Vegan Queso

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a fanatic of cheese. Whether it’s mild, melty mozzarella on top of a pizza, a smelly bleu with a side of apples, or—my favorite—sharp Cheddar with a glass of wine, I have yet to find a cheese I don’t love. Which is why even I am a bit surprised I enjoy this vegan queso so much.

It all stems back to the vegan challenge I did with my sister. To not completely lose my mind or sense of self during the 2 weeks of vegan food only, I realized I needed to find something that resembled cheese. Given the amount of bean burrito bowls we were eating, queso seemed like the right place to start. After hours of searching and trial-and-error, we somehow created a vegan version of our favorite cheese dip that we now prefer it over the real thing. Crazy, I know, but stick with me here.

So, what makes this vegan queso so good? For starters, the flavor and texture is spot on. And by spot on, I mean that it’s so much like the real stuff you might think you accidentally threw in a block of cheese. It’s super creamy and the texture is always right whether it’s hot or cold. You know how some queso hardens into a weird, gluey lump when it cools down? Well, this doesn’t. It’s easy to scoop or pour no matter when, making it always ready to eat.

The secret to the texture success is using cashews. Yes, you read that right—cashews. When soaked, cashews can be blended to a very smooth consistency, making them the perfect base for your vegan queso. The trick to getting soft cashews is to soak them in very hot water for at least an hour, so don’t forget to plan ahead!

And the cheese flavor? That is brought to the mix with nutritional yeast. If you haven’t heard of nutritional yeast yet, go out and get some today. Note–this isn’t the same as baking yeast, so please don’t substitute active dry yeast for this recipe. You will be sorely disappointed and have to throw the entire thing out.

Nutritional yeast—also known as “nooch”—is a yellow, flaky, inactive yeast that has a nutty, cheesy flavor. As the name indicates, it packs a nutritional punch while being low in sodium and calories. Need I say more? I tend to get Bragg Nutritional Yeast, but get whatever brand you can find in the health food section of your grocery store.

Now, back to the vegan queso. Whether you are a strict vegan, trying to cut calories, or even an avid cheese enthusiast, give this a try. You’ll feel happy indulging in your Mexican night knowing that your queso is clean eating, even if your chips aren’t.

Vegan Queso

Course: Recipes

Servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

5

minutes

Calorieskcal

Total time

1

hour 

15

minutes

This clean vegan queso is better than the original. Coming from a true cheese addict, that's a bold statement. Made with cashews, coconut milk, and nutritional yeast, this is one queso you don't have to feel guilty about.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cashews raw, soaked for 1 hour in hot water

• 4 garlic cloves peeled

• 1 cup vegetable stock

• Juice of 1 lime ~2 TBSP

• 1 cup canned coconut milk full fat, unsweetened

• 1/2 cup pickled jalapeños

• 2 TBSP nutritional yeast

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp chili powder

• 1 tsp arrowroot starch can substitute either tapioca or corn starch

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 small tomato diced

• 2 TBSP fresh cilantro chopped

Directions

• Soak cashews in hot water for at least 1 hour. After the soak, rinse well and drain.
• Combine everything except the Rotel and cilantro in a large blender. Blend until very smooth (1-2 minutes).
• Add smooth mixture to a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes until queso starts to thicken up to desired consistency.
• Stir in the diced tomato and fresh cilantro. Enjoy!

Notes

• Too spicy? Try swapping the pickled jalapeños for a can of green chilis.
• Blender tip: Don’t have a large blender? No worries! Use a single-serve blender and just run a couple batches. I do this with my NutriBullet and it works great.
• Cashew soaking tip: I use my Keurig coffee maker to easily heat the water for my cashews. Simply place the cashews in a large measuring cup and fill with hot water straight from the Keurig until the cashews are fully submerged. Just make sure you remove the coffee pod before getting the water. I may know this from experience…