Magic happens when whole foods come together to create this ultra sharp, ultra rich, ultra creamy vegan white cheese sauce, but without the actual dairy. Pure addiction in every bite!
Some say magic can’t happen twice. I tend to disagree. Case in point…cheese sauce. And not just any cheese sauce, but artisan style vegan sharp white cheese sauce. But without the actual cheese. Yup, I took my original Ultimate “Cheese” Sauce, and created it’s first cousin. It’s not only made from veggies, but it has no real dairy and no added fats or oils in it. Just pure whole food goodness!
When the 3 year old eats it, it must be good.
It really is that creamy. Your eyes do not deceive you. I ultimately knew I nailed this one when my 3 year old declared that he wanted this every night for dinner. Then proceeded to eat 3 bowls. Yes, 3.
This vegan white cheese sauce is creamy and sharp with that perfect bite, just like all the dairy filled cheesy sauces you eat at a restaurant….except that this vegan white cheese sauce is actually created with vegetables and all whole foods!
It goes great as an artisan style baked vegan mac and cheese, try it out and let me know what you think!
Making vegan white cheese sauce is actually quite easy!
The other great thing about this vegan white cheese sauce is that it is super easy, just like my other one! Same deal:
- Boil and roast.
- Blend.
- Stuff face.
Oh and if you don’t have a high speed blender, make sure to grind or soak those cashews to give yourself the chance of getting that ultimate creamy texture.
I am SO excited to hear what you think about this cheese sauce version! My original ultimate vegan cheese sauce is still to this day my most popular recipe. This unique twist to the original is so good, and has a delicious sharp bite. So make, share, and get your dairy loving friends to give this a try.
This recipe was originally published on 12/3/2015
Magic happens when whole foods come together to create this ultra sharp, ultra rich, ultra creamy vegan white cheese sauce, but without the actual dairy. Pure addiction in every bite!
- 2 cups cooked potato (about 3-4 potatoes, see note)
- 2 tablespoons cooked yellow pepper (about 1/3 of a medium sized pepper)
- 3 tablespoons cooked yellow carrots (about 4-5 yellow baby carrots or one medium sized)
- 5 tablespoons cooked sweet or yellow onion (about 1/2 a small)
- 1/2 cup raw cashews (see note)
- 1 teaspoon roasted garlic (about 2-4 cloves, depending on size)
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1-2 teaspoons mustard seed powder (use less or more according to how sharp you like the flavor)
- 1 1/4 teaspoons chickpea miso
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt (can use less or more depending on taste preference)
- Your favorite pasta if making Mac and Cheese
Roast the garlic by peeling and wrapping it in tin foil with a splash of veggie broth. Roast at 400 F (205 C), in a regular or toaster oven, while you cook the veggies.
Put potatoes (peel if you don't want specks of skin), yellow pepper, carrots, onion and cashews in a pot and cover with water. If you don't have a high speed blender and are grinding the cashews, then don't boil but grind them dry and place them in the blender.
Cook over high heat until water boils, about 15 minutes if uncovered. Turn heat to medium and boil another 20 minutes, until potatoes are tender.
When done, drain water (keeping some to thin out sauce if prefer a thinner sauce), separate veggies and put the cashews in the blender. I use a fork to fish out the veggies, then drain the cashews over a pasta strainer.
Measure out the needed amount of each veggie and place each in the blender. Add the rest of the ingredients.
Blend on high until you get a creamy gooey consistency. If you have a tamper tool use it to help mix the sauce as it blends. If you don’t have one, then you will need to stop and push down the ingredients every once in a while.
Taste and adjust ground mustard seed for a sharper flavor if desired.
If you want to thin it out, add some of the reserved cooking water, 1 tablespoon at a time until you get the desired consistency. Use it while it's nice and hot!
- Cook your pasta according to package directions.
- Drain pasta reserving about 1 cup pasta water in case you want your mac and cheese a little thinner.
- Add the pasta back into the pot and add desired amount of cheese sauce. Mix well. Try and add a touch more salt if needed.
Then add pasta water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well in between additions, until you get the desired consistency for your Mac and Cheese. If your pasta is too starchy (as some gluten free pastas are) you can also use regular water or even non dairy milk to do this. Add salt if needed, it most likely will since the sauce is no longer as concentrated. Devour!
- Makes 3 1/2 cups sauce. Serving size for nutrition info is 1/2 cup.
- Nutrition info is for cheese sauce only.
- I used red potatoes but any starchy potato will work, just don’t use sweet. It also won't work to substitute with something that is not an actual potato (such as another root vegetable).Â
- If you are not using a high speed blender, you can grind the dry cashews into a fine powder using a coffee grinder (do not boil them for this method). You can also soak them overnight prior to boiling with the veggies.
- You can make this nut free by eliminating the nuts, however you will lose some of the thickness and creaminess. It will still be pretty good in taste, but just lacking some of those elements. You can also try subbing with another nut if you are allergic to cashews, I suggest walnuts or macadamias, however the flavor will be different. I did try it with multiple nuts and liked the taste of the cashews best.
- If you don’t have chickpea miso, you can try using a white miso although it will be a little more mild in flavor so you may need more, especially if you want it nice and sharp tasting.
- I did not add any liquid to this when I made it, but depending on what you use it for, you may want to thin it out with some water, water from the boiled veggies or pasta water if making mac and cheese.
- You can reheat this in the microwave or in a pot with a splash of nondairy milk (I use cashew) and mix well. Add splashes of milk and mix until you have the right consistency. It may need more salt depending on how much milk you add.
- You can also freeze leftovers in a freezer safe container as it freezes great. Defrost slowly when ready to eat. You may think it didn't freeze well, but as you heat it up the consistency comes back!
Tips to prep ahead:
- Cook the veggies and roast the garlic. Store in the fridge in an airtight container until ready to use.
Baby/toddler food idea:
- This can be mixed into any baby food or be used for a toddler as a dip. You could also just blend the veggies on their own for baby.
- Cut the sharpness by reducing the mustard for younger kids.
Kirsten says
Mac and cheese is a veggie in our house again. Also, I didn’t have miso so I used an equal amount of veggie better-than-bouillon… So good! Baby, toddler approved
veggiesdontbite says
Oh yay!!! So happy it is even baby and toddler approved!
Vallen says
I’m about to make this for Christmas dinner, and I noticed that in the Ingredients list (as well as the Instructions) it does not say how to cut up the potatoes, peppers, carrots or onions.. Should they be diced? Sliced? Chopped? The recipe is already a little intimidating for me, so I want to make sure I make it correctly 🙂 Some clarification would be wonderful. Thank you!
veggiesdontbite says
Hi Vallen! Because you blend everything it doesn’t really matter how you cut it. I just chop in large pieces, then cook, then mash into measuring cups to get the amount needed for the recipe. However I recently weighed the exact amount as well so if you have a scale you can weigh them after cooking as well instead of using measuring cups. Hope you like it! Make sure you start slow on the ground mustard if you aren’t a huge sharp or mustard fan. Then slowly add more to get the flavor you like.
Vallen says
Thanks so much for the quick reply! I can’t wait to try this!! Happy Holidays 🙂
Becca says
This sounds amazing!!! I made you Tzatziki sauce and OMG best ever!!! Ur amazing chef! So I was wondering how big are the red potatoes. Like small ones or large?
veggiesdontbite says
Yay!! So happy you liked it! Thank you so much! So for the potatoes, I use medium to large ones, then weigh or measure out what you need after they are cooked.
Leona Lopez says
I tried it, and thought it was fantastic! Do you think this might work when baked, in a baked mac & cheese situation? Or do you think that might ruin the texture?
veggiesdontbite says
I’m so happy to hear Leona! Funny you should ask because I have a baked mac and cheese that uses it! I need to go in and link it in that post. Here is the mac and cheese link: https://www.veggiesdontbite.com/sharp-white-mac-and-cheese-bake/
Amanda says
This looks amazing…but I’m mildly allergic to sweet peppers so avoid them whenever possible. Should I increase the carrot and onion a bit to cover what the yellow pepper would add, or is there another substitution that would work better?
veggiesdontbite says
Hi Amanda! I would do what you said, the flavor may not be exactly the same, but it should be pretty close!
Krista Burbach says
OMG! I just made this sauce for the first time and I cannot believe how much it tastes like a regular dairy cheese sauce!!!! We have been eating WFPB no oil for 18 months and I thought I would never have good Mac and cheese again…until today! Thank you so much!
veggiesdontbite says
Yay! I am so happy to hear Krista! Thanks so much for telling me!!
Micke says
I just made this for dinner tonight. It’s good! I used orange carrot and pepper, so it is a pale yellow color. Even with 1 spoon full, the mustard flavor was a bit too much– I will reduce that and add more miso next time. We like nutritional yeast as a spice in our house and I think adding it would certainly compliment the flavors. It was nice as a sauce/dip. I look forward to trying it on pasta. Definitely a keeper.
veggiesdontbite says
So happy you liked it! Definitely adjust the sharpness to your liking!
Ashley says
I am allergic to chickpeas and soy. Is there anything I can sub for the miso? Such as a non soy “soy sauce”?
veggiesdontbite says
Hi Ashley, I looked and there is a miso out there that is soy free and not chickpea based (http://www.southrivermiso.com/store/p/3-Azuki-Bean-Miso.html) and there are probably more. However if you want to leave it out you can, it just won’t be the exact same. You will need to up the other tangy ingredients to get that sharpness though (vinegar and mustard seed). You can try the soy sauce idea but I haven’t tried it so not sure of the flavor it gives! Let me know!
Alicia says
Is it possible to make this in a food processor? I don’t have a blender.
Thanks!
veggiesdontbite says
Hi Alicia! So a food processor probably wont give you the creamy smoothness like a blender does. You can definitely try, and flavor will be good, but texture will not be the same.
Lucy says
This is amazing, made to use as Mac and cheese, was wonderful my cheese eating children had seconds. Tonight made again to go with cauliflower cheese looks amazing so far! Ps I used normal miso paste and orange carrots xxx
veggiesdontbite says
Oh I am so so happy to hear!!! Thank you so much for letting me know. Yes, the normal miso and orange carrots work just fine. Let me know if I can be of any help!
Joseph says
Made this yesterday and my wife is totally in love with it, thanks for sharing! The cheese taste awesome!
veggiesdontbite says
I am so happy you liked it!! Thanks so much for letting me know! I am publishing a new cheeseball recipe, I think you guys would like it!
Emilie says
I’ve been wanting to try this for a while…finally found chickpea miso, but not yellow carrots! I went ahead anyway, knowing it would be more orange in color. I got a little nervous while blending it – I have an older blender – but as I was pushing down the veggies periodically, I finally got a glimpse of what it was turning into! The taste and smoothness is fantastic. Love it…can’t wait to put it on everything! 🙂
veggiesdontbite says
Oh yay!!! So glad you loved it!! Yes, orange carrots work just fine. It’s merely esthetic to have the yellow. Thank you for trying it out!
Emilie says
Oh just one question, though I assume I did it right because it was so perfect. The seasonings go in when ready to blend everything, right? (this is how I did it.) It didn’t seem like they’d go into the boiling veggies.
veggiesdontbite says
Hi Emilie! Yep, into the blender not when boiling. So glad you liked it!
Su says
Absolutely outstanding cheese sauce. I used walnuts instead of cashews. Just as is, reminds me of Welsh rarebit made from sharp cheddar. Would be wonderful poured over toasted pumpernickel bread. I put it over roasted veggies- broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, carrot, and peppers.
veggiesdontbite says
Wow!! Thank you so much for letting me know! That’s great to know that you loved it even with using walnuts. Thank you for your support and being reader!