The most divine vegan hollandaise sauce with all the flavor you can dream of. Super easy to make and the best thing poured over roasted vegetables.
We were really thrilled with how well this vegan hollandaise sauce turned out. It’s silky and creamy and flavorful.
A ‘classic’ hollandaise sauce uses egg and butter and lemon juice to create an emulsion.
Well since this is a vegan one we threw out all the rules and came up with something that has all the flavor of a hollandaise sauce but uses quite different ingredients.
How To Make Vegan Hollandaise 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.
- This hollandaise sauce is a simple mix of raw cashews (soaked in hot water for one hour), nutritional yeast, lemon juice, white vinegar, water, turmeric, dijon mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, black salt (aka kala namak) and cayenne pepper.
- Add all the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth.
- Add it to a double boiler or saucepan and gently heat over low heat. We made a homemade double boiler by placing a heat safe glass dish over a pot with a couple of inches of boiling water and let it heat gently that way, stirring all the while.
- You just want to heat it enough to be warmed and ready to serve. It is not supposed to be piping hot.
- The sauce will thicken a little while heating, this is entirely normal.
Pro Tips for the Best Vegan Hollandaise Sauce
Soak the cashews for one hour in hot water. So place the raw cashews in a bowl and pour over boiling water from the kettle and then leave them to soak for one hour.
Soaking the cashews makes them really easy to blend up in this recipe and also makes the sauce extremely smooth. There is enough liquid added to this recipe so soaking the cashews first is not mandatory. So if you forget and you need hollandaise sauce in a hurry you can skip it. But soaking will provide a little extra in terms of a really smooth silky sauce.
Distilled white vinegar works best for the flavor balance here. If you have to you can switch for apple cider vinegar, but try and use white distilled vinegar if you can.
Turmeric is really just for color. But oh my it creates a gorgeous color here and mimics what a ‘real’ hollandaise sauce looks like. We just use a small amount in this recipe but if you hate turmeric you can omit it, but you will of course lose the yellow color.
Black salt (aka kala namak) is not actually black in color at all, and adds a wonderful eggy flavor to this dish! If you can’t get black salt then you can use regular salt but I really recommend you try black salt some time. It’s really amazing how much eggy flavor it provides (in a good way).
How To Serve Vegan Hollandaise
It’s gorgeous poured over roasted vegetables, baked potatoes, oven roasted mushrooms, roasted asparagus, alongside your favorite breakfast scramble or just to dip your baked potato fries!
If you love hollandaise sauce then you can pretty much serve it with anything savory!
Storing Tips
Keep it stored in the fridge (covered) for up to 5 days. Give it a good stir before using. You can reheat it over a double boiler or in a saucepan over low heat, but you may need to whisk in a little water to thin it out if it starts getting too thick.
More Vegan Sauces
- Tahini Sauce
- Vegan White Sauce
- Vegan Cheese Sauce (Nut Free)
- Vegan Mushroom Sauce
- Vegan Peanut Sauce
- Cashew Cheese Sauce
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Hollandaise Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup Raw Cashews (150g) soaked in hot water for 1 hour
- ¼ cup Nutritional Yeast (15g)
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Distilled White Vinegar
- 1 cup Water (240ml)
- ½ tsp Turmeric
- 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- ½ tsp Black Salt Kala Namak*
- ⅛ tsp Cayenne Pepper
Instructions
- Place the cashews in a bowl and pour boiling water from the kettle over the top. Leave them to soak for one hour. Then drain the cashews.
- Add the soaked cashews to the blender jug along with the nutritional yeast, lemon juice, white vinegar, water, turmeric, dijon mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, black salt and cayenne pepper.
- Blend until smooth.
- Transfer the blended sauce to a double boiler if you have one or make a homemade double boiler* by placing a heat safe dish over a pot with a couple of inches of boiling water. Let it heat, stirring all the while, until it’s warmed through. It doesn’t need to get hot, just warm enough for serving.
- The sauce will thicken while heating.
- Serve over roasted vegetables or baked potatoes or anywhere you would serve a hollandaise sauce.
Video
Notes
- If a double boiler (even a homemade one) is not an option, then you can heat this in a saucepan, but make sure it’s at low heat and stir constantly until warmed through.
- If you don’t have black salt you can use regular salt but you will lose some of the eggy flavor.
- Prep time is for hands on time and does not include the time spent soaking the cashews.
- Leftovers will keep covered in the fridge for around 5 days. Give it a stir before using.
Really lovely! The black salt definitely gives it that eggy flavour, but it’s good without it. I reduce the turmeric ever so slightly, and increase the lemon just a tad, but I like my hollandaise more lemony than some. I used this recipe as a vegan substitute for a gruyere cheese sauce in a carmelised leek dish and it was perfect!
Awesome! Thanks so much for sharing Melanie!
I just found this recipe, and it seems like all vegan hollandaise recipes call for cashews. I have a wicked tree nut allergy. Any alternatives?
Hi Elle, you could try something like sunflower seeds!
Excellent sauce I served over tofu veggie scramble on English muffin for a brunch. The only change I made was pink Himalayan salt since I didn’t have black salt and it was a hit! Will definitely make this again. Thank you!
So glad to hear that Pat! Thanks so much for the great review!
Sounds good, I haven’t tried it yet…. Can it be frozen and if so for how long? Thank you.
Hi Alexandria, I think it would be freezer friendly for 2-3 months as most cashew based recipes are, thaw it overnight in the fridge and give it a very good whisk as separation may occur. When reheating, you would likely also need to thin it out a bit.
Made this for Christmas morning breakfast. I left out the cayenne because I couldn’t reach it on the spice rack. Oh my goodness, so delicious. I think I could have just eaten the whole bowl with a spoon! Will definitely make again and again!
Awesome! So happy you enjoyed it Helen. Thanks for the great comment and review.
I absolutely love this recipe! Made it a few times, always a big hit and super easy to make.
Thanks so much Kaylie!
Is there an appropriate substitute for black salt?
Hi Kelsey, you can use regular salt but you will lose out on that extra eggy flavor that black salt adds.
Near perfect sauce for tofu Benedict! I left out the cayenne pepper because we aren’t big on spice and substituted champagne vinegar for white vinegar. Instead of heating the sauce in the double boiler, I added less water and kept blending in Vitamix until slightly warm. It was thick and smooth and creamy.
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing Sara!
I’ve been disappointed by other recipes for Hollandaise, but this one hits the spot. I did a few things a little differently to suit my own taste. I doubled the lemon juice to get a brighter flavor, and, to get the smoothest possible sauce, I simmered the raw cashews for the full hour rather than just soaking them. (This is based on some sad results with sauces in the past that turned out gritty.) Overall I highly recommend your recipe. Thank you.
I am experimenting to find the best hollandaise sauce and was looking forward to this, but I think it can do without the vinegar. Since it already has lemon and dijon mustard for acids. I may try it again without the vinegar.
To reheat the leftovers, do you have to do it over a double boiler as well?
Hi Holly, you can do it in a saucepan as well if it’s on low heat. If it is thickening too much then whisk in some water.
Very yummy! Perfect for tofu scramble breakfast burritos.
Thanks Rachel!