Easy cashew queso in your blender

This creamy cashew queso is crowd-pleasing and kid approved! It's a classic, creamy plant-based queso dip that you are going to absolutely love.

This is sort of an old-school vegan cashew queso recipe, and it's still one of my favorites. A classic!

This vegan queso recipe is kid-tested and omnivore approved. I've served it to vegans and non-vegans, toddlers, older kids, and adults. Everyone devours it.

It's rich, creamy, and tastes decadently delicious.

Table of Contents

• A brief history of vegan queso
• Recipe notes
• Serving suggestions
• Vegan queso recipe

A brief history of vegan queso

When I first started making cashew queso back in 2011, it was kind of a revelation.

At the time, commercially-available vegan cheeses only vaguely resembled cheese. This was before Chao and Follow Your Heart Slices hit the shelves. Before Miyoko Schinner's Artisan Vegan Cheese changed the game.

Dark times.

One of the most common comments I get from non-vegans is that they couldn't live without cheese. Seriously, I can almost tell by the look on a person’s face at this point that they're about to confess their cheesy devotion.

I’m not complaining here. Just observing. Because I was a die-hard cheese-eater, too.

Giving up cheese was harder for me than giving up smoking. It was also one of the best things I think I’ve ever done for my health, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

While store-bought vegan cheeses have come a long way, I still make this cashew queso quite a bit. It's affordable, easy, and uses all natural ingredients. My favorite things!

Even my omnivore friends devour this vegan queso dip when I make it, and I thought you guys might like to try it, too, since it’s so quick and simple to make!

Recipe notes

This is an incredibly easy recipe to make. Just soak your cashews, throw them into the blender with the rest of the ingredients, and blend until smooth. There are a few things to note, though.

First off, you do not need raw cashews. For years, I recommended raw cashews only for any cashew cream type recipe. But I discovered that you can totally use roasted cashews, as long as you soak them in hot water first.

The next important note about this recipe is about the salsa. The salsa is bringing quite a bit of flavor to this queso, so choose one that you really love! Don't go for the cheapest salsa here.

The last thing I want to mention is about blending. You can make cashew queso in a regular or a high speed blender. In a high speed blender, it takes a minute to a minute and a half. It will take longer in a regular blender.

No matter what kind of blender you have, I suggest that you don't blend for more than one minute at a time. Once a minute, stop, scrape down the sides of your blender, and give the motor a rest. Blending for extended periods can burn out your blender's motor, and I don't want that for you!

Serving suggestions

Of course, you can dish this up with chips and veggies for dipping, as pictured, but this vegan cheese recipe is way more versatile than that.

Use dollops of it on pizza, spread it onto sandwiches, or stuff it into a pita or wrap. You can also spread it onto a tortilla, add fillings like corn and beans, and bake it into a quesadilla.

I love it in tacos or on top of a burrito bowl, too. Basically, anywhere you feel like your food could use some cheesy goodness, this cashew queso is your friend.

Hi, friend.