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’m not a miso fan, so i subbed a little salt at this stage. this is AMAZING!!!! i can’t wait to have my non-vegan family give it a shot. i’m getting them closer to making some vegan swaps!!
Do you have a substitute for recipes that call for cashews? Cashews make me swell up like a giant blow fish!
This is good and very needed. Despite my best intentions, I picked up a jar of foul cheese dip in the night shop last week. This is so much better!
OKAY – I just made this cheese tonight and it is the best vegan cheese I have EVER HAD!!!! I actually used it as the base for my vegan quesadillas and they were AMAZING!! My husband is a total cheese lover and said my quesadillas were out of this world delicious!!! Score!!! Thanks so much for this AMAZING recipe!!
Wow, glad you liked it!
This is amazing. I mean, AH-MAZ-ING! I substituted about 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper for the Ancho, and it was delicious. My husband, an avowed carnivore, could not believe there was no cheese in it. Next time I will probably only use a dash of Cayenne, because we both like our cheese somewhat mild. I ate it over macaroni and a baked potato. It was really amazing. I did what another commenter did and blended the mixture, after adding half the veggies, in my Vitamix until there was heavy steam escaping from the lid, then put the other half of the veggies in, along with the lemon juice and pulsed a couple of times. It was hot, creamy, and delicious. No need at all to put it on the stove if you have a Vitamix or Blendtec. I have loved EVERY one of your recipes! THANK YOU!!! As a former cheese lover, I am SO grateful!
Do you have to have miso in this dish. Not a fan.
PRAISE ISA! My non-vegan husband LOVES this. It’s on the stove right now. We both keep sneaking in and dipping our tortilla chips in between whisking. Skipped the lemon juice because I don’t have any lemons. As is, AMAZING. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
This is amazing! I’m so impressed by it, easy to make and even my non vegan friends loved it! Can’t wait to bring it to family events!
I made it and it came out really well. It was so easy!
I make this in Germany with what I can find: no nutritional yeast, thai chili peppers instead of jalepeno, and brown miso, and I use chipotle instead of ancho. Turns out fabulous. This is a very flexible and forgiving recipe! Works great as a dip, or my personal favorite: on burritos!!!
Can I substitute the miso with something else?
I made this last night and cannot believe how incredible it tastes! I was about to just eat the cashew miso mix..that was good all on its own. My jalapeno spoiled before I made the recipe so I had to exclude it, but the cheese was still great. Can’t wait to try it again with the jalapeno.
UPDATE: I made this again a few minutes ago (yes, it just took a few minutes) using salsa instead of the cooked veggie mix. I’ve also made it a few times using the cooked veggies and honestly, I can’t tell the difference. It tastes amazing either way, but if you’re in a time pinch, go for the salsa!
Incredibly delicious!! I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve made this. I love it and can devour an entire batch on my own. This is also the recipe I send to vegan-curious people – especially those who think they can’t give up cheese! Tonight I brought this to a large get together of omnivores and watched 6 men between the ages of 11 and 68 inhale the entire double batch I brought. Thank you so much for this recipe – and all your recipes – Isa!!!
This must be spectacularly fattening. Anyway, I thought it was great. Now that I’ve eaten a bowl full, I would be tempted to add some cider vinegar and double the seasonings.
Here’s a question. What do you think about straining the cashew/veg broth mix after blending?
Fabulous. quick and totally delish. Loved it.
Hi! I wonder, I try to avoid nuts, but seeds work fine. In the comments here they say sunflower seeds, but I wonder if sesame seeds would work? I know my “fake tahini” with unroasted sesame seeds mixed with oil and sea salt works well as spread and cheese substitute in warm sandwiches. Thinking sesame would be better than sunflower seeds. Any anvice/opinions?
It would taste very tahini-y, but sure, give it a shot!
Oops! I soaked my cashews overnight and forgot about them – for 2 nights – on the counter The 3rd day I open the container and there is foam on top of the water and they have a funny yeasty smell. Did they go bad or is this normal?
Ohhhh, yeasty smell sounds like you’re making rejuvelac. I wouldn’t use them 🙁
I agree with Anon. This changes everything.
Sounds delish…do you think you can massage this on kale for a cheesy kale chip?
Okay, I think I’m addicted…I can’t stop browsing your website. 😛 Not getting any work done, but boy am I getting an education! And hungry! LOL So, I’ve never soaked cashews…how much water should you use, or does it really matter? Thanks for the awesome, drool-inducing recipes!
This queso recipe is amazing! My husband and are not vegan, but we definitely try to limit our consumption of animal products. I made this and just told my husband that I made a queso dip. He really liked it and it wasn’t until we reheated and were snacking away the next day that I mentioned that it wasn’t actually made of any cheese. He was so surprised at that fact and I was equally delighted. Thanks for this awesome recipe!
I just made this again. Yummy. I didn’t have a red bell pepper and used a green one and added salsa at the end, probably about a 1/2 cup. It was awesome. I will try rotel tomatoes and use a little less broth next time.
I’m not a vegan, but I had been wanting to try this recipe for a while. This weekend my friend came to visit and both of us are currently off dairy. I thought it’d be the perfect surprise for her and the perfect time to try the recipe. I made it her first day and we gobbled up a whole bowl at lunch. I’m glad it makes a lot, because we ate a 2nd bowl later that day. We still have a bit left over today. The flavor isn’t super “cheesy” but definitely queso-like enough to get by. And, super delicious in it’s own right. SO DELICIOUS. It’s crazy that nuts, veggies, and spices can turn into something so decadent. I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn’t actually being that naughty by eating the whole bowl 🙂 (tortilla chip calories aside…). I love mexican food in all it’s cheesy goodness, so this will definitely help me stay off dairy, happily.
Made this last night and it is AWESOME! Planning to toss it with some noodles for a southwestern mac and cheese!
OMG! Found this recipe by way of the Vegan Cooking with Love blog. Amazing! My kitchen has been dominated by PPK recipes for the past couple of weeks thanks to Vegan Brunch and Appetite for Reduction. I am loving this vegan transition thanks to PPK!
BTW – I was able to cheat a little by adding a couple heaping spoonfuls of my homemade sofrito. YUM!
How long will this last refrigerated? My friend made it, gave me the recipe and I liked it so much I made a double batch! I’m racking my brain to figure out how to eat all this before it expires!!!
I NEVER comment on recipes, but I had to leave a comment here! This was fantastic! It was my first attempt at cashew cheese. I’ve only been eating Daiya until now. I’m so glad I tried it. Here are the modifications I made:
No miso (I’m cheap)
Salsa instead of veggies (I used about 8 tablespoons of a medium salsa; helped give it a more orangey color)
I added about 1/2 a package of soyrizo (nice and spicy!)
No ancho pepper… subbed with cayenne
1/2 the amount of nutritional yeast
Also want to note that I have a REALLY crappy blender, and mine turned out completely smooth! I used the “smoothie” setting for about 5 minutes, and I had no problems getting it to a creamy consistency.
I’m going to put this in the crockpot while still warm, and then take to work. Plan is to put it on the “warm” setting all morning, and then serve to a few friends at lunchtime with chips and red pepper strips.
Thanks for the great catalyst for my own version of this recipe. I can’t wait to make it again! And incidentally, this was much cheaper than a whole crockpot full of Daiya.
Thank you!!! Your recipes have made our vegan journey amazing-when I’m in doubt I go to your site or videos and I know your stuff will be kick ass! Please don’t ever stop doing what you do!
I am going to try this with Hatch green chiles to see how close I get to duplicating Chuy’s “boom boom” sauce!
delicious! how long can you keep this in the refrigerator??
WOW!!!
WOW!!! I’m not a vegan or vegetarian, but trending that way. I made a few changes and finished in less than 1/2 hr start to finish. I pulsed the cashews fine in my nutri bullet without soaking. I used the seasoned veg broth solution to blend with. I added 1/2 tsp turmeric for better color(did not affect taste) I added the peppers and onions directly to the mix, thickened with a flour slurry and only cooked and stirred about 10 min. Tastes way better than velveeta, and I like the tang from bragg’s nutritional yeast. Great job ISA!
@jessie- I like your fondue idea- I’m thinking almonds for the cashews
( fondue is often swiss or gruere- and they have a “nuttier” flavor that might be approximated by a mix of almonds, pecans, filberts, etc) as cashews are pretty mild. Don’t forget the Kirsh or other cherry brandy! You gave me a great idea to experiment with.
I think Isa has found the cure for PMS!! In any case, this is a must try! I was a tad skeptical as I’ve tried making other ‘cheez’ substitutes that ended up being kind of nasty, but this is amazing.
You can soak sunflower seeds and sub them for cashews.
Just made this for the Super Bowl (plus buffalo tempeh!). YUM! It’s very tasty, and I can’t wait to eat the whole bowl!