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
- 1/3 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)
- optional- 2 tablespoons white miso paste, for depth
- squeeze of lime- optional
- Garnishes: sliced jalapeno or pickled jalapeños, cilantro, scallions, hot sauce
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Saute shallot and garlic until tender, golden, and fragrant, about 4-5 minutes.
- 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.
- Pour the mixture into a high-speed blender or Vitamix, and add the miso paste. Blend until the texture is silky smooth -adding more water 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 lowest speed.
- 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 tanginess if you like.
- 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