This simple vegan nacho cheese sauce is nut-free, made with potatoes, carrots, nutritional yeast, and spices.
This versatile vegan cheese sauce has endless options!
It’s perfect as a dip with chips, mix in your favorite chunky salsa, spice it up with jalapeño, or drizzle on top of steamed vegetables, or a loaded baked potato!
I love this recipe for vegan nacho cheese sauce because I always have all the ingredients on hand. So even for those nights when I’m lacking creativity and our stock is low, I’m able to whip this together. It’s perfect with chips, but I love this vegan queso it on top of steamed veggies like broccoli and cauliflower. It’s also an easy cheese sauce to make for your vegan mac and cheese. With a box of whole wheat or chickpea elbow pasta, you can have a healthy vegan mac and cheese in minutes. The options are endless!
💗 Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Simple ingredients
- Nut-Free
- No need to soak nuts
- Made with veggies!
- Oil-Free
- Whole food plant-based ingredients
- Stretchy, stringy, gooey texture
- Kid and husband approved
- Versatile (use as a dip with chips, pour over veggies, and more!)
🥣 Ingredients and Notes
Yukon Gold Potatoes: I prefer to use Yukon Gold potatoes because they have a naturally creamy texture.
Carrots: Peeled and chopped into chunks.
Unsweetened Almond Milk: You can use any type of unsweetened dairy-free milk.
Nutritional Yeast: Gives this nacho cheese sauce a “cheesy” flavor.
Tapioca Powder: Helps to create a stretchy texture to the cheese sauce.
Apple Cider Vinegar: Gives the sauce a bit of tang and acidity.
Spices: The key to this recipe is all of the added spices. You’ll need garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, chili powder, and salt.
👩🏻🍳 Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: Add peeled and cubed potatoes and diced carrots to boiling water for 8-10 minutes or until a fork-tender. Do not overcook the potatoes as they will become starchy and affect the consistency of the sauce.
Step 2: Reserve ¼ cup of the boiling water. Drain the rest of the water.
Step 3: In a high-speed blender combine the drained and cooked potatoes and carrots, ¼ cup of the reserved water, and the rest of the ingredients. Blend until completely smooth.
Step 4: Nacho cheese sauce may be hot enough to eat immediately. If not, pour it into a pot and stir consistently until bubbly and heated through. The sauce will take on a creamy and stretchy consistency as it is heated.
Serve with chips, over steamed vegetables, with a loaded baked potato, or use as the cheese sauce for your vegan mac and cheese.
💭 Expert Tips
- Don’t overcook the potatoes. They will become starchy and create a thicker sauce.
- I find the carrots need a little more time than the potatoes to cook, so I’ll remove the potatoes from the boiling water with a slotted spoon a few minutes before draining the carrots.
- Don’t forget to reserve ¼ cup of the cooking water prior to draining the potatoes and carrots. If you do forget, you can add an additional ¼ cup of dairy-free milk.
- Use a high-speed blender for best results. If you don’t have a blender you can also use a food processor.
- After blending heat on medium until the sauce begins to bubble. It will become thicker and stretchier as it heats.
❓ Recipe FAQS
You can make this vegan cheese sauce ahead of time. As it is refrigerated it will become thicker and a little lumpy. To reheat transfer to a small pot. Add a little bit of dairy-free milk to thin. Cook on low stirring continuously. It will thin as it heats. If it’s not quite as thin as you like add a bit more dairy-free milk until it reaches a perfect consistency.
This vegan nacho cheese sauce is made with a base of vegetables, including potatoes and carrots. Other nacho cheese sauces are made with cashews. This vegan and nut-free version is perfect for those that have a nut allergy. It still comes out creamy and delicious thanks to the potatoes!
Low in Calories and Fat-Made with vegetables, dairy-free milk, and no oil or nuts, this sauce is low in calories and fat.
Rich in Vitamins and Nutrients-Potatoes and carrots are full of vitamins and nutrients including vitamin C and B6, manganese, phosphorus, niacin, and pantothenic acid.
High in Fiber and Low in Cholesterol-Unlike dairy cheese this vegan nacho cheese sauce is high in fiber and does not contain any cholesterol. It’s a heart-healthy option.
Whole Food Plant-Based Ingredients-This vegan cheese sauce uses all whole food natural ingredients. Unlike dairy-free cheese bought at the grocery store, there aren’t any preservatives or processed ingredients.
📖 Spicy Variation
If you like your nacho cheese spicy, no problem! Add 1 teaspoon of jalapeño peppers to your sauce or more if you like more heat. You can also increase the amount of chili pepper, or add some red pepper flakes or cayenne to kick it up a notch!
👩🏻🍳 How to Serve
- Serve with tortilla chips or make nachos.
- Pour over steamed veggies such as broccoli and cauliflower.
- Make a loaded baked potato with broccoli, cheese sauce, and salsa.
- Create a spicy jalapeño dip by stirring in your favorite chunky salsa and sliced jalapeño peppers.
- Make a Vegan Mac and Cheese with this sauce.
- Serve with tacos, enchiladas, or burritos.
❄️ How to Store and Keep
Keep the sauce refrigerated in an airtight container. It will keep for 2-3 days after preparation. You can also freeze this sauce. If you freeze, allow the sauce to thaw completely before reheating it on the stove.
😋 More Vegan Cheese Recipes!
If you made this recipe, please comment below and leave a ⭐️ rating. You can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook, for more family-friendly vegan recipes!
Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce
Equipment
- Slotted Cooking Spoon
Ingredients
- 1 cup Yukon Gold Potatoes peeled and cubed
- ½ cup carrots diced
- ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk or other unsweetened dairy free milk
- ¼ cup reserved water from boiling vegetables
- 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 ½ teaspoon tapioca flour
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ tsp chili powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Boil peeled and cubed potatoes and diced carrots in boiling water for 8-10 minutes or until a fork easily pierces the vegetables. Do not over cook the potatoes as they will become starchy and effect the consistency of the sauce.
- Reserve ¼ cup of the boiling water. Drain the rest of the water.
- In a high speed blender combine drained and cooked potatoes and carrots, ¼ cup of reserved water, and the rest of the ingredients. Blend until completely smooth.
- Nacho cheese sauce may be hot enough to eat immediately. If not, pour into pan and stir consistently until bubbly and heated through. The sauce will take on a creamy and stretchy consistency as it is heated.
Notes
- Don’t overcook the potatoes. They will become starchy and create a thicker sauce.
- I find the carrots need a little more time than the potatoes to cook, so I’ll remove the potatoes from the boiling water with a slotted spoon a few minutes before draining the carrots.
- Don’t forget to reserve ¼ cup of the cooking water prior to draining the potatoes and carrots. If you do forget, you can add an additional ¼ cup of dairy-free milk.
- Use a high-speed blender for best results. If you don’t have a blender you can also use a food processor.
- After blending heat on medium until the sauce begins to bubble. It will become thicker and stretchier as it heats.
- To reheat transfer to a pan, add a little more dairy-free milk, and heat on low stirring continuously.
- Will keep refrigerated for 2-3 days.
Thank you for sharing. One quick question if we may…can we omit the milk. Perhaps use more potato water instead.? What do you think? Thank you doo[ much.
Hi! I would recommend using a dairy free milk if possible. It will result in a creamier texture. However, you could try subbing it for additional potato water. It will likely just have a slightly different consistency.
This vegan nacho sauce sounds amazing and super easy to make!
I want to put this on everything! It sounds so good!
I don’t need a chip, just give me a spoon to dip into this fabulous nacho cheese sauce! Yum!
So easy to make in a blender! Delicious
My family loved it! Such a healthy comforting meal!
This looks so delicious! I love it when you create a meal with things you have on hand already- those are happy days! Thanks for sharing:)