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Cashew Queso
Course: Dips and spreads, Featured Recipes, PopularYield475
ml (2 cups)Active time2
minutesCook time5
minutesTotal time7
minutesHow do you write about one of the greatest gifts you’ve given to the world? The answer is: you don’t. Instead, you let other people do it for you. Below are some of our favorite stories staring the recipe that began it all. Originally from Life is NOYOKE, it’s Cashew Queso: Great hot or cold, lasts for days, adored by picky eaters young and old. It’s the return of cheese. It’s an irresistible appetizer to bring to a party. It’s a base for soup (Broccoli “Cheese”), a sauce for tacos, a dip for chips or veggies. This dairy-free cheese sauce may be the best Vitamix recipe ever. It’s mine, it’s ours, it’s here for the world to discover and enjoy. –Lenny Gale
Ingredients
1 cup (240 mL) milk of choice, unsweetened
¼ cup (20 g) nutritional yeast
½ cup (70 g) raw almonds, unsalted
½ cup (65 g) raw cashews, unsalted
1 red bell pepper, seeded
1 ½ tsp (8 g) salt
½ tsp (1.5 g) garlic powder
1 tsp (2.5 g) onion powder
crushed red pepper – a few shakes (to taste)
Directions
- Add ingredients to blender container in order listed.
- Blend on high for 6 minutes (or use pre-programmed ‘Soup’ setting).
- Enjoy with friends.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Equipment: This recipe assumes you have a high-performance blender that can heat ingredients. If you don’t have one, blend until smooth and heat on stovetop on medium heat until warm.
- Storage: Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Cashews allergy? Substitute with raw sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. Per our friend Andrew, this substitution works perfectly.
Great on jackfruit tacos or sliders.
Great as an easy kids dinner.
284 responses to “Cashew Queso”
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!
[…] The Best Plant-Based Cheese Sauce (a recipe you can make with an immersion blender!) […]
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??
thanksAny 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 🙂
[…] our best video (and recipe!) yet. print it here https://s45509.p20.sites.pressdns.com/cashew-queso/ […]
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 👍
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. 👍
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