Author: Ok friends, this is it. After all of the love for my Melty Stretchy Gooey Vegan Mozzarella, it's time for a follow-up act: Melty Stretchy Gooey Vegan Nacho Cheese. (I know, I am just so incredibly original with the new name).
With the help of reader Amanda (hi Amanda!), I toyed around with different spices and flavours to achieve a cheddar-like cheese recipe. No small task, especially when you don't eat cow's milk cheddar to compare. With a little zing and zang, salty and sweet, ooey and gooey, I managed to achieve... are you ready for it?...nacho heaven. Big plate of nachos featuring Vegan Nacho Cheese! Hello again, Nachos. Oh, how I missed you. Now I will devour you!
This recipe is good for more than just nachos. You can load up a baked potato, make a grilled cheese, layer on a veggie patty for a melty cheeseburger, or stir into noodles for quick mac and cheese. Anywhere that you would use melted cheddar cheese, you can now use this recipe.
Do you want more good news? Of course you do. It's oil, gluten, and dairy free, only 150 calories per serving, omnivores love it, over 10 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber, and only 15 minutes to make. Vegan high fives all around!
Can we see another shot of this ooey, gooey, melty-ness. Ahhh.... there we go.
Notes about this cheese:
- You have to use tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour). Corn starch, potato starch or any other starch won't have the same stretchy quality. If you can't find tapioca starch in your grocery store, you can always order it online here. If you have tapioca pearls, you can use a coffee grinder or a high powered blender to grind them into a homemade batch of tapioca starch.
- You can store the leftover cheese in an airtight container in the fridge and it should last for several days. This cheese will never turn into a solid block. It will always remain in a melty state. If you want to return the cold nacho cheese back to dipping consistency, reheat over medium heat while stirring constantly so it doesn't burn. Once it is hot and bubbling it might have thickened up too much. You can thin it out by adding a tablespoon of water at a time, stirring it in until desired consistency is reached.
- Please beware, once you make a batch, you will probably eat the whole thing in one sitting. Don't say I didn't warn you!
To make this nacho cheese, first start by soaking the cashews for four hours or overnight. OR if you need to eat this immediately (and I always do), you can skip the soaking, and instead boil the cashews for 10 minutes until soft and tender, then drain before using. Sneaky deaky cashew softening trick.
Toss all the ingredients into a blender and blend until completely smooth. It will be very watery, don't worry, it will get cheesy!
If you don't have a high powered blender, you may want to pour the liquid through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth into the pot to remove any cashew bits that didn't grind up. This will ensure a smooth cheese texture.
Put the pan over medium-high heat. Stir to keep anything from burning. You will start to see clumps forming.
Ooo clumpy. Keep stirring!
Then all of a sudden, magic! Everything comes together and makes this cheesy, melty, deliciousness. Keep stirring and cooking for another minute or two, to make sure it's finished firming up. It should take about 5 minutes to cook total. That's it! Done. So easy.
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Melty Stretchy Gooey Vegan Nacho Cheese
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Ingredients
- ½ cup raw cashews, (see notes)
- 1 cup water
- 3 tablespoons tapioca starch, (also called tapioca flour)
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt, (or to taste)
- 1 ½ teaspoons white miso paste
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup or agave
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- To soften the cashews: Boil them for 10 minutes until soft. OR soak the cashews for four hours or overnight. Drain before using.
- To make the nacho vegan nacho cheese: Add the softened cashews, water, and all the remaining ingredients to a blender, and blend until smooth. It will be very watery.
- Pour into a small saucepan and heat over medium-high heat, while stirring. If you don't have a high-powered blender, you may want to pour the liquid through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth into the pot, to remove any cashew bits that didn't grind up. This will ensure a smooth cheese texture. As you stir it will start forming clumps, and then all of a sudden it will become a cheesy gooey mass of yumminess. This takes about 5 minutes. Continue to cook and stir for an additional minute or two to make sure it has firmed up completely.
Notes
Nutrition
⭐ Did You Make This Recipe?
I’d love if you left a rating and comment, it helps others find the recipe and makes my day! 💕Bon appetegan!
Sam.
Diane P says
Ok I know you say not to use anything else but Tapioca Starch BUT I don't have any and right now I'm on a very limited budget. :-\ Anyway, can I substitute Organic Corn Starch or Arrowroot Powder? If so, what are the amounts I should use in ratio to the Tapioca Starch?
Thanks so much for this bangin' recipe and for your help!!!
Di =)
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Diane,
Cornstarch or arrowroot powder, will not give the gooey, stretchy, cheese texture, and instead will just make a sauce. I am not sure of the quantities because I haven't tested the recipe with those. Hope that helps!
Diane P says
Thanks for your reply! I've scoured the internet and found out that it's basically a 2:1 ratio between tapioca starch and the other two.
I'd actually like to use the cheese for the corn and black bean quesadillas, not nachos. Hopefully it all works out! Lol I'll let ya know my outcome after dinner tonight! 😉
Sam Turnbull says
Yes do let us know! 🙂
Diane P says
Ok, here's the deal, lol, I bucked up and gathered change and bought a bag of Tapioca Starch.
Two things: 1.) I reduced the amount of fresh squeezed lemon juice to 1 TBSP after reading other's comments.
2.) This cheese is Da-Bomb!!! My carnivore husband, who usually makes me use his dairy cheese on his servings, asked me to use this cheese instead after he tasted a bite of my Black Bean and Corn Quesadilla! It is hands-down one of the best cheese "sauce" recipes I've made so far, and I've been making them for 7 yrs now!
Good job! Thank you sooooo much for sharing, I can't wait to try some of your other recipes!
Di =)
Sam Turnbull says
Awww wow!!! Best comment ever!! So happy you and your husband love the cheese so much Diane. I'm blushing 🙂
Diane P says
Idk how to include my picture of my baked potato on here but it's beautiful!!! Has broccoli, corn and bean mixture from quesadillas and covered in this nacho cheese. Yum!!!
Sam Turnbull says
Sounds amazing! Pictures can't be posted on my blog, but I would love to see it. Feel free to tag me on Instagram @itdoesnttastelikechicken or post the photo on my Facebook page 🙂
Dianne says
Just made a double batch of this and it was great! I also love the idea of mixing all the dry ingredients first for later use. I live in Texas, the land of queso dip. Next time I'm going to take down the salt and lemon juice a bit (maybe try lime), and add cilantro, pico de gallo, chiles, and cayenne because I like it spicy! Thanks for the great recipe!
Sam Turnbull says
Ooo love the idea of making a spicy version as well. So happy you enjoyed the recipe so much Dianne 🙂
Beth says
I am TOTALLY looking forward to nachos this week! I could drown in this stuff!
Sam Turnbull says
Hahaha!! So happy you love it so very much 🙂
Trish says
Delish! I just made 'Mac and Cheese' and I love it! Thanks for sharing...I think I'll prepackage the dry goods and label it 'nacho cheese' so it'll be faster to put together next time! 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Yay! So happy. I love that idea of making pre-packaged dry powder. Very cool 🙂
Vanni says
can u leave out the miso or sub it with something? Miso always comes in such large packages.
Sam Turnbull says
Miso adds to the umami flavour of these cheese. If you don't have it on hand you can skip it, I am sure the cheese will still taste pretty good. Enjoy!
Aarti says
Hi, can we replace cashews with almonds. My vegan daughter is allergic to cashews
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Aarti, yes blanched almonds should work fine. They are a little tougher than cashews, so make sure to really soak or boil them so they are nice and tender and blend well. Enjoy!
Comrade Jackson says
Ok, so the look and consistency is just like a nacho cheese sauce but the flavor is seriously lacking. Nothing worse than a delicious looking sauce that doesn't add the desired cheesy flavor. The amount of lemon juice in this recipe seems like too much as that was the strongest flavor coming from this sauce. I'm willing to try this again because you've figured out how to achieve the correct texture for the sauce but with definite alterations for flavor.
Sam Turnbull says
Aww sorry you didn't love the flavour too much. Feel free to adjust the spices as needed.
Dawn says
Oh my GAHD! I cannot believe how easy and delicious this is. I had everything in my kitchen (that's a relief!) and this will be a weekly addition for sure. I have to giggle at the 3 servings though. I am fairly certain I could eat it all while watching a movie. Haha thank you so much for sharing!!
Sam says
Haha! I think that's totally ok, I have definitely polished off an entire plate of nachos with this cheese on more than one occasion! So very happy you loved the recipe so much Dawn 🙂
Shawna Bay says
**WOW*WOW*WOW** I'm SO excited!!! Excellent recipe!! This is the very first time my husband and I have shared a plate of nachos in 6 years!!! When I went vegan those many years ago, nachos were the one thing he was a little sad about, that we couldn't share. I had given up on creating a nacho cheese like this as he is very discriminating but alas this passed with flying colors!! We have had it two nights in a row and he wants it on the menu for company. Thank you SO SO much!!
Sam says
Oh yay!! I am so thrilled to heat that Shawna 🙂 I too love nachos and missed them until I figured out this recipe. Keep calm and eat vegan nachos. Haha!
Sue says
Thanks for the BEST cheese sauce recipe EVER!!
So easy and so good to eat.
I have a tip that I found out, Nutritional yeast is sprayed with synthetic B vitamins and did not know that. I reacted to poorly when I ate NY. When I discovered this, I ordered non- Fortified NY on Amazon and magically - and thankfully I now can eat NY again, mystery solved!
Your recipe is fantastic, Thank you!!
Sam says
Yay!! So very happy you loved the recipe so much! Interesting to know about the nutritional yeast. I will keep that in mind for if anyone else mentions a similar problem 🙂
Jen says
Delicious! I don't usually have luck with cashew cheeses, now I am a convert. I have made this and the mozzarella.
In this one I used chickpea miso and it had a great flavour.
Thanks for the great recipes!
Sam says
Oh yay!! So happy you loved both recipes. Chickpea miso would work great. Thanks for the review Jen 🙂
Lucia says
Yum...it really worked! Thanks so much for the recipe!!
Sam says
You're very welcome Lucia!! So happy you enjoyed it 🙂
Tiffani says
I made this last night and it was amazing! I used white miso paste and and it still came out more brown than the image here. but i honestly don't care because it was so cheese like! I am newly vegan (about 6 months now) and i have made and tried every "cheese" i've seen and this is by far the best! I'm so excited about this! Thank you!
Sam says
Oh yay!! That's so awesome! So happy you loved it so much Tiffani 🙂
Tanya says
A darker miso paste*
Tanya says
Hi there! Thank you so much for this recipe. I made this tonight and it was quite good. I was so amazed by the chemistry of the whole thing turning into stretchy cheese. How incredible! I only had two issues that maybe you can help me with. I used a darker which made my cheese I believe more brown. I would love to get that orange color you achieved. Also, I am gluten free and I realized after that the miso contained barley. Do you know if there are other miso pastes that are gluten free? Thank you so much!
Sam says
So happy you loved it Tanya! Yes, there are absolutely miso pastes that are gluten free and light in colour. I use a white soy miso, but you could also try a chickpea miso. Enjoy!
Vittorio says
Sorry for my English...
I'm from Italy, Italian food is delicious but Italian vegan recipes are tasteless ☺
I just tried to make your cheese... Super super delicious! I couldn't believe it really tastes like cheese.... Thank you thank you thank you for this wonderful recipe, I'm going to try all other recipes of your site!
Great day all! ☺
Ciao
Sam says
Thank you so much Vittorio!!!! So happy my cheese is being enjoyed all the way over there in Italy! Saluti!
Katherine says
I love the complex flavors that come together to make this vegan cheese. I have to practice great restraint to avoid eating all of it at once. I liked it on nachos but I love it in grilled cheese sandwiches.
Sam says
Haha!! Don't restrain yourself! Dig in 🙂 haha. Really happy you loved it Katherine. 🙂
lillian says
I just made this and it is so good! I love melty cheese. Thanks for the great recipes
Sam says
You're very welcome lillian! So happy you loved the recipe 🙂
Valerie says
I tried it and it's delicious, the consistency remembers me of a cheese fondue from the old days. Mine turned quite red though, maybe my paprika is too red 😛 But anyway, it's worth a try and get something cheesy and melty for your nachos!
Sam says
So happy you loved it! Yes, it's totally possible that your paprika is more red than the one I used. If you want a more orange colour, you can cut back on the paprika next time without effecting the taste too much. 🙂
Geoffrey Levens says
Excellent! Just made a batch. I have made a lot of different vegan cheese sauces and this is far better than any other. I used smoked paprika which I think kicks it up a notch but I am sure great w/ regular paprika. Could add a big pinch of chipolte powder if you like ti hot. Nachos for lunch tomorrow!!!
Thank you
~G
Sam says
Yay! That's awesome! So happy you loved the recipe so much Geoffrey!