Easy Vegan Cheese sauce is soy free, nut free, and decadently delicious. Drizzle it over chips for instant nachos or use anywhere you want a little dairy-free cheesy goodness.
Vegan Cheese Sauce Recipe Notes
The method for making this sauce is basically the same as a bechamel. Don't let the word "bechamel" send you into a panic, though! It sounds fancy, but it's super easy to make one.
In fact, my four-year-old helps me make the vegan bechamel we use as a base for our homemade mac and cheese. If he can do it, so can you!
This recipe is actually a lot quicker and easier than a bechamel. You only have to whisk for a minute or so after you add ingredients, so it's a snap to make. Here's how this super easy sauce comes together (and check out the video for a visual).
- Melt a bit of coconut oil, then cook with flour and spices.
- Add nutritional yeast.
- Add water, and stir, stir, stir.
That's it! If you can pour and stir, you can do this.
How to Use Your Vegan Cheese Sauce
Use this sauce anywhere you want to add a cheesy punch.
- Drizzle it over a grain bowl.
- Pour it over chips for instant nachos.
- Use it as a vegan queso dip.
- Spoon it on in place of the sriracha mayo in your avocado tacos.
The Veginner's Cookbook Review
Y'all, I am so excited to share this easy recipe for Vegan Cheese Sauce from my friend, Bianca Haun's cookbook: The Veginner's Cookbook. You may know Bianca from her website, Elephantastic Vegan.
The book is a helpful guide for anyone who wants to give veganism a spin. The first section walks you through everything you need to know about going vegan:
- kitchen tools and ingredients
- basic grain cooking
- vegan substitutes for non-vegan ingredients
- how to talk to skeptics (or get them to leave you alone)
From there, Bianca and her partner, Sascha Naderer, arm you with recipes for everything from kitchen staples and entrees to baked goods and desserts.
I chose their Basic Vegan Cheese Sauce to showcase, because it's so versatile. For a new vegan, I think having some go-to staples like this sauce can be a real gamechanger. I hear so often that cooking vegan food is time consuming, and having go-tos like this speed things up considerably.
The other thing I love about this Basic Vegan Cheese Sauce is that it's nut free. We have a few friends with peanut and tree nut allergies, and now we have a cheesy sauce that we can share with them!
Easy Vegan Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon paprika powder
- ¼ teaspoon curry powder
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Heat the coconut oil in a small pot on low heat.
- Once the oil is a complete liquid, add in the flour and whisk.
- Add the salt, paprika powder, and curry powder and whisk again.
- Then, add the nutritional yeast and whisk again. It should be clumpy - that's normal, don't worry.
- Add the water and whisk on the lowest heat setting for about 1 minute until the sauce thickens nicely. If it gets too thick (or if you want to reheat at a later time) you can add a little bit more water and whisk again and it should be good as new.
- Use it as a dip, pour it over some lasagna or pizza or whatever you like, and enjoy!
Elsie
This looks delicious. Would an oil other than coconut work? Thanks.
Becky Striepe
You can try, but I haven't made this with any other oil.
Heidi
Would whole wheat flour or a gluten free flour work with this recipe? It looks delicious and thanks for sharing!!
Becky Striepe
I have not tested it with either, but I believe that whole wheat would work. You may need to up the liquid a bit, since whole wheat flour is thirstier than white.
Jernika
Soooo good and easy af to make. Thanks for sharing!
Becky Striepe
Thank you, Jernika! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Ashley
This actually looks a ton like normal nacho sauce, so intriguing! The curry powder sounds unsettling, but there's so many positive comments about it, I just have to give it a shot. Has anyone tried it with any gluten-free flours? Do you know if I would need to make any adjustments?
Becky Striepe
I hear ya - I wasn't sure about the curry at first either, but it's delightful. I haven't tried with gluten-free flour, but Serious Eats says that you can make a roux with rice flour, so that might work!
Tash
I loved this ! The curry made me think twice but definitely worth it ! Also I added some Goya Adobo con pimenta to give it more depth to
Becky Striepe
Right? I was hesitant about the curry, too, but it works so well!
Jaime woodruff
So good!! At first I didn't think the curry was going to work, but I was wrong!! Best vegan cheese sauce recipe I have ever tried!!
Becky Striepe
I went through that exact experience! Curry in cheese sauce seemed odd, but it is shockingly good!
jenna
This stuff is so good! I admit I had doubts... I was expecting it to just be gravy, but it is seriously cheesy! The curry powder really kicks it off! Loving it!
Becky Striepe
Yes I was so intrigued by the curry powder and am so glad I chose this recipe to share. It’s a delight!
Bianca / Elephantastic Vegan
Thank you so much for the amazing review, Becky!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the vegan cheese sauce! It's really good on pizza and lasagna too :)
Becky Striepe
You are so welcome!
Katie
This was very easy to make and was great on tacos. Thank you for posting! Very very good!
Becky Striepe
Awesome! Glad that you enjoyed it.
Sarah
I need to check out this book. And that cheese sauce looks incredible!
Becky Striepe
You’ll love it!
Sarah De la Cruz
Love a simple queso sauce!!!
Becky Striepe
Me too!
Amy Katz from Veggies Save The Day
This is such a fun cookbook! I'll definitely need to try this sauce!
Becky Striepe
You will love it!
Dianne
I love this book! I haven't made this recipe yet, but now I want to. I want to drizzle this cheesy sauce all over everything!
Becky Striepe
When it’s cold, it’s even spreadable! I used it on toast.
Mary Ellen | VNutrition
I love trying all new cheesy sauces! This one looks gooood! Totally going to check out The Veginner’s Cookbook!
Becky Striepe
It’s a great book!