Yup, that’s cauliflower cheese! Specifically, that’s nacho cauliflower cheese that’s totally vegan and actually healthy. Feel free to face plant. No regrets!
Apparently embarrassing myself once with the world’s stupidest pun of all time wasn’t enough for me. So here we are, nearly three years later. Another day, another veggie, another nacho cheese, and another super cheesy post title.
But to be fair, I needed something really cheesy to be worthy of this one.
And I can’t promise I won’t do it again. There are so many things you can turn into nacho cheese, and I feel like I’m just starting to explore. It would be a big disappointment to give any of my vegan nacho cheeses a boring name.
The ingredients to this one might look a bit familiar. When I posted my Jalapeño popper mac not too long ago I found myself licking the inside of the food processor bowl and wishing I had some chips for dipping. That’s always a sign of recipe success, and generally also an indication that I should be putting the basic formula to other uses. Cauliflower nacho cheese it was!
It’s not just cauliflower in this one: carrots give this nacho cheese some authentic looking orange color, and cashews add richness. (That’s Nacho Cauliflower Carrot Cashew Cheese is a little cumbersome of a title though!) And when you blend all those things up with some seasonings and non-dairy milk, you get something that’s pretty darn cheesy and addictive when used for dipping chips. My hand model even gave me a hard time, asking repeatedly when he could eat the chip that he was modeling. It’s hard to find good help sometimes.
In addition to making great dip material, this vegan cheese would be awesome mixed up with some elbow macaroni or drizzled on sandwiches like my vegan Philly cheesesteaks or spicy broccoli rabe sandwiches.
Check out how easy it is to make this stuff!
That’s Nacho Cauliflower Cheese!
Ingredients
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 1 medium carrot, chopped
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water 4-8 hours and drained
- 1 cup unsweetened unflavored soy or almond milk, plus more as needed
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup vinegar-based hot sauce, like Cholula
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 cup jarred tomato salsa, optional
Instructions
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Place the cauliflower and carrots into a medium saucepan and cover with water. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Lower heat and allow to simmer until the veggies are very tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and drain into a colander.
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Place the carrots and cauliflower into the bowl of a food processor and add all other ingredients except the salsa. Blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add more milk to thin if you'd like. Season with salt to taste.
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Scrape the mixture into a bowl, and swirl in the salsa, if using.
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Serve with chips.
Wow, it looks delicious!! I can hardly wait to try it. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!
I can’t believe there’s no cheese in that! It looks so good, I can imagine it’s pretty addictive stuff!
Wow! This looks impressive! And yummy.
This dip is absolutely delicious! I made it exactly as written: it’s a wonderfully simple recipe.
Question for the Recipe Creator: What is your recommendation for a substitute for the vinegar based hot sauce? I want to make this for my grandchildren who aren’t into heat…yet! I have some ideas, but your balance of flavors is excellent…so I would like your input.
Many thanks! Keep up the great work!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I would try replacing some of the hot sauce with vinegar. It does add quite a bit to the cheesy flavor, so if you can avoid cutting it out completely I would – I added a tablespoon at a time when I developed the recipe and it took a while to get much of a kick. :) You could also use a very mild salsa and try blending a bit of that in. I hope they enjoy it!!
There’s an amazing thing that happens when you add a touch of heat to a cheese sauce – it shines! You can add a little hot sauce at a time to find the point where the cheese flavor is enhanced without feeling any heat. A pinch or two of cayenne pepper can do this as well, but any flavor that the vinegar adds may still be missing.
Can we substitute cashews for something else or it has to be cashews?
Thanks! Looks so good!
Macadamia nuts might work!
Can you explain ‘raw’ cashews? Do you mean unsalted ones cos I’m pretty sure that real raw cashews cannot be eaten without cooking. You get them in plenty in the Konkan area of India and the raw ones are cooked like a vegetable. However, besides the raw and the usual sallted roasted nuts, you can also buy them in their natural form (but are not raw directly off the bush). Which reminds me I have some raw ones in their hard pods which I should deal with soon.
I mean not roasted – usually labeled as raw. Here’s an example: https://www.amazon.com/Food-Live-Organic-Cashews-Ounces/dp/B00HRYDZ04/
Is there a substitute for the cashews that isn’t another nut? My son is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat, peas and shellfish. Thanks!
I couldn’t really say without testing. I’ve seen some recipes that use raw sunflower seeds, so that might work, and I could see hemp seeds as a possibility too. I have a recipe for sweet potato nacho cheese that’s nut free (assuming coconut is okay), so you might want to check that out: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/thats-nacho-sweet-potato-cheese/
Hi looks amazing! I was wondering if we could subsitute the carrots with something else?
substitute*
Thank you! You could try about a carrot’s worth of sweet potato or butternut squash. You could also try leaving it out, but the flavor will be a bit different and the color less cheesey. :)
I have just made the sauce with a red pepper instead. I gently fried it 1st before adding to blunder with other ingredients.
Made this for my picky teens and they loved it! Couldn’t find the vinegar based hot sauce so just used regular hot sause. Very delicious!
Glad it was a hit!
Is this dip low carb?
I would say it’s lower than some vegan cheese dips, but I guess it really depends on how low you’re going for. You can calculate the carbs with this calculator: https://www.verywell.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4129594
looks awesome. how does it hold up if served the next day? i need to make this today for a party tomorrow.
Thank you! We were snacking on the same batch for a few days, so I think you should be good!
How long will it keep I fridge & can you freeze it?
I’ve kept this in the fridge for about 3-4 days and it totally held up. Not sure about freezing, but I think it would work!
This is a game changer for me. It is SO FREAKEN GOOD!!!!! My omni husband will even it eat and enjoys it. This is a keeper.
Yay! I’m so glad it was a hit!!
Thank you for the recipe :-) i did tweak it a little, subbing red pepper for carrot as i didnt have one in. I also added a little more nutritional yeast and only had small amount of the hot sauce so i added some liquid from a jar of jalapinos and its delicious!
Those all sound like great modifications! I’m glad you enjoyed this! Thanks Belinda!!
I swapped apple cider vinegar for the hot sauce, and roasted my veggies for even more umami. This recipe will be a favorite for years to come! Thank you!!!!
Can you freeze this recipe and if not how long does it keep in the fridge
It should keep in the fridge for 3-4 days. I think you could freeze it, but I haven’t tried so I’m not certain!
What can you use instead of yeast?
There isn’t really a substitute. You can leave it out if you like, but it adds a lot of cheesy flavor. :)
This queso exceeding my expections! I’m addicted and honestly, could never go back to eating cheesy after trying this. It taste so much more healthier and delicious. Thanks for the great recipe :)
Yay!! I’m glad you like it!
Hii, what is the reason behind adding the yeast?? can we skip adding the yeast?? If not i have baking yeast available
It’s actually nutritional yeast and not the kind used for baking. There’s a link in the recipe that you can click to see the type of product I’m talking about. It adds cheesy flavor, but you can skip it if you need to.