Best Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce
This is the best vegan nacho cheese sauce you can make at home: a stretchy, pourable, vibrant orange sauce that looks and tastes like classic cheddar nacho cheese, with zero dairy. It comes together from a base of boiled potatoes and carrots blended with nutritional yeast, then thickened on the stove until it turns glossy and gooey. Pour it over a plate of chips and it stretches just like the real thing.
This vegan nacho cheese sauce is another recipe I had been wanting to try ever since I started my Best Vegan Cheese Challenge, and I am so happy it turned out exactly the way I hoped. I was inspired by Lindsay’s Nacho Cheese Recipe and adapted it from there, modifying the quantities and adding a few new ingredients. The result exceeded my expectations. I have even used this same sauce for pasta, and it works beautifully there too.
What goes into the sauce
The body of this sauce comes from potatoes and carrots. The potatoes give it that smooth, starchy creaminess and a neutral base, while the carrots are what bring the warm orange color, so you do not need any artificial dye to get that cheddar look. Nutritional yeast is doing the heavy lifting on flavor: it is what gives the sauce its savory, cheesy, slightly nutty taste, so do not skip it or cut it back. Tapioca starch is the secret to the stretch and the gooey pull, which I will come back to below. A little lemon juice adds the tang you expect from real cheese, sweet paprika deepens the color and adds gentle warmth, and olive oil rounds everything out and makes it glossy. Salt ties it all together.
Why this sauce actually stretches
The stretch is not magic, it is the tapioca starch. When tapioca starch is heated in liquid and stirred, it forms long, elastic gel networks that turn stringy and tacky as they cook, which is exactly the gooey, pull-apart texture you want from melted cheese. That is why step six matters so much: once you pour the blended mixture into the pan over medium heat, you have to stir continuously for about ten minutes. The sauce will go from thin and loose to thick, sticky and stretchy right in front of you. Stop stirring too early and it stays watery; keep going and it transforms. Boiling the potatoes and carrots until fully tender first also matters, because soft vegetables blend into a perfectly smooth base with no grainy bits.
Tips for getting the consistency right
Save the cooking water. When you drain the boiled vegetables, hold onto about 1 1/2 cups of that starchy water, maybe a little more. You will add it back little by little while blending until the mixture is smooth and semi-liquid, so you control the thickness instead of guessing. Add it gradually: it is easy to loosen a sauce, much harder to thicken one that has gone too thin. Aim for a pourable but not runny blend before it hits the pan, because it will tighten up considerably as the tapioca cooks. If it ends up thicker than you like after cooking, stir in a splash more of the reserved water off the heat. Taste before serving and adjust the salt and lemon, since potatoes can soak up quite a bit of seasoning.
Serving ideas and storing leftovers
The obvious home for this sauce is a big plate of tortilla chips, but it is far more versatile than that. As I mentioned, I have poured it straight over pasta for an instant vegan mac, and it slots in anywhere you would normally reach for a cheesy sauce: think baked potatoes, steamed broccoli or a drizzle over roasted vegetables. If you love that comforting cheesy direction, it pairs naturally with dishes like this cauliflower and cheese casserole or a creamy cheesy spaghetti with dill and green pepper sauce. For a snack spread, serve it alongside a cooler dip like these cream cheese dip cups.
Leftovers keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days. The sauce will firm up considerably once chilled, which is normal, because the tapioca sets as it cools. To bring it back, reheat it gently in a pan or in short bursts in the microwave, stirring in a little water or plant milk to loosen it back to that pourable, stretchy state.
If you make this nacho cheese sauce, I would love to know how it turned out: did you get that gooey stretch when you stirred in the tapioca, and did you serve it over chips or something else? Please rate the recipe and leave a comment below with your tweaks. It always makes my day to hear from you.
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Best Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 potatoes cut in small cubes
- 2 carrots sliced
- 5 Tbsps nutritional yeast flakes
- 3 Tbsps olive oil
- 5 Tbsps tapioca starch
- some water the water from boiled veggies
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Boil veggies until tender – 20 minutes. Remove from heat and leave them in the water for 10 more minutes.
- Drain them, save some water, about 1 1/2 cup, maybe a little bit more.
- Put all ingredients in the food processor. Blend until smooth.
- Add water, little by little, until you reach the desired consistency. It has to be smooth and semi-liquid.
- Pour the mixture in a large pan over medium heat.
- Stir continuously. You’ll see that this “sauce” will thicken and get sticky. Stir for about 10 minutes.
- Serve!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, it is fully dairy-free and vegan. The creamy, cheesy effect comes from boiled potatoes and carrots blended with nutritional yeast, olive oil and tapioca starch, with no milk, butter or cheese of any kind. The nutritional yeast provides the savory cheese-like flavor.
The stretch comes from tapioca starch. When it is heated and stirred in liquid, it forms elastic gel strands that turn gooey and pull apart like melted cheese. You need to stir the sauce continuously over medium heat for about ten minutes for this to develop.
Tapioca starch is what gives this recipe its signature stretch, so it is the best choice. Other starches like cornstarch or potato starch will thicken the sauce, but they will not create the same stringy, pull-apart texture. If stretchiness matters to you, stick with tapioca.
Consistency depends on the reserved cooking water. Save about 1 1/2 cups when you drain the vegetables and add it little by little while blending until the mixture is smooth and semi-liquid. The sauce thickens as the tapioca cooks, so if it gets too thick, stir in a splash more water off the heat.
It is very versatile. Beyond a plate of tortilla chips, you can pour it over pasta for a quick vegan mac, drizzle it over baked potatoes, steamed broccoli or roasted vegetables, or use it anywhere you would want a cheesy sauce.
Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days. It will firm up as it chills because the tapioca sets. To reheat, warm it gently in a pan or microwave and stir in a little water or plant milk to loosen it back to a pourable, stretchy consistency.
I needed more flavor so I added curry powder and miso, and omg it was so delicious that this now my new found veg curry sauce!
Can i skip the nutritional yeast since its not aVailable
Hi! Unfortunately, it won’t be the same, it won’t have a cheesy taste without it.
Will the recipe still work if I omit the oil or is it an essential ingredient?
Sure!
Oh my goodness!!!! This was perfect. I have so many food allergies that I have not had any kind of cheese sauce in so long, they all had some ingredient I was allergic to. Not yours. I gave it a shot and I am thrilled. Thank you!!!
Hey, Cyndee, I’m super glad you liked the recipe! 🙂 It’s one of my favorites as well!
Can any potatoes be used or is there a preference to the type ?
Here in Romania, we have just two types of potatoes – white and red. :)) I used white. I have no idea what type they were though. Maybe choose a type that gets stickier when mashed?
Made this cheese dip today to go over some nachos.. it is by far the best vegan cheese dip sauce I’ve come across. I added a 1/4 tsp. Of turmeric to deepen the cheddar affect. It came out great thanks for posting ‘this. AJ 5🌠
Thank you! 😀 So happy to hear you liked it so much!
Can I use regular or smoked paprika?
You can use regular too. The smoked paprika will give it a smoky flavor. 😀
do you peel the potatoes?
Yes. 🙂
I need to make this for a party tonight. Can it be stored in a crockpot and heated up later?
Sure!
This is it! Best vegan nacho cheese recipe on the web. I used cornstarch instead (no tapioca flour on hand) so I lost a bit of stretch, but I just wanted to thicken it to use on pasta. Added more lemon juice and a splash of white wine vinegar for more acidity, and used smoked paprika and garlic. Could not believe the taste – this will now be my go-to recipe. Currently devouring a plate of mac-and-cheese with BBQ tempeh. Thank you, Ruxandra!
Thank you, Mary! So happy you liked it! Great idea with smoked paprika. Yum!!
Amazing ! We did it with pasta and broccoli
Yum! 😀
I only added 2tbls of tapioca flour and after a 1/4 cup of the potato water I was pleased with the consistency. I added a little garlic two and WOW!! Next is going to try and add salsa and make a dip! Thank you so much!
You’re welcome, Bonnie! 😀
This was a SUPER AWESOME recipe. I used it for nachos, mac n cheese, grilled cheese & quesadillas ?. Thank you!!!
SI glad you liked it, Luisa! 😀
Do you have nutritional information for this recipe?
Hi, Abigail! No. But you can use cronometer.com
I made it and loved it! But when I started to stir on the stove top, it became like one big pot of glue. So I stopped, and as I had already discard the cooking water, I instead added pasta water and it worked just all right. Yes, I happened to make pasta on the same day! And since I didn’t have tapioca flour, I used potato starch instead and it worked. I haven’t tried tapioca flour yet, but I’m assuming the texture would be pretty close. Anyway, I thought I would leave a note to say thank you. I’m going to make another batch (actually, double the portion this time because this is soooo good) as soon as I print out the recipe. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Hi, Yoko! You’re welcome! 😀 So glad to hear that you liked it! 😀 It turns into a big pot of glue, it’s normal to get stickier. However, you can adjust the texture, just like you did, by adding more water. Good to know it works with potato starch as well. Somebody asked me this in the past, but I only tested it with tapioca, so I couldn’t tell. With tapioca gets strechy, like melted cheese. With potato starch it just thinkens, I guess, but for pasta is great.
This recipe looks amazing!!! What kind of potatoes do you recommend?
Thank you, Bronte! 😀 You can use any kind of white potatoes. I tried it with both waxy and starchy potatoes and it turned out just as good. 🙂
I can’t find tapioca flour in my area. Would it be okay just to use regular flour?
Unfortunately, no. 🙁 It will not have the same texture. You could use corn starch, but it will lose its stretchy texture. It will just get thicker. Tapioca flour is what gives it the cheesy texture.
I am not vegan but enjoy trying vegan recipes and the texture of this is SO SIMILAR to cheese that you can barely tell the difference! I saved the leftovers in the fridge and plan on serving it over baked potatoes and broccoli tonight. And I’m definitely making this sauce again to use in mac and cheese. You’re a genius for this recipe! 🙂
I’m so happy you like it, Jazmin! 😀 Serving it on baked potatoes sounds DELICIOUS! I think I’ll try it too. I only used this sauce for pasta and tortilla chips so far, but using it over baked veggies seems like a great choice. 🙂
This was SO good! Thank you so much! I had it over nachos (with tempeh) last night and plan to have a baked potato for lunch smothered in this delicious sauce! 🙂
So glad you liked it, Andrea! 😀 Baked potatoes and this sauce sounds like a match made in Heaven! I will surely give it a try too! 🙂
Huge fan! Thank you so much for the recipe! I would definitely recommend!
So glad you like it, Emily!! 😀
Hi! Do you think you could use mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes to make this paleo? 🙂
Yes, that may work. You gave me a great idea for a future vegan cheese sauce! 🙂 Thanks!
Made this today.
I LOVE IT.
Thank you Thank you thank you thank you! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
So happy you liked it!! 😀 You’re welcome! 🙂
This is a perfect option for my grandson who is allergic to dairy and nuts. Most all vegan cheese is based on a nut base but this one doesn’t! Thank you so much for sharing.
Thanks Gina! So glad you like it! Hope your grandson will like it too! 🙂
Won’t use the oil.
Hi Ruxandra,
How long will this keep and how much quantity is made with this recipe?
Thanks,
Rukmini
Hi Rukmini!
You can make about 2 1/2 bowls like the one in the photos with these quantities. The sauce is better served right away. I don’t know how or if it will change its texture when refrigerated. I think you can keep it in the fridge for a 2-3 days with no problems.
i never would have thought you could make cheese sauce from carrots and potatoes but it looks like you can. I am going to have to try this
Yes!! It was surprisingly good! The texture was perfect as well. 🙂