This oil-free and dairy-free 6 ingredient vegan cheddar cheese sauce is made with healthy whole foods and is so good on nachos, or mixed with macaroni noodles for a classic mac ‘n’ cheese.
This thick and creamy cashew cheddar sauce is a great alternative to cheese.
It has the texture and the flavor of cheese, without the cholesterol and saturated fat.
Not only is it great on noodles or nachos, you can also dip your fries, veggies, pretzels, or anything that you want into this golden sauce.
Excited to try it? We thought so.
How to Make It
STEP ONE
Soak the cashews overnight, or to save time, boil them in water for approximately 15 minutes, or until they’re soft and puffy.
You’ll also need to bake the sweet potato until it’s nice and soft.
To save time, bake it the day before or you can buy cooked sweet potato at the grocery store.
STEP TWO
Drain and rinse the cashews and put them in a high-powered blender.
Scoop the flesh of the sweet potato from the skin and put it in the blender with the cashews.
Add the spices, apple cider vinegar, and water and blend until the texture of the mixture is smooth and creamy consistency, like a classic cheese sauce.
You shouldn’t detect and solids from the cashews. If you do, scrape the sides and keep blending.
Tips for Success
Make sure the cashews are soaked or boiled until they’re soft and puffy. This will ensure that they break down and become creamy.
Bake the potato until you can easily pierce it with a fork. The softer the potato, the creamier the sauce will get.
Don’t skip the apple cider vinegar and mustard, these are the ingredients that give the sauce the tangy flavor that you find in cheddar cheese.
Scrape the sides of the blender and keep blending until you can’t detect any solids from the cashews. It could take a few minutes if the cashews weren’t soft enough.
How to Store It
Keep it covered in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.
Cashew cheese can thicken quite a bit as it sits, just put it back in the blender and add a tablespoon of water at a time and blend until you get the consistency that you like.
You can freeze this in a freezer safe container for up to three months.
Thaw it in the refrigerator and blend it with a tablespoon of water at a time until it thins out a bit.
How to Eat It
- Pour it over pasta.
- Use it as a dip.
- Make nachos with it.
- Smear it on a burger.
- Pour it over a baked potato.
- Use it as a salad dressing.
More Vegan Cheese Recipes You’ll Love
The Ultimate 5 Ingredient White Cheese Sauce
Make our healthy vegan cheese sauce recipe and let us know what you think. We love to hear from you! And, don’t forget to take a picture of your gorgeous creation and tag us @veganosity on Instagram.
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6 Ingredient Vegan Cheddar Cheese Sauce
Equipment
- 1 Oven
- 1 Blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews soaked in water for at least 4 hours or boiled in water for 15 minutes, or until they’re soft and puffy.
- ½ cup cooked sweet potato
- 1 teaspoon dry yellow mustard
- 3 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt you can adjust the amount of salt according to your dietary needs but it will taste different.
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ to ¾ cup unsweetened plant-based milk coconut milk is not suggested.
- 2 tsp yellow miso paste
Instructions
- Soak or boil the cashews then drain and rinse well.
- Bake the sweet potato for an hour or it’s easily pierced with a fork. When it’s cool enough to handle, peel it and measure out one cup of the potato. You can also peel it and cut it into cubes and microwave until soft to the touch, approximately 15 minutes.
- Put the cashews, ½ cup sweet potato, 1 teaspoon dry yellow mustard, 3 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast, 1 ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon onion powder, 2 teaspoon miso paste, and ½ to ¾ cups (start with a ½ and add more until you get the desired consistency you’re looking for) milk in the blender and blend on a high speed until the sauce is thick and creamy. You shouldn’t be able to see or feel any pieces of the cashews. If you do, scrape the sides and keep blending until it’s smooth and creamy.
- Note: I use the “whole foods > soup” setting on my Blendtec blender to get the desired consistency.
- Enjoy!
Joette says
Your ingredient list says 1/2 cup sweet potato, but your instructions say 1 cup. Which is it?
Linda Meyer says
Hi Joette, that would be a 1/2 cup. So sorry about the error.
Alison says
Hi there, whilst I absolutely love the majority of the recipes, and am almost totally vegan, I do struggle with the cheeses and cheese sauce as I am highly allergic to nuts, although I can eat pine nuts, coconut and sesame. For most recipes I can find a substitute or make it work another way, but I struggle with the sauces.
Is there any other way to achieve a great result without using nuts?
Thanks ever so,
Alison
Linda Meyer says
Hi Alison, you could try using shelled sunflower seeds in place of the cashews. Soak them or boil them until they soften and blend with the rest of the ingredients. You could also use pine nuts, although they're so expensive. I hope this helps.
Nancy says
So I have made numerous cheez sauces and this is the best, hands down! Previously I used a recipe calling for cooking potatoes and carrots which was quite good, but this is easier and much tastier! I’ve even shared with carnivores who loved the idea of cashews and sweet potatoes. I’ve also taken to keeping canned sweet potatoes in my pantry just so I can make more quickly and easily. Thank you!!
Linda Meyer says
Hi Nancy! Thank you so much, we're so happy you like our recipe and we appreciate that you took the time to let us know. We love the idea of keeping canned sweet potatoes on hand, that certainly makes it easier. Thanks!
Eric L. says
Can't figure out why it's called "6 ingredient cheddar sauce" when it has 8 ingredients. This is going to keep me up all night LOL
Linda Meyer says
LOL! We don't count water, salt, or pepper in ingredients because most people have those, or don't cook with salt and pepper. 😉
Eric L. says
Got it - thanks, Linda 🙂
Matt says
Just found this recently and made it twice in one week because it's so good. Also wanted to let you know, you can boil the cashews for 15 minutes, and they come out good enough for a mid range blender, 20 minutes I would imagine would be ok for a cheap blender. Just a thought to keep prep time down. Thanks for the great recipe.
Linda Meyer says
Hi Matt! Thanks so much, we're so happy you like the recipe. 🙂 We are actually updating our recipes to include boiling to soften them. We started doing this a few months ago when we were in a time crunch and it works like a charm. We haven't found any evidence that boiling them reduces the nutritional benefits of the nuts, but if we do, we'll add that information as well.
Jessica says
Do you have a Cashew alternative recommendation? Something lower in calories? Have you tried firm tofu?
Linda Meyer says
Hi Jessica. We haven't made with with tofu or any other nut or seed, so unfortunately we can't recommend an alternative.
Stephanie says
Just made this and it definitely delivered! I added more water because I like my sauces a bit thinner and I added garlic and smoked paprika. Sooo good! Thank you.
Linda Meyer says
Thank you so much, Stephanie! We love that you tweaked it to suit your tastes. A sign of an experienced cook! 🙂
Lindsay Meek says
Hi-
Do you know how long will this sauce last in the fridge? Additionally, could I freeze it and then thaw it out when needed?
Linda Meyer says
Hi Lindsay! It will last 4 to 5 days in the fridge. I haven't tried freezing it, but I imagine that it would be fine. Thaw it in the refrigerator and add a little water if it's too dry.
Lisa Silver says
OMG! Lady, you have done it! I can't tell you how many cheese-type sauces I have made and hated, only to have it sit in fridge until it went bad then throwing it out! I soaked the nuts, cooked the potato and measured everything in half (don't want to waste another cheese sauce gone bad). After blending it up, I opened the top of my Ninja and tasted the sauce...WOW! is the word that came out of my mouth. Thank you , thank you, thank you!
Linda Meyer says
Hi Lisa, thank you so much! I'm so happy you enjoyed the sauce, it's one of our favorites. Thank you for taking the time to let us know, we really appreciate it. 🙂
Frank says
Hi there I do not see the onion powder in the recipe box?
Linda Meyer says
Hi Frank, thank you for pointing that glaring error out. 🙂 It's there now.
Linda Meyer says
Hi Frank, thank you for pointing out that glaring error. 🙂 It's there now.
Stephanie says
How long does the cheese sauce last? Do you refrigerate?
Linda Meyer says
Hi Stephanie, yes, definitely refrigerate. It should last four days if it's stored in a clean and covered container.
Renee HIll says
The recipe doesn't say how much cashews. Am I missing it??? I have reread it a couple of times.....
Linda Meyer says
Hi Renee! You'll need one cup of cashews. I see it in the recipe box on my end. There may have been a glitch in the plugin when you checked, sorry about that!
Jessica says
Hello, I tried making this today, and the color and consistency doesn't even come close to the photo. Looks yellow and delicious in your photo! Mine turned out orange and not very smooth. Do you have any tips or any idea what I could've done wrong? 🙁 thank you!
Linda Meyer says
Hi Jessica, the color is an orange yellow, so don't worry about that. As far as the consistency goes, there could be a few factors that caused the texture to be not smooth. Do you have a high powered blender, like a Blendtec or Vitamix? If not, you need to make sure that you soak the cashews until they're puffy and squishy. Also, if the blades on your blender aren't sharp you may need to blend the mixture for a longer period of time. As long as the cashews are soft enough the "cheese" should blend into a nice and creamy consistency. I'm sorry it didn't work out for you the first time, I hope you try it again.
Jessica says
I'm definitely going to try it again, because it is a great recipe! I did soak my cashews for 4 hours, but now I am starting to wonder if it was the type of cashews I used that made it not turn out. I realized that they didnt say raw, and they were a darker brown color. These were the ingredients in them. Ingredients: Cashews, Vegetable Oil (Peanut, Cottonseed, Soybean and/Or Sunflower Seed). Do you think that could've been it? I wasn't sure if there was a difference. Thanks for your reply!
Linda Meyer says
Hi! I think you just discovered the mystery. 🙂 You used roasted cashews and those wouldn't blend into a smooth creamy sauce like raw would. Definitely try it again with raw cashews. Thanks, Jessica! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Jessica says
I'll be sure to try it again with the right cashews! Thank you, happy thanksgiving!
joohio1 says
Did anyone actually make this recipe? Color and good photos don't mean it's tasty. I would honestly like to know how it tastes.
Linda Meyer says
Yes, Joohio1, I've made it many times and it's quite good. My non-vegan friends enjoy it, and that's saying something.
Rosemond says
So glad I found this recipe! I've been vegetarian for a long time but vegan for only about 6 months, and I need to step up my vegan cooking skills!
Linda Meyer says
That's awesome, Rosemond! I'm so happy you like the recipe. Please let me know if you have any questions and/or recipe requests.