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.
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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:
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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 recipe was amazing, kept us filled last night! Don’t be afraid to try this recipe, you won’t regret it!
We’re so happy to hear that! Thank you for leaving a review!
so delicious
Thrilled to hear that! Thanks for taking time to leave a review, we appreciate it so much
This is the second recipe that I made from you all and it was soo good as promised. It’s great actually. The flavor is incredible and just like the nacho cheese I’m used to. Mine also didn’t thicken but it’s because I didn’t drain the beans so that’s my own fault. I had to tweak it to thicken it. I ended up using probably a full cup of oat flour and about a 1/4 cup of corn starch then let is simmer on the stove after blending it all. I plan to make this again and follow the exact recipe. I even got a little cast iron serving dish to pour it in. 🙂 Thanks y’all!
Love it! Glad you got it to work out and know where you changed. Thanks for leaving a review
The BEST nacho cheese sauce I ever had! So easy to make and to me it tastes even better than than the dairy nacho cheese sauces.
We’re so happy to hear that you enjoyed it! Thanks for leaving a review!
I couldn’t stop licking the cheese sauce off of the blender. This recipe was amazing. Thank you so much for sharing! Personally, I put a little more salt, seasoning and lemon juice since I love big flavors. I couldn’t find jalapeños at my store so I added some more cayenne. Y’all this is super easy and I made sure to have my tortilla chips ready. This maybe won’t taste exactly like Nacho Cheese by itself, but with the chips, it is banging. This is the only recipe I’m using from now on. Try it everyone!
We’re so happy to hear that! thank you for taking the time to leave a review! We really appreciate it.
This is delicious and flexible. I can’t take so much heat so i substitute salsa for the jalapenos. Very delicious! I may try to reduce the butter. But I am definitely adding this to my recipe book.
So glad to hear you are enjoying the recipe. Great idea with the salsa! We really appreciate you taking the time to leave a review! Have a great day!
Such a great recipe! Even approved by non-vegans. It looks like a lot of ingredients but it’s almost all stuff we already have around, so fast and easy. I’ve made it a handful of times already. Yum! Thank you!!
So glad to hear you are enjoying the recipe. We really appreciate you taking the time to leave a review! Have a great day!