious and you can increase the nutritional yeast later on if you start liking it more. 🙂
Ali says
Great idea thanks, I’ll try that. I had some left over and have just had a snaffle of it straight out of the fridge – it was lovely! I think I’ll mix it with some chilli flakes or tomatoes tomorrow and try it in a toastie!