Vegan cheese has come a long way, baby! Some of the older vegan cheese recipes and formulations are not super great, but this creamy vegan cashew queso is a delicious exception.
I’ve served my cashew queso to vegans and die-hard cheese fanatics alike, and it is always a hit. If you’ve been thinking about going vegan and are worried that you might die without cheese, give this recipe a go. It’s a true crowd-pleaser. Seriously, I’ve even watched a pair of picky toddlers demolish this stuff.
Raw cashews are the base for this recipe, and finding budget-friendly cashews can be a little bit tricky. I have two tips for saving some money on cashews:
1. Buy in bulk. Bulk bins are your friend! You’re paying for the food, not packaging. If you can, find the nutritional yeast for this recipe in the bulk bins, too. The price difference between bulk and packaged nooch is staggering.
2. Buy “halves and pieces.” Whole cashews cost more per pound than “Cashew Halves and Pieces.” You’re putting these in the blender anyway, so halves and pieces are perfect.
The real trick to making a creamy cashew queso is blending for much, much longer than you’d think was necessary. If your queso isn’t as creamy as you’d like, just keep blending. If needed, you can add water, 1 teaspoon at a time, to get things moving more easily. If you need water (or how much you need) will depend on how thick your salsa is.
Vegan Queso Recipe
The recipe below calls for prepared salsa. If you prefer not to use salsa from a jar, you can substitute: 1/2 cup chopped tomato, 3 cloves garlic, 2 tablespoons chopped onion, and hot sauce to taste.
Yield: about 6 servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews (preferably soaked for 4 hours or up to overnight, but if you have a high speed blender, you can skip the soaking)
- 1/2 cup salsa (your choice!)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 2 cloves garlic
Method
- Toss all of the ingredients into the blender, and puree until smooth.
- Then, blend for a little bit longer.
- Then, just for good measure, blend for just 30 more seconds. Serve with chips, crackers, or veggies for dipping. You can also drizzle over tortilla chips for some impromptu nachos!
Republished with permission from Glue and Glitter.