The Best Vegan Cheese Sauce – Creamy and Quick to Make

This vegan cheese sauce is not only creamy and delicious, but it’s also healthy. Using only whole ingredients, this sauce is crammed with nutrition. Not only that, but this vegan cheese sauce is so easy to make. It can be made in just a few minutes so it’s great for throwing together when you’re in a hurry.

vegan cheese sauce

The base of this sauce is made from cashews and white beans. The cashews add some healthy fats that make this sauce so satisfying, while the beans help to create an ultra creamy texture. You can use any white beans you have on hand. I’ve made this sauce using cannelini beans and butter beans.

My favourite ways to use this sauce are in a mac and cheese, cauliflower cheese, and in quesadillas. I have recipes for all of those coming soon!

To Make the Vegan Cheese Sauce:

To make the vegan cheese sauce, simply add all of the ingredients to a high-speed blender, and blend on high for around 1 minute. If you do not have a high speed blender, don’t worry! You can still make this sauce, but will need to pre-soak your cashews. You can do this overnight or, if you don’t have time, boil them instead for around 20 minutes. This will help to soften the cashews up making them much easier to blend.

If you’re on the look-out for a great blender, I highly recommend the Ninja! It’s on the more affordable side and it’s never had any trouble blending anything I’ve thrown at it over the years. Of course the vitamix always comes highly recommended but it’s so pricy and I’ve never felt the need to invest, thanks to my Ninja!

For flavour, this sauce is pretty simple which is often best! Nutritional yeast adds a cheesy, nutty flavour. You can find nutritional yeast in most supermarkets these days. It’s also packed full of vitamin B12 – vegans and non-vegans can often be lacking in B12 so it’s great to add it in wherever you can. Rice vinegar adds the tanginess that you get with real dairy cheese.

This recipe calls for a half, to one full tea spoon of salt. I find 1 tea spoon is a bit too much, and half isn’t quite enough. Add half first before tasting and adjusting if needed.

You can serve this sauce straight away, but I like to refridgerate it for a few hours as the cashews will thicken up even more. The sauce can be saved in the fridge in an air-tight container for 3-4 days.

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Vegan Cheese Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (85g) Cashews
  • 1 cup (250mL) Water
  • 1 cup (180g) White Beans (butter beans, cannelini, etc)
  • 2 tbsp Rice Vinegar
  • 3 tbsp Nutritional Yeast
  • 1 tsp Pepper
  • 1/2 tsp Salt (or to taste)

Instructions

  • If you do not have a high speed blender, make sure to soak your cashews overnight first. Or if you don't have time, boil for 20 minutes. Otherwise:
  • Blend all the ingredients together in a high speed blender until smooth and creamy
  • This recipe can be used straight away, but is best if left to thicken up in the fridge for a few hours.
  • It can be saved in the fridge in an air-tight container for 3-4 days.
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