This creamy Vegan Queso recipe is so delicious! A highly adaptable recipe packed with wholesome veggies and perfect as a dip or over nachos, tamales, burrito bowls, and tacos.
Looking for a dairy-free vegan nacho cheese sauce for game day? This Vegan Queso is light and flavorful, made primarily from vegetables. A no-guilt version of our favorite dip!
I have a confession- I love nachos and queso- one of my guilty pleasures, for sure! Growing up with immigrant parents, who were very frugal, we never had snacks or chips- my neighbors did, and of course, that is all I wanted as a kid.
It’s been a journey finding nachos that I actually feel good about eating, but that day has come, and it’s all about this vegan queso recipe. I finally found these delicious organic tortilla chips made without seed oils.
Why you’ll love this!
- Wholesome ingredients: Packed with veggies and light on the nuts, this lighter version of vegan queso is low in calories and dairy-free.
- Nut-free option: Instead of cashews, try hemp hearts – just as creamy.
- Adaptable: Use carrots, sweet potatoes or orange bell peppers, or any combo of orange veggies. Talk about getting your vitamin A!
- Simple method: No pre-soaking the nuts, woo- hoo! So this can be made on a whim.
Vegan Queso Ingredients
- Orange vegetables: orange bell pepper, yams, or carrots (use one or any combination, see notes)
- Shallot: or half an onion
- Olive oil: adds richness.
- Garlic cloves: or sub garlic powder
- Raw cashews: or use hemp hearts for a nut free version.
- Spices: cumin, smoked paprika or chipotle powder, chili powder, salt and pepper
- Optional: white miso paste, for depth, or nutritional yeast (or both)
- Squeeze lime juice for a boost of tangy brightness.
- Garnishes: sliced jalapeno or pickled jalapeños, cilantro, scallions, hot sauce
What Veggies to Use
You can use any combination of orange vegetables. Just be sure they are very thinly sliced! Aim for 2 cups total.
- Orange bell peppers: about two large ones
- Carrots: 2-3 large carrots
- Sweet potatoes: peel it for optimal color
- Combo of all three! ( my favorite is sweet potato or carrot, combined with bell pepper!)
How to make Vegan Queso
Step one: Heat olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Sauté shallot and garlic until tender, golden and fragrant. This step adds a lot of flavor.
Step two: Add the veggies, spices, salt, pepper, cashews and water, stir, and bring to a boil. Cover, lower and simmer until veggies (especially carrots) are very tender, about 15 minutes. Set aside a half cup of the liquid.
Step three: Pour the remaining mixture into a high-speed blender, Vitamix, or regular blender, with the miso paste until the texture is silky smooth, only adding more liquid to get the blades going if need be. *If using a regular blender, be very careful when blending hot liquids, holding the lid down firmly with a kitchen towel, starting on the lowest speed. You can also use a food processor.
Step four: Taste and adjust salt and spice level to your liking. If it tastes bland, add more salt or miso. Lime juice adds a nice brightness here.
Pour vegan cashew queso into a serving bowl and garnish with sliced jalapeño (or pickled jalapeños), cilantro, and scallions.
Storage & Reheating
Vegan Queso can be refrigerated in a jar for up to 3 days in an airtight container. Reheat in a saucepan or in the microwave!
Expert Tips
- Make it smoky! A teaspoon or two of adobo sauce from canned chipotle peppers adds amazing flavor. Or you can use ground chipotle. Start small, taste and adjust.
- Don’t skip the miso! It adds a delicious depth of flavor. So does the nutritional yeast (use 1-3 teaspoons).
- Do not add anything green to the blended queso, or the queso will result in a brownish color!
- Assemble stacked nachos: Layer tortilla chips with queso, black beans, avocado, tomatoes, jalapeño and cilantro, and repeat. Keep layering- the queso will help things stick together! Serve with fermented hot sauce!
Serving Suggestions
You can use this vegan cheese sauce as a vegan queso dip or drizzle on top of tacos, burrito bowls, or burritos! However you serve it, these toppings go great with our Vegan Queso!
- 5 Minute Hot Sauce
- Fermented Hot Sauce
- Pickled Jalapeños
- Pickled Shallots
- Diced tomatoes
- Diced jalapeños
- Diced green chiles
- Scallions
- Cilantro
- Tortilla Chips– I love this Siete Brand made without seed oils! They offer many varieties, and they are corn-free as well! Found at most upscale grocery stores.
FAQs
Most vegan queso recipes are made with cashews, which we use here. But we also offer a nut-free variation using hemp hearts! The orange veggies are a unique twist that make our vegan queso especially nutritious and a vibrant color!
Yes! Simply use hemp hearts instead of cashews.
If you wish to make this recipe gluten-free, simply leave out the miso!
Yes! Adding so many veggies makes this recipe high in potassium, beta carotene, and vitamin c.
I can’t wait to hear what you think of this Vegan Queso recipe in the comments! Enjoy!
Ways to Enjoy Vegan Queso
Vegan Queso Recipe
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 ¼ cups 1x
- Category: Appetizer, vegan
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This creamy Vegan Queso recipe is so delicious! A highly adaptable recipe packed with wholesome veggies and perfect for nachos, burrito bowls, and tacos. Nut-free option!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 fat shallot ( or half an onion), diced
- 4–6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped ( or sub garlic powder)
- 2 cups orange vegetables: carrots, very thinly sliced (any combination, see notes) or orange bell pepper or sweet potatoes.
- 2 cups water, more for blending if needed
- 1/2 cup raw cashews (or use hemp hearts)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika or chili powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle -or less for less spicy ( see notes)
- 2 tablespoons white miso paste, for depth
- squeeze of lime- optional
- Garnishes: sliced jalapeno or pickled jalapeños, cilantro, scallions, hot sauce
Instructions
- Saute. Heat olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Saute shallot and garlic until tender, golden, and fragrant, about 4-5 minutes.
- Simmer. Add the veggies, spices, salt, pepper, cashews and water, and bring to a boil. Cover, lower and simmer until veggies (especially carrots) are very tender, about 15 minutes.
- Blend. Reserve 1/2 cup of the hot liquid, and pour the remaining mixture into a high-speed blender or Vitamix or food processor with the miso paste. Blend until the texture is silky-smooth, adding more liquid only as needed to get the blades going if needed. *If using a regular blender, be very careful when blending hot liquids, holding the lid down firmly with a kitchen towel, starting on lowest speed.
- Season. Taste and adjust salt and spice level to your liking. (I like to taste this with a tortilla chip, if using). Add a squeeze of lime for a tangy note if you like.
- Serve. Pour into serving bowl (warm) and garnish with sliced jalapeno ( or pickled jalapenos), cilantro, and scallions- or see notes.
- Vegan Queso can be refrigerated for up to 3 days and reheated in a saucepan or microwave!
Notes
Veggies: you can use most any combination of orange veggies. Using carrots and yams helps add “bulk” and adding orange bell pepper is great for flavor. If using all bell peppers, I would strain the mixture before blending, as they will release extra water, and just add enough liquid to the blender to get the motor going. Make sure to very thinly slice carrots (1/16 of an inch- for fastest cooking). I recommend peeling the sweet potato for optional finished color/presentation. Do not add anything green like green chilies to this part, or queso will turn brown. 🙂
Chipotle: A teaspoon or two of adobo sauce from canned chipotle adds great flavor here. Or use smoky ground chipotle- be sure to go light, add more to taste.
White Miso adds great depth here. Feel free to leave it out. You can also add 1-3 teaspoons of nutritional yeast to the blender if you like.
To make stacked nachos, layer tortilla chips with queso, black beans, avocado, tomatoes, jalapeno and cilantro, and repeat, and keep layering- the queso will help things stick together! Serve with fermented hot sauce!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¼ cup
- Calories: 87
- Sugar: 2.2 g
- Sodium: 171.9 mg
- Fat: 6.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 7.1 g
- Fiber: 1.5 g
- Protein: 1.7 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This recipe was super easy to make and the spice profile was great! I also found it a little bit runny (I even used 3 cups of a mixture of peppers, carrots and sweet potato) so it was more of a drizzle than the thick nacho-cheese consistency. However, I do think it will make a fabulous Mexican-Style Sweet Potato Soup!
Hey Shana, thanks for the feedback. I adjusted the recipe a bit to thicken it up.:)
I was looking for a new type of dip and thought this sounded perfect. Of note… mine was a bit runny. I did half pepper half carrot. I’m thinking if I’d cooked it with the lid of some of the water would have evaporated. I have “Alfredo” recipe that is similar with cauliflower that requires the lid to be off during cooking. With 1 Tb miso I thought it was still bland. Tasted too much like bell pepper. I added a second. Still a bit bland. Maybe I have weak miso – it is the mild white kind. So I added a quarter cup of nooch. That helped a lot. I liked how easy it was to make and I like having something as a dipping option.
Hi Sarah, Glad you gave this a go. Recipe calls for 2 tablespoons miso, so maybe that is why it was bland. I used white miso as well. I made the recipe card more clear about only adding enough liquid to be able to blend it. Thanks for the feedback- super helpful!
And I owe an apology. After making my comment I went back and realized I had forgotten to add chipotle. I think that would have helped boost the flavor.
No worries Sarah! Thanks for circling back!
What a fun, delicious, and healthy recipe!! Now I can put delicious melted cheese in everything while eating vegetables! Thanks for another great one!
Wonderful Joanna! Glad you are enjoying. Appreciate the review!
Yum! Goes on everything and is SO easy to make. I had put aside several recipes but never tried any because they looked like a major undertaking. This hits the spot in no time.
I first paired it with your gfyg book omelette, then leftovers as a salade dressing and nacho topping. 💖
So glad you are enjoying this Renée!
My first venture in making vegan queso. It did not disappoint. Good flavor and easy to make.
Awesome!
This recipe is seriously delicious and easy. I have made it at least 5 times and everyone raves about it!
So glad to hear this Dawn! Thanks for taking the time to review.
So good!!!! I am impressed. It’s so perfectly balance. I used carrots only. I made nachos 🙂 I have a lot leftover!!! So it’s going on everything else this weekend 🙂 thank you for another amazing recipe!!!
Excellent, so happy you liked this one! 🙂
This is just delicious! Thank you for another fantastic recipe.
Thanks so much Sienna!
This queso recipe is incredible. I made it with hemp hearts and carrots and used it on nachos with your vegan chorizo. Easy, healthy and not overly caloric like many other recipes that are made with mostly nuts.
Great to hear this Helene!
Looks very intriguing and yummy! Sylvia said she would share info about a tortilla chip that does not use seed oils, yet I’m not finding more info about it or a link to a specific product.
Hi Angie- I just added it to the post. Seite Brand!
This was very tasty with the right combination of spice and sweetness. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome to hear Cindy!
Hi,
I used 2 cups veggies (one bell pepper and one carrot) my queso was not as thick as pictured. Actually, it was rather soupy, not sure why? Maybe the sweet potato is what thickens it?
Kindest regards,
Alicia
Oh shoot. Did you add more water to the blender by chance? I have made this with carrot and bell pepper and it turned out, but maybe I used more carrot?
Cant wait to try for Super Bowl!
Great! Let us know what you think.