Easy vegan cheese sauce with minimal ingredients and ready in 3 minutes! A super simple and nut-free plant-based recipe which requires only a handful of ingredients. This vegan queso is perfect for pizza, nachos, Mac and Cheese, burgers, pasta bake, toast, and more savory recipes. The sauce doesn’t contain cashews!
Easy Vegan Cheese Sauce Without Cashews!
This is probably the easiest homemade vegan cheese sauce ever! It might change your life, it changed mine, I am not kidding. Coconut milk, tapioca flour, nutritional yeast flakes, water, and salt – these are the ingredients which you will need to make this delicious sauce.
Since most people have water and salt at home, all you need to buy is coconut milk, tapioca flour, and nutritional yeast flakes. But maybe you already have these ingredients at home as well. So let’s start to make this easy recipe, it will be done in 3 minutes!
Only A Few Ingredients
I know there are tons of vegan cheese sauce recipes out there, but most of them contain cashews + many more ingredients and require longer preparation time. This cashew-free cheese sauce contains only a handful of ingredients and is ready in 3 minutes.
How To Make Vegan Cheese Sauce
You just need to put all the ingredients into a saucepan, bring the mixture to a boil and that’s it! You don’t even need a blender or food processor. No cooking of veggies, no soaking of cashews. It seriously couldn’t be easier than that.
Not Only For Vegans
This recipe is not only amazing for vegans. I served it also to vegetarians and meat eaters and everyone loved the taste AND texture of this vegan cheese sauce. The tapioca flour (which is also called tapioca starch) makes this recipe so special because it adds the amazing elasticity to the sauce. It makes the sauce stretchy and even reminds of real cheese. Nutritional yeast is an important ingredient for the taste because it adds a cheesy flavor. The spices are up to you, but I love to add some garlic and onion powder, and also a pinch of smoked paprika.
Perfect For Nachos, Pizza, Gratin And More
You can use this vegan sauce for any savory recipe which requires cheese. Whether it is pizza, nachos, gratin, pasta, or any other plant-based recipe. Sometimes when I am too lazy to make my Mac and Cheese recipe I will simply make this 3-minute cheese sauce and pour it over my cooked pasta and my dinner is served in just a few minutes. I have included some pictures of different dishes which I made using this cheese sauce recipe.
This easy vegan cheese sauce is:
- Plant-based
- Gluten free
- Oil-free
- Dairy-free
- Nut-free (no Cashews!)
- Paleo-friendly
- Easy to make in a few minutes
Make This Vegan Cheese Sauce Today
I made this cheeze sauce probably 100 times already because I use it in almost all of my savory recipes lol. I just love simple recipes which require only a few ingredients and this easy sauce recipe is one of them. So don’t wait any longer and make it NOW. I am sure you will love it as well.
Tapioca flour can be bought in every Asia shop or big supermarkets or simply ordered online. Same goes for nutritional yeast flakes. Check the Recipe Notes for a tapioca flour substitute.
Should you recreate this vegan nacho cheese sauce, please leave a comment below and don’t forget to tag me in your Instagram or Facebook post with @elavegan and #elavegan because I love to see your recreations.
Easy Vegan Cheese Sauce
Video
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (180 ml) coconut milk canned (*see notes )
- 3 tbsp (20 g) nutritional yeast flakes
- 2 tbsp (15 g) tapioca flour OR arrowroot flour/starch (*see notes)
- ½ tsp sea salt (or to taste)
- ½ tsp onion powder (optional)
- ¼ tsp garlic powder (optional)
- Pinch of smoked paprika (optional)
Instructions
- You can check out the video for visual instructions.Put all ingredients into a saucepan and stir with a whisk. Once everything is combined, turn on the heat and bring the mixture to a boil while stirring constantly.
- Let simmer on low to medium heat for about one minute until the sauce is stretchy.
- Enjoy this vegan cheese sauce with nachos, on pizza, over pasta, and many other savory dishes! Please read the recipe notes below.
Notes
- Thickness: If the cheese sauce turns out too thick, just add more coconut milk or any other plant-based milk (or water), up to 1 cup.
- Coconut milk: I use coconut milk that contains 17% fat. In case you don't like the taste of coconut milk, you can use a different plant-based milk instead, e.g. almond milk, cashew milk, etc. The higher the fat content of the milk, the better will be the taste of the vegan cheese sauce.
- Tapioca flour: Tapioca flour/starch can be bought in every Asia store or larger grocery stores or simply ordered online.
- Tapioca substitute: Two readers (thanks, Brooklyn and Nichola) commented that arrowroot flour (also known as arrowroot powder or arrowroot starch) is a great substitute for tapioca flour/starch.
- Cornstarch: You could use cornstarch instead of tapioca flour, but the result won’t be as good (stretchy) as with tapioca flour. It will still taste ok!
- How to store: You can store the sauce in the fridge for up to 2 days, but it will change the texture. Reheat with a splash of dairy-free milk. It tastes best freshly made.
- FAQ: "My cheese sauce didn't turn out yellow. What did I do wrong...?" Answer: Some nutritional yeast brands enrich their products with lots of B-vitamins. The nutritional yeast flakes which I ordered from Amazon contain B-vitamins and are therefore yellow. When I use 3 tbsp, the cheese sauce turns out pretty yellow, but when I use less (e.g. just 1 tbsp) the color is just light yellowish." You can also add a pinch of turmeric powder.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
„Simple and Delicious Vegan“ Cookbook by ElaVeganCLICK HERE to order!If you are using Pinterest, feel free to pin the following photo:
Just made it. Super easy and fast. 2 comments….1) a bit too salty so next time will omit the salt or cut down in half the onion and garlic powder. and 2) must use/eat is straight away otherwise it becomes a bit ‘clumpy’ (maybe not the 100% correct description.
Was making pasta and the sauce….sauce was done about 5 minutes before the pasta….by the time pasta was ready, sauce was already ‘consolidating’ and getting less ‘gooey’. Even when mixing with the hot pasta, really had to mix it very well to keep the ‘gooeyiness’…
Maybe more milk needed?
Thanks for your feedback, Mike! 🙂
How long it will last In fridge? Can I frozen the l ft over?
Thank you
I always use it right away. It will get pretty thick in the fridge once it cools. You could reheat it with a splash of plant-based milk the next day if you don’t want to use it right away. I wouldn’t recommend freezing it.
This recipe is just amazing!! Best vegan cheese sauce ever!! I am so excited to try out all your other recipes too. Thanks Ela!!
Thank you so much, Anu! 🙂
hey Ela, i’m making your pizza tonight and I wanted to share two tweaks i’ve made since I don’t have nutritional yeast since it’s crazy expensive here in Brazil. I added 1 tbsp of chickpea flour, a pinch of turmeric and a tsp of acv, for color and more flavor, and I loved it!
That’s a great tip! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Just made this. Amazingly tasty! Smelled so good while it was cooking. I put it over my dinner which was a layer, really a double layer of peeled chopped steamed russet potatoes, with refried beans, bulgar taco meat Ela’s cheese sauce & salsa. Loved it! I did also try the sauce solo & this is my new go to vegan cheese sauce. Anyone thinking of trying in yoyr blender, even if it gets hot, don’t bother. I didn’t but I thought about it. I can’t imagine trying to get this gooey cheese sauce out from under the blades. Besides stovetop using a whisk (not an immersion blender) was super easy!
So glad you like the recipe as well! Thanks for your feedback, Dana! 🙂
Wow. Wow. Wow. Made this sauce for vegan tacos & uh, mind blown!!!! Thanks!!!
Awesome! I am so glad you loved it. 🙂
Hi, this recipe looks awesome! I’m always looking for new and cheaper ways to satisfy my vegan cheese cravings. Just wondering if the ingredients amounts listed would be enough for two 12 inch pizzas? And would you put the cheese on before you put the pizzas in the oven or after? Thanks!
Hi Abbie, you should definitely double the recipe if you make two 12 inch pizzas. I always put the cheese on before I put the pizza in the oven. 🙂
I used almond milk so I added a TBS of guacamole for fat. It was thin but very tasty! I am going to experiment and try to make a potato and broccoli soup. Thanks!
Hi Ela,
This looks incredible and I can’t wait to try it!
Can you use light (low fat) coconut milk? Or will this make the sauce more watery?
Thank you!!
Hi Natalie! 🙂 Yes, that’s totally possible! The one I use isn’t very high in fat either. 🙂
It looks great. Thank you.
How long will it keep in fridge?
Can it be frozen?
I always use it right away. It will get pretty thick in the fridge once it cools. You could reheat it with a splash of plant-based milk the next day if you don’t want to use it right away. I never tried freezing the vegan cheese sauce.
This didn’t work out for nachos =\ it had that strong kick from the coconut milk. Unfortunately reminded me nothing of cheese -_-
Every taste differs, right… You can use any other plant-based milk. Doesn’t have to be coconut milk.
Hey Ela, this looks so good I will definitely make this and as I am searching for vegan/dairy free alternatives this is perfect! I am searching for tapioka-flour sold in germany… which one do you use? I never used it that`s why I am a bit unsure about whats the “best”?!
Hi Julia, “Tapioka Mehl” is available in most Asia stores or check your “Reformhaus”. Please don’t use tapioca perls though. 😀
Can’t wait to try this! Do you change up the seasonings at all to use on pizza or pasta? I love cheesey Italian dishes but am not sure how to get the right flavor.
No, I don’t. When I use it over pasta, I simply add ground oregano or an Italian spice blend to the tomato sauce. 🙂
This looks amazing! Can I use corn starch instead? 🙂
You can but the result won’t be as good. The sauce will be thick but not stretchy. 🙂
Hi Ela – just discovered you! This cheese is delicious, thanks for the great easy recipe. I am also extremely happy that you do not have autoplay HD video ads as some of us still pay for bandwidth in the 3rd world (I once left a website open by accident overnight and it used 6 GIGS)! Because of this and this cheese sauce recipe you are bookmarked and my go-to 🙂
I am glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for bookmarking my page, Michele. 🙂
Do you have any idea on what could be used in pace of nutritional yeast?
Unfortunately, I don’t, sorry!
So excited to try this recipe! Could I use xanathan gum instead of the tapioca flour do you think or should I head to the store? 😉
No xanthan please! Xanthan is only beneficial in gluten-free flours but never more than 1 tsp or so. Please purchase tapioca flour to make this recipe. 🙂
I have made this absolutely yummy sauce twice now, following the recipe exactly. It’s soooooooo tasty! My husband and two year old love it! I have only used it as a mac and cheese sauce but I’m sure it is excellent however it gets utilized. I dropped it off with a meat-eating friend who was babysitting for me and she wanted the recipe and said she liked the taste better than regular mac and cheese! The second time I forgot to add the tapioca powder until after I heated the sauce so it turned out super clumpy and it STILL tasted amazing! Thank you for this gem!
Such a wonderful feedback! Thanks so much, Melissa! I am really happy you loved the recipe. 🙂
Awww Looks delish ??
Can this sauce be used on pizzas too?
Of course! If you scroll up you will see a photo of the pizza. I use it all the time on pizza! 😀
Thank you Ela ?? will definitely try.it out.
Awesome! ?
Would really love to learn a version without nutritional yeadt as I can not have it. All vegan cheesy dishes have it 🙁