Makes 2 cups
Time: 45 minutes
If ooey, gooey, cheeziness is your idea of comfort, I’ve got just what the doctor ordered. Yes, the doctor ordered nachos. Don’t ask me! It’s some kind of experimental alternative medicine or something.
Whether you take your queso with a lot of crunch over nachos, or prefer it in a doughy burrito, this recipe will satisfy all of your needs for creamy, melty, oozy, spicy, tangy, cheezy bliss. The cashew base makes it rich and smooth, and cooking it with a little starch brings the texture even closer to melted cheese, especially as it sets. Miso adds a lot of umami depth and satisfying saltiness. And of course there’s the usual queso suspects: onion, pepper, garlic and jalapeno. Some cumin, ancho powder and lemon seal the deal.
But the magic doesn’t end there! Not to get all infomercial on you, but this queso can also double as a grilled cheese filling. Let it cool completely, then spread over bread and toast each side in a pan with a little olive oil. Two comfort foods for the price of one. And one last thing ladies and gentlemen, it’s is completely gluten-free. Order now.
Recipe notes:
~If you prefer a chunky queso, double the vegetable ingredients (except for the garlic) and set half aside before the pureeing step.
~This reheats really well! Gently reheat in a small pot, drizzling in a little water and whisking often until it returns to its original creamy state.
~The nutritional yeast is totally optional, I love it both with and without. It adds a little extra cheezy kick, but if you aren’t a fan or don’t have any on hand, the queso will not suffer for it.
~White miso is my favorite, but since it’s such a small quantity, any miso will do here.
1 cup cashews, soaked in water for at least 2 hours or overnight
2 cups veg broth
2 tablespoons white miso (see recipe note)
2 teaspoons cornstarch or arrowroot
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced (keeps seeds if you want more heat)
3 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground ancho pepper (or any mild ground red chili)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Drain the cashews. In a blender or food processor, puree them with vegetable broth, miso and cornstarch until very smooth. This could take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes depending on your device. Rub between your fingers to test; slight graininess is okay, but try to get it as smooth as possible.
In the meantime, preheat a 4 quart pot over medium heat. Saute onion, red pepper, and jalapeno in oil with a pinch of salt until soft, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and saute about a minute more.
Transfer vegetables to the blender where the cashew mixture is. Add cumin, ancho, nutritional yeast and salt. Blend again until very smooth, scraping down the sides of the blender with a spatula to make sure you get everything.
Transfer mixture back to the pot. Whisking often, turn heat up to medium until the queso comes to a slow rolling boil. Lower heat so that it doesn’t burn and cook for about 20 minutes. Whisk often and check to see that it’s thickening, if it’s not, then turn the heat up a bit. It should become nicely thickened but velvetty and pourable.
Stir in the lemon juice at the end. If the queso seems too thick, drizzle in a little water and whisk to desired consistency. Taste for salt, spices and lemon juice and adjust as you like.
Serve hot!
I just finished making this recipe to take to a party (I know, I know, you should always try a brand new recipe before inflicting it on your victims, er, friends) and after reading all the comments, I just had to sneak a taste. Oh my word, this is amazing! I was suspicious at first, cos no matter how much I love vegan food you can tell a lot of it is *substitute* this or that. But this… This is the real thing and dairy queso dip is the imitation! Wow!
Salted cashews are no obstacle to good queso. All I had on hand was a tub of Planter’s and it is delicious. I think the long soak I gave it (almost 24 hours) helped – most of the salt comes out in the water.
We have made this at least six times. Thanks for such a great recipe!! We keep it chunky and just blend the first four ingredients in your list. We love it and so does everyone that tries it! It is so fun to show our veg friends, that “could never give up cheese,” that yes they can!! Our non-veg/vegan friends had no idea it wasn’t cheese and a few of them have made this recipe again to share. If anyone has not tried this yummy recipe- it is time today!! Thanks Isa.
This stuff is great – thanks for the recipe! I made it with nooch, cayenne instead of ground ancho, a giant red pepper, and no jalapeno or miso (since I was out). it was still delicious. I blended the crap out of it in my Cuisinart blender (much to the annoyance of my football-watching omni parter). He was not fooled into thinking it was cheesy. He thought it was tasty, but “like warm hummus.” Whatever. I think it has a smooth, creamy consistency like “real” cheese product and a nice savory flavor. I might add more salt and garlic if I serve to guests, and I’m betting the addition of miso makes it even better.
Just made the Cashew Queso tonight! It is sooooo delicous. The cashews were blended super smooth in less than a minute in my new Vitamix!
i made this and ate it for dinner (with tortilla chips) two nights in a row. i have no shame.
also, i fair better when i blend my soaked cashews in the food processor until they’re silky smooth, and then add the water. it takes less time and i feel it gets the cashews smooth like buttah.
omggg. this looks absolutely amazing. must try soon! i miss nachos after being vegan too!
I made the recipe exactly as stated except for adding cayenne (instead of ancho) and an extra jalapeno. The dip was excellent. Even my VERY picky husband (who is not on board with going full vegan) said that he didn’t think anyone would be able to tell it wasn’t dairy cheese dip. My only complaint was that my blender sprayed some of the liquid all over the kitchen, but nothing’s perfect!
We added this ‘cheez dip’ to a pigout that included my awesome guacamole, refried beans (canned, but kicked up a notch), and pomegranate margaritas. OMG! What a night!
Thank you for the excellent recipe–I’m SO glad I found your site!
SO delicious!!! I even skipped the veggie chop/saute step and used some jarred salsa that I had. I made it for dinner, but keep going over and “testing” it, hope they’ll be some left.
I’m using it for burritos tonight, but think I might have it over steamed broccoli on toast, kinda like the Welsh Rarebit my husband’s grandmother used to make.
YUMMY
I made this in my Vitamix, adding the sauteed veggies & seasonings after blending the cashews and vegetable broth. I let the mixture blend on high speed for 5-6 minutes until heated (don’t do this in a regular blender!). I did reduce the broth by 1/4 cup because I wasn’t sure how thick it could get in the blender without a long cooking time, and it was just right. Yay!
I made this purely out of curiosity – I’ve never tried to make a vegan cheese substitute before! But I love a kitchen challenge, so I just had to give it a go. It tastes so AMAZING. I have to force myself not swallow spoonfuls of it straight! I’m so so impressed by the recipe! 🙂
Made this tonight and wow! My boyfriend kept asking me what it was made out of and didn’t believe me when I told him. I used about 3 tablespoons of salsa instead of the veggie saute and it was amazing.
this was so awesome! made it last night to accompany roasted broccoli and cauliflower, and it’s so like velveeta, even my omni husband thought so. i will be reusing some tonight for spicy mac n “cheese”.
Poured this queso over tofu balls in a wrap with baby spinach and roasted red peppers …. reallly, really good!!
Delicious! Just like nacho cheese! I’m making it for a Super Bowl party. I can’t imagine that anyone will NOT be impressed! I’m excited! I also can’t stop eating it. I put it in a wrap with avocado and baby spinach and it was great. I like the idea of pouring it over tofu balls (also f-ing delicious!). I’ll have to try that next time I make a batch of balls. 🙂
Made this last night. It’s the greatest. Delicious and has a great color too. Thank you.
Just bought miso and some cashews ,gonna let them soak for 2 hours then use my food processor.I am going to use it for some steamed veggies and nachos! cant wait!!
I made this the other day and it is awesome on EVERYTHING. I was actually scrounging through the food in my house to find things to put it on because I felt bad just eating it with a spoon. It is really good on mashed potatoes in case you are interested.
Oh my God this turned out perfect! I don’t really remember what cheese queso tastes like,but this is better than anything! I really like it better as a cheese than the daiya cheeder cheese shreds. i plan on this as my go to cheese now,thankyou for another great recipe!
Yum yum yum. The cashew adds a pleasant sweetness. The store didn’t have jalapenos so I used two serranos. Spicy!
Mine came out distinctly more orange than the picture (I think too much capsicum) but it’s pretty yum.
I don’t know what ‘cheese queso’ is or what it tastes like: not something we eat in Australia. So I have no point of reference, really. I’m not sure it’ll fool people into thinking it contains actual cheese, but it’s extremely delicious.
I didn’t have any miso so I just left it out, and it was really good. My first time with nutritional yeast! Very impressed.
Isa, your recipes are such a treat for me…I’m pretty much convinced God sent you to save my tortured culinary soul. I have a couple of food allergies and eating out is almost impossible, so I have to rely on myself to come up with nutritious, delicious food. For this recipe, I am allergic to citrus and soy–do you have any suggestions for substitutions for the lemon and miso? I have found a great soy sauce substitute recipe, but tofu, tempe, and miso are all things I have yet to find a comparable substitute for. I generally will use either vinegar or pinapple juice in place of citrus. Would that work here? Suggestions?
P.S. Thank you, thank you, thank you for not always relying on tempe and tofu in your recipes, you have saved me from bland, unsatisfying food and/or malnutrition. 😉
There are soy-free chickpea misos! So yummy, hopefully you can find one. Use a splash of red wine vinegar instead of the lemon.
I just want to say how much I adore this recipe!! I used a jarred roasted red pepper instead of fresh, but diced and cooked with the other veggies. I also didn’t have straight miso, but I had miso mayonnaise (the one in the squirt bottle). I used just 1 T of that, and the result is fantastic!! My favorite vegan queso is from a local restaurant, and the most I could get out of the chef is that the secret is “roasted veggies,” no cashews or nuts involved. All I know is now I have a recipe to ward off the cravings…this one!! 🙂
Yes, I love it with a roasted red pep!
Made this and have eaten it in various ways, per Isa’s suggestions, INCLUDING the grilled queso sandwich. HOLY SMOKES. I made it on my home-made wheat bread, spread the queso on cold, then fried the sammie in a pan with olive oil. OMG more please!! SO yummy!! Thanks, Isa!! You so seriously rock. And you’ve been such an inspiration to kicking my (already scratch) cooking up a notch. Thank you!! XOXO
I just had this at a party last night and it completely blew my mind. I am going to make this all the time and never crave cow cheese again! Thank you so much!
i always love the recipes on this site, but I had some doubts about this because it’s SO hard to make vegan cheese taste like cheese. Well, this rocked my world! It is FANTASTIC!
I made this with sunflower seeds instead of cashews and it was great….also subbed an anaheim chili for the red pepper….\ not as orange but still awesome. Oh yeah and ener-g instead of arrowroot…..thanks for the recipe, its a keeper.
Just made this for the second time, it’s amazing! The first time I made it I followed the instructions to the T and it was great. Just made it again and this time when it came to the blending stage just left it in the Vitamix for a few minutes. It thickened up beautifully and means you can miss out the stage back in the pan. Also, it got nice and hot. If I’ve just made you insanely jealous about having a Vitamix, I’m sorry. Mwah ha ha ha ha.
would you need to soak sunflower seeds? Thanks.
Yep! Unless you have a blendtec or vitamix.
this is so delicious! i made it last night, craving some cheesy goodness. i was lazy and soaked the cashews 30 min in warm water but they blended up beautifully in the vitamix! my dad tasted it and said “i thought you don’t eat dairy!” and i told him it was made out of cashews – he couldn’t believe it. and my neighbor as well said she had no interest in tasting it, but i took some over and she and her husband LOVED it. she asked if i could bring her over some more! LOVE this recipe! thank you so much!!!!
Because of this recipe my only-has-eyes-for-me husband of 7 years developed a crush on another woman, and her name is Isa. Despite this, I am grateful as Cashew Queso rocked our vegan world.
This is fantastic! I’ve been eating it on the Tempeh Helper from Appetite for Reduction (among other things). YUM!
SO delicious, so authentic. But the best part is that now, instead of craving the prior cow milk queso, I now crave this! Isa, there is nobody in the world who could convince me you’re not a genius right now!
You are too kind, thank you!
Love this!! Made it for St. Patrick’s Day Irish Nachos, basically waffle fries with nacho fixings: chili, queso, guac, olives, etc. Sooo good and the cheese was what really made it. Thank you!!!!!!!
BEST CHEEZE I’VE EVER HAD!!!! Just made it (sans the miso since i couldn’t afford it and with extra nutritional yeast) and it was amazingballs. Thank you so much 😀
Cool! Yep, it’s very versatile and good on you for working with what you had.
This queso is RIDICULOUS!! I made it as directed, except I had to substitute fresh red bell peppers with some jarred pimentos, simply because I forgot to pick up the necessary ingredient. I made it a little chunky and served it on nachos. It was so good that I really prefer it just by itself as a dip.
I’m not a skinny vegan, and I couldn’t help thinking that this would make a great spicy mac & cheese. Excessive? YES! I so don’t care, though. I’m gonna try it…
Another side note, I’m impressed at how large the batch is. It’s definitely a party sized dip.
Thanks for this great recipe!!
I took this to a potluck but knew I couldn’t keep it hot. So, I brought it cold and served it as a dip (like guacamole). Everyone so enjoyed it. BTW…the group was all meat eaters who were convinced cheese was an included ingredient. So, hot or cold, this cashew queso is fantastic!
Dude.
Used this as the base of my Nacho Pizza. Big hit!
I’m vegetarian but try to eat at least one vegan meal each day. I’ve tried many faux cheeses that are nothing like real cheese. This is by far the closest and best substitute for the real stuff. And better for you, to boot! Yum.
I made this last night for the first time, and double wow!! My meat-loving boyfriend asked for more on his plate so he could dip his burrito into it. A hit! Thanks. 🙂
I can’t wait to try this now! I had some wonderful nachos with cashew cheese at Spiral Diner in Fort Worth last week. I hope to recreate a similar plate of ‘chos at home.