Easy Vegan Cheese Fries

Crispy oven baked fries + melty stretchy gooey vegan nacho cheese + homemade tofu bacon bits = the best ever (surprisingly healthy) Easy Vegan Cheese Fries!!

Can you call cheese fries a dinner? Well, regardless of what might be the correct answer, I'm calling them a dinner because we've been making these loaded vegan cheese fries for dinner on repeat. And let me tell you, during these chilly winter months, they are the epitome of comfort food!

The best thing about these vegan cheese fries is that they are actually decently healthy. No really, don't go, hear me out! The fries are homemade and baked in an oven with just 1 tablespoon of oil for the entire batch. You could even reduce or omit the oil if you prefer.

The cheese is made from raw cashews, water, and some seasoning. And even the bacon bits, are made from tofu and seasoning. (Both recipes are oil-free). And of course if you like you could reduce salt to your preference.

I wasn't even really aiming for health when making these recipes, that's just the way the recipes tasted the best, how cool is that!? Sometimes I even like to add some roasted broccoli or cauliflower along with the fries to make it more of a full meal. YUM!

This comfort food heaven is simple to prepare fresh, but if you're a prep ahead kind of person you can make the tofu bacon bits and the nacho cheese ahead of time, and store in the fridge a few days in advance.

How to Make Easy Vegan Cheese Fries:

Make the tofu bacon bits:

These can be prepared ahead of time and stored in an air-tight container in the fridge or frozen. You only need about ¼ cup bacon bits for this recipe, (the full tofu bacon bits recipe makes about 1 ½ cups), but I recommend making the entire recipe because oh man is it delish!!!! I almost always have these on hand because they are a great addition to any dish. Soups, salads, sandwiches, pasta, the options are endless.

Make the nacho cheese:

When preparing this recipe, add an extra ½ cup of water to the recipe (total water will be 1 ½ cups) so that the cheese is thinner and more pourable. This can also be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for 3 - 5 days. Reheat over medium heat, adding more water if needed.

If you have a copy of my cookbook Fuss-Free Vegan you could alternatively use my recipe Nacho Cheese Love on page 201 which is basically the same recipe with just a few tweaks.

You will only need about half of the cheese sauce for the vegan cheese fries, but I recommend making a full batch of nacho cheese because you will most likely want to make vegan cheese fries again the following day! And even if you don't (unlikely), you can use this nacho cheese on nachos, to dollop onto soup, pour over steamed broccoli, or to make a grilled cheese sandwich.

Make French Fries:

Follow my recipe to make crispy baked French fries or you can make fries in an air-fryer. If using store-bought freezer fries, follow the instructions on the package.

To Make Vegan Cheese Fries:

Once baked, pour all the fries onto the same baking sheet, or a serving dish. Drizzle generously with the nacho cheese. Sprinkle the tofu bacon bits on top. Garnish with any optional toppings as desired. Serve hot.

Print Recipe

5 from 5 votes

Easy Vegan Cheese Fries

Crispy french fries with homemade stretchy melty vegan nacho cheese, and tofu bacon bits. The perfect comfort food for movie night or game night. Surprisingly healthy and can even be made oil-free!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

Course : AppetizerMain CourseSide DishSnack

Cuisine : American

Servings: 2 Servings as a main

Author: Sam Turnbull • It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 recipe Crispy Baked French Fries, (or store-bought freezer fries)
• ½ recipe Melty Stretchy Gooey Vegan Nacho Cheese, + ½ cup water (see step 2)
• ¼ cup Vegan Tofu Bacon Bits

Optional toppings:

• 3 green onions,, chopped
• 2 tablespoons parsley,, chopped
• 1 sliced jalapeno
• 3 tablespoons vegan sour cream, (page 207 in Fuss-Free Vegan)

US Customary - Metric

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

• Make the tofu bacon bits. These can be prepared ahead of time and stored in an air-tight container in the fridge or frozen. I almost always have these on hand because they are a great addition to any dish!
• Make the nacho cheese. When preparing this recipe, add an extra ½ cup of water to the recipe (total water will be 1 ½ cups) so that the cheese is thinner and more pourable. This can also be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for 3 - 5 days. Reheat over medium heat, adding more water if needed.
• Make French Fries. Follow my recipe to make crispy baked French fries or you can make fries in an air-fryer. If using store-bought freezer fries, follow the instructions on the package.
• To Make Vegan Cheese Fries: Once baked, pour all the fries onto the same baking sheet, or a serving dish. Drizzle generously with the nacho cheese. Sprinkle the tofu bacon bits on top. Garnish with any optional toppings as desired. Serve hot.

Notes

Oil-free: to make oil free simply make the fries without oil on parchment paper or silicon matt lined baking sheet. The nacho cheese and bacon bits are already oil-free.

Make ahead: Both the nacho cheese and bacon bits can be made well ahead of time, and stored in the fridge in air-tight containers for a few days. Fries should be baked fresh.

Make it full meal: To make this a bit healthier and more of a full meal, I love to add roasted broccoli and/or cauliflower in with the fries. Both broccoli and cauliflower take about 15 -20 minutes to roast, so you can add them to the oven in the last 20 minutes of baking the fries.

Soaking fries: soaking the homemade fries before baking them will make for the crispiest fries, but if you forget or don't have the time, un-soaked fries will still be great, just less crispy.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving (recipe makes 2 servings) | Calories: 432kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 2889mg | Potassium: 1227mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 694IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 6mg

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