Best Nut-Free Vegan Cheese Sauce

This Best Nut-Free Vegan Plant-Based Cheese Sauce is a delicious cheese alternative. You can transform regular oats into a creamy, cheesy, vegan sauce recipe that everyone will love. 

You can't make everyone happy. You're not cheese sauce. But you can transform oats, yes, regular oats, into a creamy, cheesy, Nut Free Vegan Cheese Sauce that will make everyone happy.

It’s fantastic on nachos, steamed broccoli, potatoes, burrito bowls, and anything that assembles on your plate. If cheese keeps you from becoming entirely plant-based, this sauce will help you overcome that problem. I credit the first time I saw using oats to make cheese sauce years ago to Jill McKeever.

Popular Uses For This Vegan Cheese Sauce

• Nachos: This is my favorite go-to cheese sauce for nachos. Drizzle vegan cheese sauce over a plate of nachos for a delicious and satisfying meal. Take a look at Easy Vegan Nachos for a delicious, quick family dinner tonight.
• Loaded baked potatoes: Top baked potatoes with the Best Nut Free Vegan Cheese Sauce for a tasty and filling meal.
• Quesadillas or Tacos: Use vegan cheese sauce as a filling for quesadillas like Vegan Jackfruit Quesadillas and a topping for tacos, vegetables, and other toppings.
• Grilled cheese sandwiches and burgers: Use Nut Free Vegan Cheese Sauce as a condiment for sandwiches and burgers or put it inside a grilled cheese. My kids love it.
• Veggie bowls: Pour vegan cheese sauce over a bowl of roasted vegetables, grains, and protein for a filling and nutritious meal.
• Dips: Serve vegan cheese sauce as a dip for vegetables, crackers, or chips.

Ingredient Notes

• Nutritional yeast (AKA Nooch) - Nutritional yeast is a popular ingredient in vegan cheese recipes because of its cheesy and nutty flavor. It is also a great source of vitamin B12, which is important for everyone. For more information on how to use nutritional yeast, go to Nutritional Yeast 10 Easy Recipes.
• Cornstarch - potato starch will work fine, too.

How To Make Nut-Free Vegan Cheese Sauce

This recipe is very easy. Just toss everything into a high-speed blender until the ingredients warm up, about 4-5 minutes. If you don't have a high-speed blender, blend the ingredients in a regular blender and then heat the sauce in a pot on the stove.

Tips and Variations

• For thicker cheese, use less water or a little more starch (a little goes a long way). For a thinner salad dressing consistency, use more water.
• If you do not have a strong or high-speed blender, you must soak the cashews. You can soak the cashews in hot water for 90 minutes before blending or for about 4 hours in room-temperature water to get a creamier consistency with a regular blender. See Guide to Soaking Cashews for other ways to plump up those cashews.
• For storage, place in an air-tight container for up to 3 to 4 days.  
• Leave out the salsa if you want less of a nacho cheese taste.
• Add more spices and herbs, such as oregano, thyme, or cayenne pepper, for a more complex flavor.
• Use different nuts, such as almonds or macadamia nuts, for a different taste and texture.
• Add vegetables such as caramelized onions for a more savory flavor.
• Use plant-based milk instead of water for a creamier texture.

FAQS

More Delicious Vegan Sauces and Dressings

What did you think?

Got a minute? I'd love for you to dive into the comments and rate this no-nut vegan cheese sauce. Your feedback is invaluable—did you love it? Did you make any fun twists? Let me know how my directions worked for you so I can keep improving my recipes. Follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for inspiration.

Recipe

Best Nut-Free Vegan Plant-Based Cheese Sauce

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This Best Nut-Free Vegan Plant-Based Cheese Sauce is a delicious cheese alternative. You can transform regular oats, into a creamy, cheesy, vegan sauce recipe that everyone will love. 

• Total Time: 10 minutes
• Yield: 6 cups 1x

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 cups rolled oats
• ½ cup nutritional yeast
• 12-ounce jar of roasted red bell peppers (in water)
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 ½ teaspoon onion powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke (or smoked paprika)
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cups water (3 cups if you need it thinner)
• 1 cup of favorite salsa (or more to taste)

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Instructions

1. Combine: Pour all the ingredients, except the salsa, into a high-speed blender. 
2. Blend: Blend ingredients in a high-speed blender until all the ingredients are mixed and hot, about 5 minutes. It’s done when you open the top and see steam rising. If you touch the side of the blender, it should be hot.
3. Serve: You are ready to pour this sauce on everything!

Notes

It helps to have a high-speed blender to cook food for this recipe. You can get them refurbished from Amazon. 

After a few minutes in a high-speed blender, you may hear the blender slow down, and the noise deepens as the sauce thickens. This is when you know you’re close to cheesy deliciousness. 

If you don't have a high-speed blender that heats food, you can blend it until smooth, then put it in a pot on the stove to heat on medium, stirring often until the cornstarch cooks and thickens the sauce. Return it to the blender until creamy.

This batch makes approximately 6 cups of cheese sauce.

Nutritional information is only an estimate. Use a nutritional app like Cronometer to get information on the exact ingredients and amounts you are using. 

• Author: Regi Pearce
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 0 minutes
• Category: condiment, dressing, sauce
• Method: blender
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Vegan

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 Cup
• Calories: 59
• Sugar: 2
• Sodium: 427
• Fat: 1
• Saturated Fat: 0.1
• Carbohydrates: 12
• Fiber: 2
• Protein: 2
• Cholesterol: 0 mg