This Vegan Nacho Cheese Dip may be the best Vitamix recipe ever
New and exciting! This recipe is part of our new diet plan: 1k30. Check it out!
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This 5-ingredient queso is a hall of fame recipe. So unbelievably, irresistibly delicious. What’s more, it’s:
- GreatĀ hot or cold
- Lasts for days.
- So, so easy to make and clean up, especially if you’re looking for a cheesy dinner for kids!)
And yes friends, it’s dairy-free (and therefore vegan).
It’s cashew queso. And if there’s a recipe that will have you fall in love with Life is NOYOKE or fantastic vegan food or your Vitamix, it’s this.
Let’s talk about how this cashew queso came to be.
Note: Vitamix has an adapted version of our queso. Their version is quite watery, especially compared to ours.
Looking back: The story of Cashew Queso
You know those little moments in history that, today, look like turning points?
Creating cashew queso was a turning point for me (and Life is NOYOKE).
- A signature recipe.
- The return of cheeseĀ (after going 100% dairy free).
- A fabulous, non-smoothie use for my Vitamix.
Oh, and the discovery of Nutritional Yeast. A key ingredient in several of our best recipes.
But arguably the most life-changing impact of creating this cashew queso? Publishing this YouTube video; one of my first.
Thousands of people have made this cashew queso
Here are a few comments I’ve received when offering samples to my friends:
- “Can you just leave the bowl with me?”
- “It has a serious kick. Wow!”
- “It’s not cheese, but who cares!”
But here was my personal favorite:
“I can’t eat that. I just lost 50 lbs and now eat super clean…Oh, really? It is super clean? Oh wow. Let me try!”
And everybody asked what was in it. Raw cashews, raw almonds, almond milk, a red pepper, and nutritional yeast. That’s it! Mix that together with some simple spices and you’re done.
The best part? Clean up isĀ really easy, too.
“You should sell this!”
I know. I know.
My cashew queso is the best thing ever. And I should jar it and sell it.
Summary
We make this cashew queso weekly, religiously.Ā It’s great as:
- A dip (for chips or veggies).
- A sauce (on tacos or pasta).
- A recipe base (beer cheese soup, for example).
There are a lot of dairy-free cheese recipes out there. ThisĀ one is very minimalist.
And, of course, it tastes incredible (and has a nice little kick!).
Go make this, guys. Go make this right now.
Other Noteworthy Versions
- Detoxinista: Healthy queso dip
- Allyson Kramer: Quinoa and Black Beans with Cashew Queso
- Vegan Sparkles: Sizzling Veg Fajitas with Cashew Queso
Recipe
Cashew Queso
Legendary, dairy-free queso cheese dip with a kick!
Almonds, Cashews, Nutritional Yeast, Red Bell Pepper,Ingredients:
- almond milk - 1 cup (240 mL)
- nutritional yeast - 1/4 cup (20 g)
- raw almonds - 1/2 cup (70 g)
- raw, unsalted cashews - 1/2 cup (65 g)
- red bell pepper (de-seeded) - 1 whole
- salt - 1.5 tsp (8 g)
- garlic powder - 1/2 tsp (1.5 g)
- onion powder - 1 tsp (2.5 g)
- crushed red pepper - a few shakes (to taste)
Instructions:
- Add liquid ingredients to your Vitamix.
- Then add rest of ingredients.
- Start blender on low, ramp to high.
- Blend on high for 6 minutes (or use preprogrammed ‘Soup’ setting).
- Snap a pic and tag #lifeisNOYOKE
- Be really happy.
NOTE: This recipe requires a Vitamix.
Useful tips for Cashew Queso
Biggest takeaway from this recipe? Don’t hesitate to make it. Every day without it is a day without (dairy-free) cheese!
Allergic to cashews? Substitute them with raw sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. Per our friend Andrew, this substitution works perfectly.
The queso will last refrigerated for up to a week.
Here are some more useful tips:
Take a picture of your cashew queso and tag #lifeisnoyoke. (Here's the original featured image from this recipe post.)
The nutritional yeast needs to say "nutritional." Any other type of yeast won't work. This non-GMO version from Whole Foods worked great. You can also buy it there in bulk (near the coffee and nuts).
I can't speak to dogs' ability to stomach this stuff. But Lucy liked it!
Serve with chips or sliced veggies. Just know it won't last long!
I need some help. You list the dry ingredients in volume (cups) and weight (grams). The recipe calls for 1/4 cups (60 grams) of nutritional yeast. My 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast weights 26 grams.
Can you please verify?
Thank you.
Hey Dave, good catch. It *is* a quarter cup. The site I just checked said a full cup equals 60 grams. So there was the typo. 15 grams is about right
just tried it for the first time YUM!
You guys have been talking about this queso for years, and I finally made it. What was I waiting for?!??!!! It is SO good. Mine came out too thin at first, more like a soup (maybe my bell pepper was extra huge?), so I added extra nuts & spices and re-blended. Perfect. Thank you for satisfying my isolation-induced nacho craving!
Welcome to the party, Lucy! Probably just a coincidence that we just made a new video tutorial for it. š
We loved it! So easy. Thank you!
We made our first two batches of this and it’s awesome, we used a dried Mexican chile (cascabel) instead of red pepper flakes and it gives it a nice smokey flavor.
Has anyone tried to use real onion and garlic in this instead of the powder? I’m going to try this week but was curious about the proportions.
We never have dried fresh onion, but it’s going to water it down a decent bit. So you’ll want to reduce the amount of almond milk (or whatever liquid you’re using) by a bit. Also, raw onions are pretty strong, so it might help and even make it taste better if they were sautĆ©ed for a couple minutes. š
Love this receipe however used Silk unsweetened coconut milk. My cheese needs to be a bit thicker and tips to thicken?
Add a bit more nuts or use a bit less liquid. š
One of the best cheese sauce recipes Iāve found.
However, the red pepper I used make it a little too sweet.
Any ideas on how to make this less sweet?
Thanks!
That’s a tough one — maybe a less ripe red pepper? If you use a green bell pepper, the color will be weird
Add some vinegar to tone down the sweetness factor š
I want to make it the night before our pot-luck, can I just microwave it the next morning to warm it up? has anyone done this? Does it change the consistency or texture?
It’s best fresh, but you can def microwave it the day after. Just give it a little mix after so the top isn’t coagulated. š
Oh Wow! Super Bowl worthy! We just made this today for the first time to snack on during the Super Bowl. Very delicious and such a healthy alternative.We are not vegan, but trying to get away from dairy and eat healthy. You are so right, the “queso” won’t last long. Thank you for sharing your recipes. I am love my new Vitamix!
Oh my goodness! Iām not vegan, but after watching the Life is no yoke videos to get some Vitamix training I had to try this. I canāt wait to make for the vegans/dairy free people I know that are missing their cheese. We ate it on tortilla chips with a bite of avocado. You really do an amazing service to people who are new to the vitamix. Weāre stuck in for COVID social distancing, so I finally had time to play around with my new vitamix that has been in the box waiting for me to have some time for at least 4 months! I am in love. If youāre intimidated about getting started, donāt hesitate. Watch videos by life is no yoke. I got a great deal through the site and am happy to support them since their site gives such great information. Thank so much!
I just tried this and OMG so good! I used Hemp Milk as thatās what I had on hand.
MOST delicious Vegan sauce I have ever ever made !!!
Second time I made it I didnāt have a red pepper so I used roasted red bell peppers in a jar….yum. Iām going to use the sauce tonight to make vegan nachos along with Jason Wrobelās Cauliflower-Lentil taco āmeatā.
If I donāt have almond milk on hand but I have homemade cashew milk, can I use that? Or should it be almond milk for a consistency thing? I canāt wait to try!!
This recipe has the best flavor! I think I do something wrong itās always way too thick and I cannot get it out of the vita mix. I Add almost double the liquid and it still very thick it will not pour out of my vita mix. It also gets stuck underneath my blade. I do put the liquid in first. But then I have to add more because I canāt get it to pour. Other than my issues, it tastes wonderful!
Are you using homemade almond milk? If yes, you’ll need to add some water because that has much more almonds than store-bought almond milk. (source)
And here’s a link to the under blade scraper we like. Helps get some of the blend that got stuck under the blade š
Ok! Thank you!! I always use homemade milk. Thanks for the tip!
This is by far one of the easiest and tastiest recipes Iāve ever made. In my life. Almost too good to be true. Canāt wait for my vegan brother to try it. Our 2 year old daughter absolutely loves it, and of course weāre always looking for nutrient dense foods to fill her tiny tummy. Thank you! We were also big fans of your cauliflower soup recipe…
Love this! Thanks Jacqui. Try our Creamy Wild Rice Soup next. š
The wild rice soup is great!!!
Iām in love with this recipe! Itās the yummiest, easiest recipe in my rotation!
Though I couldnāt find raw cashews, only roasted.
Turns out truly raw cashews are poisonous – cashews are steamed or roasted before being sold to get rid of urushiol, a chemical also found in poison ivy.
So donāt feel bad if you can only find roasted cashews – they work well.
Well that’s helpful to consider. I think most “raw” cashews are actually pasteurized so not poisonous?
You can easily find raw, meaning unroasted, cashews in most stores. Nobody in America sells truly raw cashews as they would be poisonous. At the very least try a whole foods. The main reason they say raw is to not include the salt that usually comes with roasted ones.
Absolutely phenomenal recipe! I had to fight to stop eating it.
Take this away from me! š
Show it off to friends and send them our way?
OMG this was truly amazing. Just got my Vitamix and found this recipe. We ate it with chips and had all we could do to walk away and not eat it all. Yum !!!