This 10 minute easy vegan cheese sauce is a must try! Perfect for pouring, dipping and more! Not cashew based, so allergy friendly!
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We recommend heading to the kitchen (or the store if you don’t have all the ingredients) and making this 10 minute easy vegan cheese sauce recipe ASAP!
This vegan cheese dip is so easy to make and doesn’t include all of the typical ingredients that you see in vegan cheese sauces like potatoes, carrots, and cashews.
Yes, you read that right. This is a vegan cheese sauce without cashews!
There’s absolutely none of that here. We wanted to create something that was not only allergy friendly but also that was truly delicious and something that everyone would love and remind them of a regular dairy sauce.
This is a completely nut free homemade vegan cheese sauce recipe.
We definitely think we’ve done it!
Vegan Cheese Sauce Recipe Ingredients
In order to make this vegan cheese dip recipe you need just 9 ingredients, not including salt and pepper.
Full amounts of each ingredients is listed In the printable recipe card below.
- butter beans – This is the base of our vegan cheese. It provides a creamy texture and you’ll be shocked that you can’t even taste them once everything is combined.
- vegetable stock – this allows for the sauce to get to the right consistency while adding flavor that you wouldn’t get with just water
- non-dairy milk – choose a neutral tasting unsweetened, unflavored variety for the best results. We love using creamier non-dairy milks like oat and soy.
- nutritional yeast – this helps us get a cheesy flavor without adding any processed vegan cheese
- vegan butter – adds richness and depth to this vegan beer cheese that you would expect from a cheese sauce
- lemon juice – A little acid helps bring the flavors of this dish together
- paprika – a little flavor, but also added to help with color
- vegan parmesan and cheddar cheese – the combination of vegan cheeses really helps to add a great flavor to the cheese sauce that you don’t get if you only add one
Dairy Free Cheese Sauce Substitutions
- Butter beans – cannellini beans or great northern beans could be used as well, we just find butter beans to be creamier
- Nutritional yeast – bagged vegan cheese could be used instead
- vegetable stock -just water or more non-dairy milk will work
- non-dairy milk – choose a neutral tasting unsweetened, unflavored variety for the best results. We love using creamier non-dairy milks like oat and soy.
- vegan butter – we have been told by others that they have just omitted this and it turns out great
- lemon juice – lime juice can also be substituted
- vegan parmesan and cheddar cheese – you can switch it up, maybe gouda or mozzarella. We’ve made this with the epic smoked cheddar from Violife and it’s so good!
How to Make Vegan Cheese Dip
- Add all ingredients to a high powdered blender.
- Blend this until very well combined and warmed (about 4-5 minutes).
How to Use this Vegan Cheese Sauce Recipe
There are endless possibilities, but here are some of our favorite ways to use this dish:
- Vegan Mac and Cheese
- Fries or Tater Tots
- Chips
- Carrots or other Vegetables as a dip
- Vegan Onion Rings
- As a Vegan Pizza Sauce
- As a dip for Vegan Sausage Balls
- Mix into Vegan Mashed Potatoes
- Use as a dip for these Herb Crusted Tofu Fingers or for these copycat Vegan Chick-fil-A Chicken strips
How to Store Vegan Cheese Sauce
This sauce should be stored in an air tight container or jar in the fridge for up to 10 days.
It can also be frozen by putting in a freezer safe jar or container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and whisk together when no longer frozen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes!
One of our main goals for this besides making just a delicious vegan cheese sauce was to make it allergy friendly as well.
There are a few ingredients that we need to look out for in how our recipe is written, but let’s get to it.
For the vegan butter, ensure that it is soy free. We prefer earth balance soy free when it comes to this. It comes in a red tub.
Then, we have dairy free milk. We actually prefer oat milk for this because it’s creamier. Most dairy free oat milks are certified gluten free, so just double check your labels.
And then we have the vegan cheese we are adding. We are use Violife in this recipe, which does contain coconut oil, but no other allergens. If you have a coconut allergen, you can use Follow Your Heart parmesan.
We also have a vegan parmesan on our site that you can make with sunflower seeds; however, it doesn’t melt well which is why we recommend using one of the store bought brands.
For the shreds, you can view our shredded dairy free cheese that is safe for your allergies.
Yes!
You can make the cheese sauce ahead and leave in the fridge up to 7 days in advance.
Absolutely! This makes a great a dip for vegetables or anything else like fries, or onion rings. Scroll down to get even more ideas!
Depending on your health goals, different foods are good for different reasons. This dish is based off beans and nutritional yeast in itself is very healthy.
We do use some processed packaged cheese and a vegan butter substitute that could be seen as not as healthy. You could try the sauce without these to see if you like it.
If health is a concern for you, then we encourage you to speak to a nutritionist.
Yes! If you don’t have a high powered blender like a Vitamix or Blendtec, then we recommend that you put all the ingredients except the cheese shreds into a normal blender or food processor and blend until creamy.
Afterwards, move the sauce to a sauce pot on the stove over medium heat and add the vegan cheese shreds. Stir until your vegan cheese has melted and you have a smooth, uniform vegan cheese sauce.
When you make something like a vegan cheese sauce recipe you likely want to know exactly how we made it in order to get the best test.
We have not found a major difference in what brand of butter beans you use, so no worries there.
As far as dairy free milk, we typically go with Target’s Good & Gather Oat or Almond milk depending on what we have on hand. However you can use whatever your favorite is. We do recommend unflavored, unsweetened dairy free milk.
We usually use the Now Food’s brand of nutritional yeast.
As far as vegan butter, this again is one that we think you use your favorite, but we have used country crock plant based sticks and Earth Balance with a lot of sucess.
For vegan parmesan – we use the Violife wedge as our go to but if you can’t find any you can also make your own vegan parmesan cheese
Lastly, for vegan cheese, you can use a block or shreds. We have particularly really loved the Violife Epic Cheddar block and shred it ourselves inside, however we had had success with other brands like Violife and Dairy cutting board blend.
Some people can find butter beans and others can’t. Depending on where you live, maybe it’s not easy for you either.
Butter beans provide a creamy and smooth consistency so that’s why we recommend those; however, other white beans can also be used like cannellini or great northern.
We do not recommend using chickpeas in this dish.
Pin this 10 minute easy vegan cheese sauce for later!
🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Dairy Free Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 15oz can butter beans, drained
- ½ cup vegetable stock
- 1 cup dairy free milk (we like oat for this)
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ½ cup vegan parmesan cheese (we use Violife for this recipe)
- 1 cup vegan shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a high powdered blender.
- Blend this until very well combined and warmed (about 4-5 minutes).
- Use as desired. See post for recommendations if needed.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
Original recipe posted on 1/7/2021 and updated on 1/15/2022.
I am making your chili Mac tonight and I needed to make the sauce , it was very hard to find can Butter Beans , I did three stores I finally found it . I know I could use another white beans I wanted to make it exactly like yours . I almost followed the recipe I only used 1/2 tsp salt depending on your beans mine had 160 sodium I usually like less but that’s what I had , I didn’t use Parmesan I find it expensive, I used Dayia cheddar I still have a lot remained in the bag , smoked paprika instead of regular , this is the bomb even without the Parmesan , It truly doesn’t need it , it’s good just without it , if someone is on a budget they still can make it . Thank you so much for a quick delicious cheesy sauce , I can’t wait to make the dish tonight .
So so so glad you enjoyed this!
This is a smooth and creamy cheese sauce you can use on everything. I used it in a quick pasta with broccoli and it was awesome. I also like that when you heat it in a sauce pan after mixing, it becomes so creamy and smooth. It also thickens a bit and looks like real cremy cheese. Love this receipe.
Thank you so much! We love this one too, and we’re so happy to hear that you are enjoying it!
I loved this way more than I thought I would! No nuts in it and still very tasty. I was hesitant at first because I’m not a big fan of faux cheese, but this is delicious.
That’s awesome! We’re glad the recipe surprised you. We really appreciate you giving it a try!
This is definitely the best vegan cheese sauce recipe I have tried over the years. Perfect creamy texture and super tasty. I wanted to just eat it by the spoonful. I used it in your Chili Mac recipe but it will be my go-to cheese sauce from now on for sure. Thank you for sharing!
You’re so welcome. We use it for so many things!