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.
Can I make this for a mac and cheese sauce?
Hi Mayah, you probably can, though I don’t usually use it that way. You can check out our vegan mac and cheese recipe as well if you like. 🙂
Made this last night. Used a high-speed blender. Tasted great with nachos. My 3 year old liked it.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Pia! 🙂
I’m trying to make ice cream. I saw a recipe that was made with cashew cheese for the base. It looks amazing. How should I prepare the cashew cheese for ice cream?
Hi Gay, I’m not sure at all since I’ve never used a cashew cheese base for ice cream, but you can check out our recipe for vegan ice cream that uses a rich homemade cashew milk.
This was great by itself for a dip (I did not add the garlic cause I was out). With the leftovers I added some almond milk, a little vegan butter and salt/pepper to taste in a saucepan and it made a DELICIOUS alfredo sauce for my gluten free fettuccini noodles!
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing Cass! 🙂
I usually soak and dehydrate my nuts before consuming…can I still make this recipe?
Yes, I think it would still be fine. 🙂
Sooooo good as a dip for tortilla chips! I’ll try it on something else if we can stop eating it before it’s all gone! 🙂
Fantastic! Thanks Shawnna! 🙂
This is a good base recipe, I went ahead and kicked it up with some liquid smoke, chili powder, paprika and turmeric (for color) and it came out really good!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
This is great! How do you know if it’s gone bad in the fridge? It’s been 4 days…
If it looks good and tastes good then it’s still good! 🙂
This is really delicious. I use the food processor because I like it chunky. Last nite, I made pistachio crusted cream cheese ball for a party. And I made a vegan version with this and it was a success!
Awesome! That sounds totally delish! Thanks for sharing and the great review. 🙂
Instead of water you can use ‘nut’ milk. I’ve found what ever amounts of dry parts you put in the blender the milk or water should just about cover everything, if you add too much liquid add more nutritional yeast to thicken up again
Also if you exclude the lemon and add onion and garlic powder instead it becomes a whole new sauce that is out of this world
Can this be served warm? How would you recommend heating it?
Hi Sereena, yes it can. You could heat it over low heat or in a double boiler. You will likely have to add more water to the recipe because cashews thicken when heated, so this would be very thick. So I would thin it out more, I would add double the water in the initial blend and then heat gently and whisk in more water if it gets too thick while it’s heating.
This could be served warm by soaking the cashews in boiling water before blending everything together. I soaked mine for about 45 min and it was still warm when i served it.
Oh my goodness, so simple yet so good. I am lactose intolerant and decided to give this a try to have with Nachos as a dip. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased, great flavor.
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Can I use cashew butter instead of whole cashews?
I’m not sure! Haven’t tried that but it might work great! 🙂
I made this as a drizzle for raw zoodles last night. Topped it with fresh sliced grape tomatoes and coarse grind pepper. It was fantastic. Even my husband who is not very adventurous when it comes to food really liked it. He had two helpings sprinkled with a little fresh grated Parmesan cheese. Thanks!
Awesome! So happy to hear it worked out great. Thanks for the wonderful review! 🙂
Hey, thanx for this awesome recipe can I freeze this?
Yes, it is freezer friendly. 🙂