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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O my! This is amazing! I was licking the container after making the sauce. I just used the sauce on a recipe for scalloped potatoes – cant wait to see how it turns out! This sauce will become one of my basics – thank you! YUM!!!!
O – I made the sauce in my Blendtek on Hot Soup setting – fast!!
CCK, not sure how you do it, but you do. All I have been craving is Mac n cheese and you just came in to save me! I made mine with nutritional yeast and oh. My. Goodness. One wue question for you all—if I use vegan shreds, will I get a cheesier/stringier texture? Thanks in advance fam :]
I just made this in my instapot, what can I do to thicken it up, by the way it tastes pretty good, I used nutritional yeast but not quite as much..
I used the whole can of beans and doubled everything, next time not so much salt. I am pleased with this because I am tired of nut cheese and am always looking for alternatives.
Thanks
Ok I’m no vegan let alone vegitarian but I decided to do a Daniel fast for 21 days and needed some recipes that are basically vegan. This looked interesting since I’m not interested in the cashew base option. As I type this I’m eating my whole wheat pasta with this sause. I didnt have the cheese threads so I used the yeast option, and I must say, it’s not too bad. It did does have a bit of a grainey texture this way, though. I also added more garlic powder and included some onion powder too. I will try it next time with some cheese threads and hope this eliminates the graininess. Pair this with a salad and bon apetit’ for me. Thanks!
Will it work without the cheese/nutritional yeast? Maybe if I sub it for butternut squash and tumeric? Thank you 🙂
You can definitely experiment. You never know until you try!
I’ve never used a non-dairy butter or “cheese shreds” as called for in this recipe. I try to avoid processed foods. What is contained in these two ingredients? Without knowing, I’m not likely to try this recipe.
Both of those ingredients are optional, so just use the other options instead. Hope that helps!
Just made this, kind of. Used black eyed peas with some “aquafaba”, Ripple milk, 1 package of Chao yellow cheese, garlic, onion and mustard powder and a dash of sriracha. Sooooo good! Thanks for the bean idea. Nice for a change. I’m going to thicken it a bit and add some beer to make a pretzel dip for superbowl food.
Man, I just made this and it LOOKED sooooo good. But it ended up just being ok. Maybe if I had a really high end blender it would be better, but I found that it had a very prominent bean taste and texture. I wish it worked better as a dupe, because cashew cream is so much more expensive to make. ?
Fast, easy and delicious! I added WAY more nooch than was specified. In addition to nooch I added some Daiya cheese shreds, a teaspoon of mustard powder and some turmeric for color. SO creamy and yummy!