This is the BEST Vegan Nacho Cheese that you’ve ever tried. Ready in just 10 minutes. Completely plant based, nut free and contains no carrots or potatoes.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & we'll send it to your inbox. Plus you’ll get great new recipes from us every week.
Before going vegan, chips and salsa and chips and nacho cheese were my go-tos for parties, late night snacks, and more. Obviously chips and salsa is still a go, but man oh man I missed nacho cheese. Thus, vegan nacho cheese was a must make creation.
However, I had tried making it with potatoes and carrots. I had tried making it with raw cashews.
Someone recommended that I tried Wayfare’s nacho cheese and instantly I was taken back to that perfect nacho cheese and chips combo. It was absolutely delicious.
I took a peek at the ingredients and the main ingredients were butter beans. Intrigued, I had to try to recreate something amazing.
The result….the best vegan nacho cheese if I do say so myself.
Now you can make it at home, easily, whenever you want and know exactly what the ingredients are that goes into the recipe.
This is so easy to make! Just 10 minutes total time. And can be completely Top 8 Allergen Free.
Vegan Cheese Dip Ingredients
This isn’t a small list of ingredients; however, most of them are spices, so don’t freak out!
- Butter beans
- Nutritional yeast
- Diced Jalapeños
- Lemon juice
- Vegan butter
- Oat flour
- Dairy Free milk
- Salt
- Cayenne Pepper
- Chili Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Smoked Paprika
- Cumin
- Turmeric
How to Make Vegan Nacho Cheese without Cashews
We recommended making your vegan nacho cheese in a high powered blender. You literally pour all the ingredients into your blender and then blend for 5 minutes. The result is a creamy vegan nacho cheese that is already warmed.
Can I use all-purpose flour for this vegan nacho cheese?
We have tested this recipe with oat flour and almond flour. You could use other gluten free flours like chickpea also.
However, if you use all-purpose flour, we recommend that you make in a skillet instead of in a blender or food processor so that the flour actually gets cooked and you eliminate the risk of salmonella.
What type of beans are best?
We love butter beans for this vegan nacho cheese recipe. However, any type of white bean would work – such as Great Northern or cannellini beans.
Can I prep this Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce ahead of time?
Yes! You can prep this recipe ahead of time. It heats back up well in the microwave by warming at 30 second intervals.
Vegan Nacho Cheese Recipe Variations
While this recipe itself is amazing, there’s a few ways to switch it up! To the blender with the other ingredients:
- Spice it up! Add in pickled or fresh jalapeños to taste. Start with 2 tablespoons. Want to really spice it up? Swap some or all the vegan cheddar cheese with vegan pepper jack!
- Beer cheese – Add ½ to ¾ cup of a lager or ale to make a beer cheese. Want an official beer cheese? Try our vegan beer cheese recipe.
- Garlicky – If you love a garlic cheese, add 3-5 cloves of roasted garlic (more or less to desired taste). You can also do 1 teaspoon or more garlic powder but it won’t give it as much of an impact as the fresh roasted.
- Caramelized Onion – Add ½ cup of caramelized onions and ½ teaspoon of balsamic vinegar. Not necessary but to make it a bit different, swap ½ or all of the cheddar of a vegan Gouda.
Do I have to use a blender?
While we think a blender is the easiest and fastest way to make this dairy free nacho cheese recipe, it isn’t the only way to make it.
You could also use a food processor by adding all the ingredients together and blending until smooth and thickened.
Another alternative would be to make on the stovetop using a skillet. In order to do this, you would first need blend or mash the beans in some way to make as smooth as possible. Then, melt the butter over medium heat and then add your flour. If you are use all-purpose flour, this is the method you want to use.
Whisk together the flour and butter. Then, pour in your milk and stir together. Finally add the remaining ingredients and let cook over medium low until thickened and well combined.
Can I make this Top 8 Allergy Friendly Nacho Cheese?
Make sure that you are using a soy free dairy free butter like Earth Balance soy free in the red tub. In addition, make sure that you are using a Top 8 Free milk like oat, flax, or hemp. To be honest, we prefer using oat.
Alternative preparation method with Rotel – canned diced tomatoes and chilis:
One other note is that you could skip the diced jalapeños alone and do a can of drained Rotel or generic canned diced tomatoes and chilis instead. You are only swapping that so proceed with the rest of the ingredients.
What are ways that I can use dairy free nacho cheese?
Obviously you can just spoon it into your mouth, but you also could use tortilla chips. Some other ideas for how to use this vegan nacho cheese are:
- Instant Pot Vegan Tex Mex Rice
- On top of your Dairy Free Nachos
- Vegan Taco Casserole instead of the shredded cheese
- As a sauce on the best vegan black bean burger
- Vegan Chorizo Burrito Bowls
- Make tacos with our Walnut Taco Meat or Sweet Potato and Black Bean tacos
- Mix in or on top over our Jackfruit and Black Bean Enchiladas
- Make Cheese Dogs with our Homemade Vegan Hot Dog Recipe
- Perfectly on top of our Mexican Stuffed Peppers
Pin this vegan nacho cheese for later:
🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 15oz can Butter Beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 4oz can diced jalapenos (see notes for spice level)
- 1 cup unsweetened dairy free milk
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- 2 tablespoon oat flour
- ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- Pour all ingredients into a high powered blender. *See notes if you do not have a blender.
- Blend for 5 minutes or until a thickened, creamy, well-combined sauce.
- Serve warm.
- Top with diced tomatoes and/or jalapenos to serve
- Store leftovers in an air tight container for up to 7 days.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
This is without exaggeration, the best vegan replacement recipe I have ever made! So many recipes ask for weird and expensive ingredients such as cashews and wheat gluten. THIS recipe not only uses things I can find in my cabinet (except for the nutritional yeast, I actually had to order that on Amazon lol), but it also tastes accurate and great too! Idk how you found out butter beans and nutritional yeast combined would make a good nacho cheese substitute, but it turned out great!
And I promise y’all, I am not lying. I know a lot of vegans lie about the taste of vegan cheeses and say “This tastes just like the real thing!” when it doesn’t taste anywhere close. THIS recipe is actually great and you should give it a try!
I love that so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much
THE MOST ACCURATE VEGAN DISH I’VE HAD YET! I’m done with soaked cashews and wheat gluten. THIS is my go to vegan cheese dish! So delicious!
yay! so glad you enjoyed it!
Hello,
Is your search-engine down? Can’t find any recipe…
Warm regards,
Nevine
So sorry for that, can you try again?
Can regular flour be used in place of the oat flour?
Yes, but you would either need to 1. Heat treat the flour or 2. cook the cheese sauce after making so you eliminate any chances of salmonella poisoning.
To heat treat flour: Preheat oven to 350˚F and spread flour out evenly on a cookie sheet. Allow it to bake for 5 – 7 minutes
Once the flour temperature has reached 160˚F any bacteria would be killed making the flour edible.
or maybe just make the oat flour? I think al you do is blend or grind or put in good processor any kind of oats until they turn into flour.
Yup, that’s all you have to do
Best nacho cheese recipe I’ve ever had!!!!
YAY!
So I have been making a variation of this for a few years now (slightly different spice profile, pickled jalapeños and their brine instead of canned jalapeños, and oats instead of oat flour) and this today it served as the inspiration for a Broccoli cheese soup! In addition to the soup I made today I have modified it in the past to use as a base for spinach and artichoke dip. Thank you all for the original recipe!
I am still working on an actual recipe for the but here is where I am currently. I am open to any recommendations or suggestions. It was delicious but I feel there is some room for improvement.
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Cheese Base
1 can of white beans rinsed and drained
1 cup oat milk
3 – 4 tbs of butter
3 tbs nooch
2 tbs green olive brine
2-3 tbs oats
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tsp mushroom seasoning
1 tsp veggie bullion? (Added it but not sure it was necessary)
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp lactic acid (can sub for more lemon juice or sauerkraut brine!)
1/4 tsp sazon (for color)
1/4 tsp turmeric
Blend until smooth and thick
1 – 1 1/2 cup(s) of oat milk
1 bag of frozen broccoli florets chopped
1/4 cup carrot sliced into match sticks
2-3 tsp soy sauce or tamari
Salt and pepper to taste
Add cheese base to sauce pan
Stir in the oat milk and soy sauce
Add carrots and broccoli
Stir, simmer until veggies are tender
Glad you are enjoying the recipe so much! Here’s our broccoli cheese soup variation for your comparison https://makeitdairyfree.com/vegan-broccoli-and-cheese-soup/
I made this last night, and it’s super tasty, quick, & easy. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it