Ultra cheesy vegan nacho cheese. Creamy, rich and super simple to make, this is ideal as a dip for your tortilla chips or poured over nachos! It’s also gluten-free.
This vegan nacho cheese is seriously tasty.
My mother’s non-vegan partner went nuts for this stuff when he happened to be visiting at the same time as we were testing this recipe.
So for anyone thinking this vegan cheese thing is only for vegans, think again. It’s for everyone you guys! 
Whether you want to serve it as part of a fully loaded vegan nachos deal or just the super simple way with some tortilla chips is up to you. Either way is divine and we tried it both ways to make sure it was just perfect.
Now we have already made a vegan queso that was made very differently to this one.
I think both recipes are great options, and of course either one can be used for nachos, but if anything this version is even easier than our vegan queso, so there’s that.
And after making this one I think it’s a better option for fully loaded vegan nachos.
I’ll have to do a recipe for fully loaded vegan nachos sometime too because I have all sorts of ideas for a vegan taco meat that can go on top (update: vegan taco meat recipe is here, and so is vegan nachos!), and our black bean mix is too divine.
But let’s stick to the topic at hand which is this truly divine vegan nacho cheese.
So how do you make vegan nacho cheese?
The recipe is crazy simple and is really a case of throwing everything into the blender, blending until smooth and then transferring to the stovetop to heat up.
Heating it up on the stove thickens it up quite a lot but while it’s hot it’s still pourable if you want to pour it over your nachos. If you want to serve it as a dip, then just transfer to a dish and serve!
You can also just play it by ear and if you think it’s a little on the thick side, then add a little water while heating and whisk it in.
It’s definitely preferable to have it a little too thick, which is easily fixed, rather than too thin, which is not.
If it cools then it thickens more, so if it has cooled down and then you want to pour it over nachos, you will need to reheat it and add a little water and whisk it up so that it is the right consistency.
If you’re serving a fully loaded nacho plate, then some black beans, salsa, guacamole and cilantro are great additions to your vegan nacho cheese for a super delicious dish.
Just in case you’re not convinced that this nacho cheese is a must to try, here are 6 reasons you will love it! It is:
- Ultra cheesy
- Simple
- Creamy
- Rich
- Perfect as a dip or poured over fully loaded nachos!
- Gluten-Free
Keep leftovers in the fridge and enjoy over the next few days. It will thicken when cold so reheat on the stove if you want it to be pourable, whisking in some water as needed to get to the right consistency.
More vegan Mexican recipes!
- Veggie Fajitas
- Vegan Enchiladas
- Vegan Quesadillas
- Vegan Burrito
- Pico De Gallo
- Vegan Taco Meat
- Vegan Nachos
- Vegan Tacos
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Vegan Nacho Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 and ½ cups Raw Cashews (225g)
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice freshly squeezed
- ¼ cup Nutritional Yeast (15g)
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
- ½ tsp Smoked Paprika
- ¼ tsp Turmeric
- 1 Tbsp Jalapeño Slices
- 2 cups Vegetable Stock (480ml)
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to your blender jug and blend.
- Transfer to a saucepan and heat, whisking regularly until hot (don't let it boil). It will thicken while it heats. If you think it's getting too thick, add in a little water (be careful as if it gets too thin that is harder to fix than if it's too thick) and whisk it in until it's the right consistency.
- Serve as a dip for tortilla chips or pour over a plate of fully loaded nachos.
- Store leftovers in the fridge. It will thicken when cooled, so when you reheat add in more water as needed to reach the desired consistency.
Video
Notes
- I did not soak my cashews first and it's not necessary for this recipe.
- The turmeric is just for color, so if you don't like it you can omit it.
- My vegetable stock is quite salty, so extra salt wasn't needed but if you use a low sodium vegetable stock you might need to add salt to taste.
This was great!! I love how quick it was to make. Our family is Mexican so I added 4 whole jalapenos (canned) with some of the juice too. I also added a dash of nutmeg to make it extra cheesy. Thanks so much for another great recipe!
So happy you enjoyed it Gloria!
Can canned white beans be used in place of the nuts?
Hi Lynn, I’m not sure, I haven’t tried it that way.
hello, for how long can we store this in the fridge
Around 5 days in the fridge. 🙂
I am not normally a blog commenter but this stuff is amazing. I also made your seitan steaks and made cheesesteak sandwiches with them today. wow. Could not recommend a website more
Thanks so much Jake!
FINALLY I HAVE FOUND MY HOLY GRAIL VEGAN NACHO CHEESE!!! I’m sorry for yelling but I am just so excited. I have tried so many vegan cheese sauce recipes and all of them have been… nice. But none of them were ever good enough for me to use the recipe again. But this one… ooooh boy it’s amazing. I get really turned off and anxious when I see a recipe with LOADS of different ingredients, but this ingredients list I found was very basic, I had everything in the cupboard, and hardly any prep time. I ended up adding salt and extra nutritional yeast but that was just my preference. THANK YOU! And best thing is you don’t have to soak the cashews!
Thank you so much Sarah! So awesome to read your comment. 🙂
It was soooooooo good!!!! I didn’t add the mustard because I didn’t have any. I substituted the jalapeño peppers for banana peppers because that’s what I had. It was amazing! I definitely will be making this again!!!!!
Thank you for sharing!!
Now I’m interested in your other recipes….lol you’ve earned some trust points with me 🙂
Awesome! Thanks Jalessa!
Oh my goodness unbelievably delicious!
Awesome! Thanks Alison!
Question: For those of us who are spicy foods sensitive, are the jalapenos necessary? Do they make the cheese spicy?
Hi there, yes they do add a small spicy kick, it’s very mild, but you can also leave them out if you prefer. 🙂
Question for you: were you able to avoid soaking the cashews because you were using a Vitamix? Asking for a Vitamix-less friend, lol.
Hi Tara, no it’s because there is a lot of liquid included in this recipe, so it’s not hard to blend, even in a ‘regular’ blender. 🙂
Can Almonds be subbed for the cashews?
You could try slivered almonds but the texture will be different.
This was delicious and super simple to make. I followed the recipe to make the loaded nachos and it was better than my favourite restaurant vegan nachos that I never dreamed about being able to emulate let alone surpass!
Thank you for sharing!
Awesome! So happy to hear that, thank you! 🙂
Another home run! This is dangerous.I can easily sit and eat this alone. I used real garlic, not the powder but followed the rest of the recipe exactly as you stated. I didn’t add the Peppers. I dont like hot/spicy. This was wonderful. Every recipe is tasty! Thank you so much. Yes, I follow you on Twitter. Thanks for responding today!
Hi Kathy! So glad to hear it worked out well! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
what if I used real onions & garlic instead of the powder?
You can certainly experiment!
What can I substitute the nutritional yeast for?
There isn’t a sub, but you can leave it out.