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:
Can you use lite coconut milk or does it need to be regular coconut milk?
Yes, you can Heather! 🙂
This was really nice. I think the three minutes is a little oversell but it was very quick. Discovered you have to have pretty powerful electric grinder to breakdown dried tapioca balls, so the first attempt was a little lumpy but still good. Added some turmeric (about 1/8 teaspoon) to boost the color a little. Look forward to playing around with other flavorings.
Hi! I would never recommend using tapioca balls/pearls! Always buy tapioca flour, it works SO MUCH better! 🙂
Else, you mention water several times but I don’t see it mentioned in the list of measured ingredients. Is it necessary? And if so, how much she we use? Thanks! Your recipe looks amazing!
Hi Jill, you don’t need to use water. I often use canned coconut milk (full-fat) and mix it with water to make “lite coconut milk”. Hope this helps! 🙂
Hi Ela! Recipe was amazing and super tasty! Please could you give me a tip on when/ how to add it to pizza? I made the sauce (it was thick, I didn’t see your recommendations for adding more coconut milk ??♀️) so I rolled with the thicker stretchy cheese sauce and put a layer before the toppings and more after toppings. The cooked pizza defo didn’t look as gorgeous as your pics but it tasted perfectly fine ? if my sauce is thinner do I only add it last on top of all the toppings? I noticed my cooked sauce darkened and crisped when I took out the cooked pizza.
Thanks for all your recipes and information! I’ve loved your pasta soup too! And I’m eager to make your mushroom stroganoff xx Colette
Hi Colette! Yes, you can make it a little thinner and put it on top of all other toppings, then bake in the oven! I am glad you like the taste. 🙂
Ela! I’ve made many of your recipes but OMG this vegan cheese is SO delicious! Thank you ?
So glad you loved it, Tania! 🙂
Hi Ela, can I sub the sour cream for anything?
Hi Rebecca! Do you mean instead of the coconut milk? I believe sour cream would be too thick. Maybe sour cream mixed with water.
Do i have to get tapioca or arrowroot flour i can’t get them for now . Can i use normal flour or not ? I really want to try it
No, it doesn’t work with normal flour.
The texture is amazing and it tastes delicious! I made this to dip soft pretzels in. My nutritional yeast didn’t result in the same deep yellow colour, so I’ll probably tweak the recipe the next time in an attempt to make it look more like typical nacho cheese, just for the visual!
Hi Hayley, if the nutritional yeast doesn’t contain B-vitamins, it typically doesn’t have a yellow color. You can try a different brand or add a pinch of turmeric powder to achieve a yellowish color. Hope this helps! 🙂
Hello! Do you think I could use nutritional yeast powder instead of flakes? Can’t wait to try! Thank
Hi Wafa, I think that is totally fine. 🙂
This is by far the most delicious vegan cheese I’ve ever eaten!!! I was just confused as to why some of the coconut milk’s natural oil separated from the cheese. When I heated it, it created sort of like a dough texture which separated off from the oil. Could it be because I blended the ingredients in the blender rather than by whisk? Or did I add too much tapioca starch? Nevertheless it was still amazing! I will try this again with strict measurements and a whisk.
Hi Raja, I never tried blending it. Maybe your coconut milk was higher in fat and therefore the natural oil separated from the cheese.
I am glad you liked the taste. 🙂
I’m not vegan but simply trying to reduce dairy because I’m pretty addicted to it and eating cheese every day was causing digestive trouble. Anyways, I made this recipe. The only sub is I had coconut cream which I diluted 50% with water, along with instant tapioca. It is freaking amazing! I’m happy I don’t have to spend tons of money on cashews to get an awesome cheese sauce.
Yay! I am so glad you love the recipe, Nina! Thanks for your wonderful feedback. 🙂
I’m a bit confused: should I buy tapioca flour or tapioca starch? I’m definitely going to try this sauce!
Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Sofie! Tapioca flour and tapioca starch are exactly the same. 🙂
Hence the confusion! Thanks!!
Thank you for the recipe! It`s wonderful 🙂 . I used oat milk instead of coconut.
Sounds great! Thanks for leaving feedback, Auli. 🙂
This cheese sauce is so delicious and super quick and easy to make! Best quesadillas ever!
My son couldn’t believe there was no cheese in it! ?
Makes me so happy that you like this vegan cheese sauce recipe, Pam. Thanks! 🙂
It looks amazing!! I wonder if I can make it and keep some in the fridge?
How do you recommend to stor it if I’m pre making it for a meal?
Thanks a lot
So good! I subbed cassava flour for the tapioca and used cashew milk. I also added a bit of vegan butter. O.M.G amazing!
All you have to say is cheese and i’m all for it! Sounds so good! I’m going to have to make it this week! Thanks!
Wonderful! Enjoy. 🙂
Will it work with something other than tapioca or arrowroot starch?
Like, could I use an all-purpose gluten-free flour, homemade chia flour, coconut flour, etc?
No, that won’t work! Tapioca flour is the best. 🙂
I was looking for an easy sauce I could use as gravy over polenta. This worked perfectly, and tasted really good. I didn’t have tapioca flour, so I used potato starch, and that was fine. I’m looking forward to having this with pasta, too, or with cooked veggies. Thank you!
Fantastic! I am glad you liked the recipe, Chris! 🙂
This was easy and delicious. I’m loving all of your recipes that I’ve tried.
Question- the description mentions water twice but it’s not listed in the recipe? Did I miss something?
Hi Karen! Thanks so much for your comment. I think I will need to change the description. In the past I have mixed the coconut milk (if it was too thick) with water, just to make it thinner and therefore I mentioned it in the blog post. But I can see that it’s kinda confusing! 🙂