This insanely easy vegan rotel dip comes together quickly and it’s flavors make your taste buds do a happy dance! So creamy, so rich, allergy friendly!
You are going to absolutely go crazy for this vegan rotel dip.
But let’s back up a minute. Some of you may not even know what rotel dip is and you are just like umm, what is this and why do I need it.
Rotel dip is a insanely easy, 3 ingredient “recipe”, but it’s not vegan at all. It involves combining Rotel (aka canned diced tomatoes and chilies), Velvetta cheese, and ground beef or sausage. Since two of the three ingredients aren’t even close to being vegan, we set out to veganize it and we think we perfected it.
This recipe does require a few more than 3 ingredients. We wanted this recipe to be delicious but also cost efficient. To have enough spreadable vegan cheese that could mimic the velvetta texture would have easily cost over $20 if not way more.
Our compromise is to make our super simple 10 minute easy vegan cheese sauce and pair that with rotel and a vegan meat crumble.
We hope you love this vegan spin on a party and tailgaiting favorite!
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to make this in a slow cooker?
Nope you don’t! This recipe easily comes together much faster on a stove; but allowing the flavors come together in a crockpot for a few hours can’t be bet! Definitely give it a try.
Can I make this easy vegan Rotel dip recipe Top 8 Allergen Free?
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.
Lastly, our vegan sausage. You can use any vegan ground meat like vegan beef or vegan sausage, so just find one that fits your needs.
Can I prep this easy vegan velvetta dip ahead of time?
Yes!
You can make the cheese sauce ahead and leave in the fridge up to 7 days in advance.
Is vegan cheese healthy?
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.
Can I make this if I don’t have a high powdered blender?
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.
What are the best brands to make this vegan cheese dip?
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.
For the vegan meat in this particular photo, we tried out the new Impossaible sausage.
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 Daiya cutting board blend.
What can I sub for butter beans?
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.
What are ways I can use this easy vegan cheese sauce recipe?
Besides making this dip, the cheese sauce you make before combining can be used in various ways. Here are our favorites:
- 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 Chick-fil-A Chicken strips
Pin this vegan rotel dip for later:
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Vegan Rotel Dip
Ingredients
For the dip
- 1 14oz package vegan sausage or vegan beef crumbles
- 1 10 oz can Rotel, drained (Rotel = canned diced tomatoes and chillies)
For the cheese sauce
- 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
- green onions, optional
Instructions
- In a skillet on the stove, cook your vegan meatless crumbles according to the package instructions.
For the cheese
- Add all ingredients for the cheese to a high powdered blender except the green onions.
- Blend this until very well combined and warmed (about 4-5 minutes).
- Once ready, add the cooked vegan crumbles, prepared cheese sauce and can of drained rotel to a small slow cooker. Can eat immediately or turn to low and let heat, stirring occasionally for 90 minutes. Top with green onions before serving. *After 90 minutes, turn off and let cool some before reheating in crockpot if needed so it doesn't thicken too much.
Savannah
This recipe is a keeper, as well as the base cheese sauce recipe! The flavors are spot-on. I’m grateful because I grew up eating rotel dip and hadn’t had it in over 4 years. Will be making again 🙂
Next time I might add more heat and a small bit of corn starch slurry to thicken it just a tad. New staple in my kitchen! Thanks for the recipe!
Larisha Bernard
so glad it reminded you of what you had before!
Sattva R.
This may be a silly question but have you (or anyone) tried making this without the vegan cheese? Does that basically kill the cheese flavor, or would more nutritional yeast make up for it?
Larisha Bernard
Never a silly question! We have not, but I don’t think it would be recommended. Replacing 1 1/2 cups with that much nutritional yeast would likely yield a grainy, chalky texture. You could definitely try playing around with the ratios, but unfortunately we don’t have any recommendations there at this time.
Ellen
Excellent dip! Have you had any luck freezing it in small portions sizes?
Larisha Bernard
Yes, this can be frozen!
Yvette Whitehead
Hi what type of vegan cheddar cheese and butter do you use?
LarishaBernard
Violife or Daiya cutting board blend for cheese usually. Country Crock Plant Butter for that
Ralph Aldridge
Amazing dish.
My wife and I followed the instructions almost to a T. The only substitutions we made, we used Beyond Breakfast Sausage Plant-Based Patties, Spicy, The taste overall is fantastic. The instructions are easy to follow.
Right now is sit and youtube channel is our go-to for vegan food.
Much success to both of you!
LarishaBernard
Love it so much! Glad to hear
Angie Huffman
Amazing dip
LarishaBernard
Happy to hear you enjoyed