This smooth and velvety vegan cheese sauce recipe is deliciously cheesy, ultra creamy, and super low in fat and calories.
You’re going to want to put this luxurious vegan cheese sauce over everything.
And the best part is that it is allergy-friendly – no dairy, no tofu, no gluten, and NO cashews!
This was one of those weeknight throw-a-bunch-of-ingredients-together-and-see-what-happens recipes.
I hadn’t prepared anything for dinner and arrived home feeling super hungry after being out all day. Pasta is one of my go-to meals on those types of days, and this quick vegan white sauce was the result of looking through my kitchen cabinets to see what could go with the pasta.
The entire meal was done in barely more time than it takes to boil water!
My favorite comfort food is comfort food that takes longer to eat than to make ♥
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Ways To Use Vegan Cheese Sauce
- Poured over steamed broccoli
- Stirred into rice or quinoa
- On top of baked potatoes or tator tots
- As a dip for these Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
- Over pasta or spaghetti squash (here’s How To Cook Spaghetti Squash)
Or you could serve yourself a giant bowl of this creamy and ultra velvety vegan cheese sauce and eat it with a spoon.
Am I the only one who does this with cheese sauce???
You know how much I love giving options in my recipes.
This vegan cheese sauce is no exception, and you have a few options here.
I developed variations both with and without nutritional yeast, because I know the ingredient isn’t always easy to find and that not everyone is a fan.
If you’ve never heard of nutritional yeast, it’s something used quite often in vegan cooking because of its addictively cheesy taste.
To be clear, nutritional yeast does not taste exactly like cheese; it just has that same umami flavor.
(Umami—or savory—is one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.)
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If you try this recipe, I’d love to see!
Also make this creamy Vegan Alfredo Sauce or my favorite Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce.
Vegan Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked white beans, such as cannelini
- 1/2 cup milk of choice, preferably unsweetened
- 5 tbsp nutritional yeast OR 1/3 cup vegan shredded cheese
- salt – I like 1/2 tsp
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- If using nutritional yeast, add optional 1/2 tsp white or apple cider vinegar
- optional 2 tsp buttery spread or olive oil – I really like the rich depth of flavor this adds, especially if not using the cheese version
- optional pinch turmeric, thyme, rosemary, onion powder, etc.
Instructions
- Drain and rinse beans if they are canned. Blend together all ingredients except cheese, either in a blender or with a hand blender. Transfer to a pot, and add the cheese, if using. Heat on low, stirring occasionally, until desired serving temperature is reached and optional cheese is melted. If serving with pasta, stir in cooked pasta at this time. Add more milk of choice if a thinner sauce is desired.Instant Pot Version: Instead of transferring to a pot on the stove, put the blended mixture in your instant pot and heat on manual for 5 minutes. Thanks to reader Emma who created this version and left a comment to let us know it can be made in an instant pot!View Nutrition Facts
Notes
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Yum! I can’t get over how good this is. I made it with coconut milk, nutritional yeast, and I added some black and red pepper. (And accidentally did twice as much garlic powder).
What type of Daiya cheese did you use? And did you use oil or butter? Thank you!
Just tried this and I love it! thanks Katie!
Hello! This was delish, but mine still had a bit of texture from the beans and wasn’t quite as creamy as the pics, I used a food processor, would this be the problem?
Did you use canned beans? The beans should be pretty easy to blend completely if using canned white beans, which are soft to begin with.
If I use nutritional yeast do I have to add it when I put all the ingredients to my blender?
I’ve explored lots of vegan Mac and cheese options and this is by far the best! It tastes SO good! However, I think I did something wrong, it has a bit of a gritty taste to it. I’m not sure what I can do to get it smoother, this has been an issue anytime I use nutritional yeast so not sure why… I used a ninja blender, any suggestions to fix this would be great because this is an amazing recipe!
So, I am apparently one of the odd ones out in that I’m allergic to dairy and all beans/legumes, but not cashews. 🙂 I’ve never made vegan cheese sauce; never even heard of it actually. Do you think I can soak cashews and use those instead of the beans? This recipe looks really good and I am IN LOVE with nutritional yeast! 🙂
https://lett-trim.today/2017/01/12/red-pepper-alfredo-pasta-recipe/%3C/a%3E I would try this one!
I’m trying out some recipes for vegan cheese sauce because I just miss it so much. I’m trying this one over the weekend! I tried one last night using a potato and carrot (seriously! .. it was pretty good!) nutritional yeast and basically the same seasonings as this recipe ..
http://www.brandnewvegan.com/recipes/amazing-vegan-cheese-sauce
If I am making a panini sandwich with sautéed bell peppers and onions do you think this would be good with it ?
I’m new to vegan cooking and wondered if I’d stick with it. I tried stuff out of vegan mags which is really nice but no way would I be cooking 15 ingredient meals everyday. I love it and so does my husband. I’ve been making it every week for the last month! Thank you so much. Slowly working my way through your recipes, fantastic.
Blood doesn’t belong on a food site. I know it is a good thing to donate blood and I do but it is unseemly on a food site. Not interested in your recipes the blood imagery is too much for me 😉
What on earth are you talking about? There is no blood in this post…
Tried this tonight for the first time because my hubby is not a fan of nutritional yeast. He is, of course, skeptical of all things “not real” (his words, not mine) but he did say, “Not bad!” Thank you for this recipe. I’ll definitely be making this again!!