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:
- Great 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 cheese (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 is 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. 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. This 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!
My husband and I really liked this recipe! We got our Vitamix a week or two ago and this was our first hot recipe. I’m so impressed! Can’t wait to try more LINY recipes.
Nutritional yeast flakes? I have always bought powder. Are flakes better?
Give flakes a try!
What can be subbed for nutritional yeast?
Nothing, really: it’s what gives it that “cheesy” flavor!
Used coconut almond milk so the Queso was a little too sweet for us. We added texture and spice by mixing in a decent amount of medium salsa. Turned out great and we can’t get enough of it!
can you nuke it the next day to warm it up??
thanks
Any ideas for bell pepper substitute? Trying to avoid nightshades. Thanks!
We haven’t tried it yet, but lots of vegan queso recipes use sweet potato for texture and color. You might miss some of the”peppery” taste, though, so try to find a non-pepper based spice to use in place!
We have made this before without the bell pepper when we were poorly stocked and desperate and it’s really still excellent without the pepper, the color is just a little off…
This is my second attempt at making vegan queso, and I’ll never need to look for another recipe! This queso recipe is quick to make and incredibly flavorful – a huge winner for me and my husband! We followed the recipe exactly, and it was delicious.
This is my first non-smoothie recipe in the Vitamix and we all love it! Super easy and really tasty.
This queso is amazing! I was very impressed especially with the simplicity! I had all ingredients on hand except for the bell pepper. I used the queso in some enchiladas I made up on the fly with sautéed onion and portobello mushrooms, fresh spinach, cilantro, and avocado. DELICIOUS! I couldn’t believe how much I wanted to be able to lick the inside of the Vitamix container. The soup program prepared it perfectly!
Sam from LINY here–
Thanks so much, and glad you liked it! Those enchiladas sound very yummy, by the way :p
This queso is so good. Made it with a medium sized bell pepper and water plus a few extra almonds since I don’t have almond milk. At first I put in only 3/4cup water since some of the comments remark their queso was thin, but I ended up adding the full amount because it was quite thick. This is the first thing I’ve cooked in my Vitamix and I’m very impressed. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Yummy! As a non-vegan going for a plant-based diet, I’m not that into substitutes, and queso wasn’t high on my list of things to replicate but this recipe looked intriguing. And it’s delicious! I don’t even notice the nutritional yeast which can be a flavor I really dislike. It tastes like junk food, but is made from all good stuff. I’ll decrease the salt a bit next time, but overall, incredible! Thanks for sharing!
Very good! If you add a bit more salt it tastes more cheesy. Recipe is easy to follow and it works, I don’t have a soup setting and six minutes worked perfectly. I would add more of the garlic and onion next time, but it is a very good base recipe that you can adjust to your taste.
I’ve been a proud Vitamix owner for almost a week now, and I’m working my way through all these amazing recipes! This cashew queso is amazing!! It was perfect for nachos, as a cheesy sauce on veggies, and even worked well in quesadillas! I switched out the almond milk for oat milk because that’s what I had (also made in the Vitamix), and it worked perfectly. Best queso I’ve had yet! Thanks for sharing all these recipes…it’s making life with a Vitamix fun and tasty 🙂
Could I cut recipe in half & do it in 20 oz ?
Theoretically you could, but since the recipe calls for heating the sauce up that wouldn’t work in the 20-oz as it’s not vented and would explode 🙂
Also made this in the 64 oz low pro container and it was super tasty. You literally couldn’t tell it was vegan, however I think the “cheesy” flavor showed through a bit too much so next time we’ll use a smaller amount of nutritional yeast. Ours is “large flake” but I don’t think that makes much of a difference.
Hi! Just made this with the exact same ingredients with the same blender, a3500, even same brands of product lol..it came out so thin, like a thin soup. Yours seems to be very thick and quaso-ish right out of the Vitamix hot. Do you use less than 1 cup of almond milk ? I can’t figure out what went wrong: thanks!
Ahh I just made another batch with a tiny bit less almond milk. DELICIOUS and PERFECT thickness!!! Oh my what an incredible recipe. I’m thinking your red bell pepper was a bit bigger than what I used and I had to find the right balance of that and almond milk. Thank you for this recipe. Simply amazing!!
Yeah, there are some variables with sizes of bell peppers, how you measured the liquid, temperature or humidity in your kitchen, etc. So it’s a bit of an art (in addition to the science).
And it looks like it only took you 20 minutes to make a second batch! Nice work đź‘Ť
HI! I just made the Queso and it tastes awesome! But for some reason its still runny and doesn’t look as thick as yours. I have a vitamix with out soup setting, so I just had it on high for 6 minutes. I followed the recipe exactly. I wonder what went wrong? Or does it thicken once it cools?
Hey there, yeah, it definitely thickens a bit with time. You may also want to add a bit less liquid next time if you like it super thick.
Have you tried the oat based queso recipes? Wondering how it compares. It certainly looks good.
I’m sure it would be fine. We’ve actually been making ours with water and a few extra almonds and it turns out great. 🙂
Works wonderfully. I make mine with oat milk since I dont drink almond milk and it was amazing. So delish. A staple in my place.
The original video helped a lot since I season my cooking by eyeballing it too, but followed main ingredients exactly and consistency is perfect. I can’t wait to serve this to my family! I’m eating it for lunch with steamed cauliflower and topped w/diced jalapeno and it IS as good as it looks. Made in my vintage Vitamix…”no one cares it’s not really cheese”🤣
This is my go to, and my fave.
I found this recipe about 6/7 yrs ago!? I make 2 variations:
1. Just cashews and use oat milk, when my sister visits. She and 1 of her boys are allergic to almonds. Her boys love this stuff.
2. Just cashews and almond milk to keep the caloric count down.
I usually double the spices as written, and sometimes add a little tajin spice.
Love these variations! Last night we made a batch that the kids said was “too spicy”. Sounds like it would go over well in your house!
Would another plant based milk like soy or oat work instead of almonds?
Yeah, for sure. Important note: Avoid anything flavored or sweetened. đź‘Ť