I love making vegan cheese alternatives, but I’ve gotten so many requests to make a nut-free vegan cheese sauce.
I personally love my cheese recipes that contain cashews, tofu, and/or miso paste. Two of my favorites are the Butternut Cheese Sauce in this Crispy Baked Mac and Cheese and the Creamy Tofu Ricotta in this Vegetable Lasagna.
But I also wanted to create an allergen-friendly recipe that was free of all nuts and soy, as well as made with nourishing, whole food plant-based ingredients. And I am so excited to share this nut-free vegan cheese sauce recipe with you all! Despite not containing any nuts or soy (or even oil), it is luxuriously creamy and silky smooth. And it’s so healthy that you’re basically just eating vegetables, so lather on as much cheese as you’d like.
Ingredient Notes
Let’s talk about the main ingredients that make up this sauce!
Cauliflower: If you’ve been in the vegan food space for awhile, you’re already aware of cauliflower’s secret powers. Once cooked, it gets creamy and rich, and brings a luscious texture to this cheese sauce without requiring cashews.
Butternut Squash: This brings some heft and a velvety texture to this sauce. And, of course, that golden yellow-orange color reminiscent of cheese. I’ve tried making vegan cheese sauces with carrots and sweet potatoes instead, but they bring an unwanted sweetness (cheese should not be sweet)! To save time, I sometimes opt for pre-peeled, pre-cut butternut squash at the grocery store.
Garlic: This recipe calls for a copious amount of garlic (10 cloves). Since the ingredient list is minimal and there are no soy products involved (which add umami), adding a lot of garlic is essential to making this sauce flavor.
Nutritional Yeast: Since we’re using a lot of vegetables (8 cups), we need a generous amount of nutritional yeast to bring that cheezy flavor. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup, but you can add up to 3/4 cup for a more pronounced cheezy flavor.
Coconut Milk: While cauliflower does make this sauce quite creamy, we need a little helping hand from some full-fat coconut milk. Not a lot though. Just 3/4 cup for 8 cups of vegetables and 1 1/2 cups of vegetable broth.
How to use Nut-Free Vegan Cheese Sauce
- For mac and cheese!
- Drizzle over roasted or steamed vegetables
- Make homemade nachos
- Add to a quesadilla
- Spread over homemade pizza and bake in the oven
And be sure to check out my Youtube video for three easy recipes using this Nut-Free Vegan Cheese Sauce!
- Buffalo Jackfruit Grilled Cheese
- Simple Cheesy Pasta
- Tex-Mex Tempeh Quesadillas
Who should make this Nut-Free Vegan Cheese Sauce?
- Anyone who has nut allergies
- Anyone with a soy intolerance
- Anyone eating a whole food plant-based diet
- Anyone watching their caloric intake
- Anyone who wants a nutrient-dense, plant-based alternative to cheese!
Watch! How to make Nut Free Vegan Cheese Sauce
Is this Nut-Free Vegan Cheese Sauce Healthy?
I never calculate or include calories in my recipes, as I try to maintain a balanced space here. But, since this cheese sauce is so remarkably cream yet healthy, I do want to point something out.
There’s less than 125 calories in 1 CUP of this sauce, or about 30 calories per 1/4 cup serving! So yeah, really, lather on as much cheese as you’d like! Personally, I think 1 cup is a perfectly acceptable serving amount 🙂 And of course, there’s a great deal of nutrients in this cheese sauce, thanks to the fiber- and vitamin-rich cauliflower and butternut squash
If you try out this recipe, please leave a comment below with your feedback – it always helps out the blog and I love hearing from you!
Introducing
Big Vegan Flavor
Techniques and 150 recipes to master vegan cooking.
Nut-Free Vegan Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 heaped cups of cauliflower florets (about 1 medium head of cauliflower, ~400g)
- 4 cups (about 18 ounces or ~500g) of butternut squash, chopped into 3/4 inch pieces
- 32 ounces (~945mL) water (stovetop method only)
- 32 ounces (~945mL) vegetable broth
- 1/4 cup (60mL) water (can substitute with 1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil)
- 10 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast (add more for a more pronounced cheesier flavor)
- 3/4 cup (~195ml) canned full-fat coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon hot or sweet paprika
- A pinch of cayenne pepper, (optional for a lightly spicy version)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
INSTANT POT METHOD
- Add the cauliflower florets, chopped butternut squash, and 4 cups vegetable broth to your Instant Pot. Secure the lid and set the Pressure Release to Sealing. Select the Pressure Cook setting at high pressure and set the cook time to 4 minutes.
- Once the 4-minute timer has completed and beeps, perform a quick pressure release by carefully switching the Pressure Release knob from Sealing to Venting.
- Open the pot and transfer the vegetables to a blender. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the cooking broth. Add 1 1/4 cups to the blender, leaving 1/4 cup to the side.
- While the vegetables are cooking, heat the 1/4 cup water in a nonstick skillet over medium heat (alternatively, instead of the water, you can heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil or avocado oil). Once the water is simmering (or the oil is shimmering), add the minced garlic. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking, until the water mostly evaporates and the mixture is fragrant.
- Transfer the garlic mixture to the blender with the cooked vegetables and reserved cooking liquid. Add the nutritional yeast, coconut milk paprika, salt, and black pepper to taste. Blend until the sauce is smooth, thick, and creamy, adding the reserved 1/4 cup cooking liquid as needed to thin out the sauce. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper as needed.
- If you have leftovers, transfer them to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 1 week. Or you can freeze them in smaller portions for a longer period of time.
STOVETOP METHOD
- Add the 4 cups of water and the 4 cups of vegetable broth in a large deep skillet or Dutch oven and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Add the cauliflower florets and chopped butternut squash, cover the pan, and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the vegetables are fork-tender.
- Transfer the vegetables to a blender. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid. Add 1 1/4 cups to the blender, leaving 1/4 cup to the side.
- Follow remaining steps 4 and 5, as outlined above.
- If you have leftovers, transfer them to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 1 week. Or you can freeze them in smaller portions for a longer period of time.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Thanks for the amazing recipe! I tweaked it a bit for my taste buds by adding in onion powder/flakes and a dash of ACV for some tanginess. Was perfectly tickled by how good this sauce is and hope more people try this out : )
Absolutely loved it! We have enough ‘cheese’ sauce for weeks now 😉 Thank you so much for the recipes.
I’m so in love with your food . And not only me my whole family .This year with my husband we became plant based . I got an instant pot for Xmas and is my best friend . I found out your YouTube channel and every recipe I tried was a family approved.My older daughter loves your Tex mex brown lentil. All the family loves your the chili . And last week I did the pumpkin lasagna soup and this cheese OMG is the best .I love cheese and now I LOVE my VEGAN cheeseThanks so much
While I do like this sauce, I found it to be a bit bland — not really having that cheese "tang" I was expecting. It was more like a good cream sauce (or even a good creamy soup). Any suggestions on how to give it that characteristic "sharpness" that we expect with cheddar cheese? Thanks!
Hi Nancy, it is a bit hard to attain a true cheesy cheddar flavor without using nuts and while keeping it quite healthy.
If you are not allergic to nuts, I recommend the cheese sauce in this mac and cheese recipe that is really quite cheesy (as you can see from the comments in the post): https://www.rainbowplantlife.com/blog/creamy-vegan-pumpkin-mac-and-cheese
Nancy, try subbing a plain vegan yogurt for the coconut milk. It won’t be exactly the same as a sharp cheddar, but since it’s a cultured product like cheese is, it does lend a tanginess that’s otherwise difficult to replicate.
Try adding some white miso paste that will boost the Umami of your sauce and could give it a more cheesy flavor.
Is possible to a sub butternut squash with carrots and cauliflower with potatoes?
Yes definitely, potatoes are a good sub for cauliflower. The thing with carrots is that they’re sweeter than butternut squash so your cheese sauce will taste a bit sweet. In my experience, it still tastes good but it does taste less "cheesy."
I made it HURRRRRRAY.. my mom is fasting the old fashion way ( no dairy products ).. So, I did it for both of us… it was DELICIOUS.. although we are carnivores. This is the results!1) we Allll loved it2) my very picky 17 years old son eat most of it 😩😩3) I decided to watch more of you on YouTube4) I’m ordering the book5) I want to try to go vegan6) I shared it with my group in NoomYaaaaaaaay 🤪😆🤪😆
Thanks Nisha
Just made your vegan cheese sauce & loved it! It was nice & thick & full of cheesy flavour. A great versatile sauce & will use it in many recipes.
Hi Clive, so lovely to hear that! I’m so glad you found it to be flavorful, thick, and versatile 🙂
I was very happy with this cheese sauce! It’s delicious! The consistency is so smooth and tasty!
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed the cheese sauce, Joanne! Thanks for sharing your feedback!
Am definitely trying this. Sounds great. Can I substitute red pumpkin for squash? Thanks
Thank you! I am not entirely sure what red pumpkin is – I don’t think we have the same thing here, or at least we must call it something else. If red pumpkin is not sweet, it should be fine. However, if it is sweet, I would hesitate to use it because the sauce will have a bit of sweetness, which will detract from the cheesy flavor.
Just wondering if you could replace the coconut milk with silken tofu? This looks delicious, but I can’t have coconut.
Hi Patty, I haven’t tried it with silken tofu, but I think texture-wise, it should be a pretty good option. I can’t say how it heats up though, since I haven’t tried it. Another option is to use unsweetened plain oat milk. It’s not as creamy as full-fat coconut milk, but still quite creamy.