Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce

This recipe for Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce was inspired by my recipe for Vegan Mac & Cheese.  If you search around the Web for Vegan Nacho Cheese, you’ll find many vegan “cheese” sauces begin similarly with potatoes and carrots. In my Mac & Cheese, I used soaked cashews to create that creamy texture, but was able to omit them in this particular recipe and still get a silky smooth sauce.

This cheesy tasting sauce is perfect for dipping tortilla chips (these organic blue corn tortilla chips are my absolute favorite!), raw veggies and even layered nachos.  And while I give you what I like to call a “base recipe”, this one should be tweaked based on your personal taste.  For instance, I can’t personally handle a lot of spice, so I adjust accordingly. It’s kind of fool proof, so don’t worry so much about the proportions.  Part of learning to cook is tasting your food and deciding what it needs from there 🙂

The now not-so-secret ingredients here are the carrots and potatoes.  To that, tomato paste, non-dairy milk and coconut oil (you could omit if you are opposed to using oil, but this is what makes it smooth and shiny).

For thickening, arrowroot starch and for that “cheese-like” taste?  You guessed it, nutritional yeast.  You could also add vegan parmesan if you have it on hand.

I really couldn’t get over how great this tasted!  I like to garnish with what’s inside so that my guests know the spice level before taking that first bite.

So a few optional adjustments you could add and/or omit are adding pickles & pickle juice to the blender.  Or, if you prefer even more spice, jalapenos.  A high speed blender will puree these right up!

Tomato paste along with the carrots are what gives this sauce that traditional and familiar orange hue.  The photos just don’t do it justice.

Did you make this recipe for Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce?  Let me know in the comments section below.

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Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce

Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce

Course Appetizer

Cuisine vegan

Prep Time 15 minutes

Servings 4

Author Living Vegan Staff

Ingredients

• 1 medium White Potato cubed & cooked
• 1 large Carrot cubed & cooked
• 1/4 c Coconut Oil melted
• 1/3 -1/2 c Almond Milk or other non-dairy milk
• 2 tsp Lemon Juice
• 1 small Dill Pickle OR Jalapeno or more to taste
• 3-4 tbsp Pickle or Jalapeno JUICE or more to taste
• 2 tbsp Tomato Paste
• 1-1/2 tsp Arrowroot Starch
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp Onion Powder
• 1 - 2 tbsp Nutritional Yeast OR Vegan Parmesan
• Salt & Pepper, to taste

Instructions

• Peel and cube the potatoes and carrots.  Place in a pot of boiling water together and cook until tender, but do not OVER cook.  Drain and discard the cooking water.
• Add the HOT vegetables to a high speed blender with the remaining ingredients and puree until completely smooth.
• At this point, adjust for both texture and seasoning.  If it's too thick, you can add more almond milk, pickle juice or even some leftover vegetable broth if you have it.

  Taste for seasoning/spice and adjust as needed.  
• Serve immediately or reheat in a pan.  Use for dipping tortilla chips, veggies and creating your favorite nachos!  It's also great for serving over broccoli or cauliflower florets.