A vegan cheese sauce is the core ingredient in some of our favorite recipes: Nachos, quesadillas, sandwiches, soups, and more. If you're not using the best, most delicious, vegan cheese, you miss out on elevating your dishes with everyone's favorite guilty pleasure. Instead of buying dairy-free cheese at your local grocery store, here is our favorite vegan cashew cheese sauce recipe that's made with whole-food plant-based ingredients, and has an incredible umami flavor.

We have all experienced the time when you bite into your grilled cheese or scoop your spoon into your french onion soup, and the melty, gooey, cheese stretches across your plate or bowl. There's no question that this is an extremely satisfying picture-worthy moment that will make everyone's mouth water.

How to make dairy-free cheese sauces and dips?

First, choosing the right cheese isn't as easy as it seems. There are so many different vegan cheese options at the grocery store, it can be overwhelming. But if this is not your first rodeo and you can't live without vegan cheese (like many of us), you probably found your favorite store-bought version that does the trick but is still not as good as this homemade vegan cheese sauce. If this happens to be your first time introducing non-dairy cheese to your taste buds, you can't go wrong with a homemade recipe that tastes just like the real thing, is healthier for you, and cheaper to make at home.

Because all vegan cheeses are made with ingredients like nuts, nutritional yeast, and other cheese-like substitutes, they don't always melt the way you want them to. Some vegan cheeses work better for a cold deli sandwich or a charcuterie board, but when you want that stringy pull-apart texture, we have the best homemade vegan cheese sauce that caters to all your wants in the perfect grilled-cheese sandwich. This recipe doesn't include any unwanted preservatives and is extremely low in calories.

This vegan cheese sauce is made with raw cashews, non-dairy milk, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, turmeric, smoked paprika, mustard, and salt and pepper. Most of these ingredients you probably have on hand but they are all easy pantry staples that you will use often, especially when you try this cheese sauce for the first time.

Dairy-Free Cheese Sauce with Nutritional Yeast Recipe

Serves 3

Ingredients

1 ½ Cup Raw Cashews
1 Cup Plain Non-Dairy Milk, unsweetened
¼ Cup Nutritional Yeast
1 Tsp Garlic Powder
½ Tsp Onion Powder
¼ Tsp Turmeric
½ Tsp Smoked Paprika
1 Tsp Salt
¼ Tsp Pepper
1 Tsp Mustard

Instructions

Soak the raw cashews in hot water for 30 minutes
Drain your soaked cashews and add them to a blender with the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients.
Blend until completely smooth. If you want your sauce to be a little bit thinner, blend in a splash of non-dairy milk at a time until you reach your desired consistency.