All-purpose Cheese Sauce
This oozing vegan 'cheese' sauce recipe from Oh She Glows Every Day adds a whole new meaning to vegan comfort food - you can use it as an irresistible topping for all sorts of dishes and it's made with simple, budget-friendly ingredients.
From the book
Oh She Glows Every Day
Plant-based recipes to fall in love with
Inspiring vegan recipes
Vegan twists on family favourites
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Introduction
Here it is: my favorite vegan ‘cheese’ sauce that not only tastes amazing, but can be used in a wide variety of dishes! Who knew that just a few simple ingredients could create such a decadent, silky, pourable sauce?
No, it isn’t a dead ringer for traditional cheese sauce, but we think it’s comforting in its own right. Use it in my Chilli Cheese Nachos or Mac and Peas, or heat it up and use it as a nacho dip paired with salsa or as a spread on a wrap. It’s also fantastic drizzled over roasted or steamed broccoli or cauliflower! I love to add my favourite Sriracha sauce to this to really amp up the flavours. A big thanks to Jennifer Houston and Ruth Tal’s Super Fresh cookbook for inspiring this versatile and wallet-friendly recipe!
Ingredients
| 40g | raw cashews |
| 190g | diced peeled potatoes (see Tip) |
| 55g | diced carrots (see Tip) |
| 2-3 tbsp | nutritional yeast, to taste |
| 2 tbsp | refined coconut oil or other neutral-tasting oil, such as grapeseed oil |
| 2 tbsp plus 1½ tsp | water |
| 1½ tsp | fresh lemon juice, or more to taste |
| ½ tsp plus ⅛ tsp | fine sea salt, or to taste |
| 1 | medium clove garlic |
| ½ to ¾ tsp | white wine vinegar, to taste |
| Sriracha or other hot sauce (optional) |
Essential kit
You will need: a blender.
Method
1. Soak the cashews in a bowl of water overnight or for at least 1 hour. Rinse and drain.
2. Put the potatoes and carrots in a medium pot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes, until fork-tender. Drain. (Alternatively, you can steam the veggies.)
3. Transfer the cashews, potatoes and carrots to a blender, add the nutritional yeast, coconut oil, water, lemon juice, ½ teaspoon of the salt, garlic and vinegar and blend until smooth. If using a Vitamix, use the tamper to help it blend. If it’s too thick, you can add another splash of water or oil to help it along. Taste the sauce and add Sriracha and more salt, if desired. The sauce will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Tip: It’s important to dice the potatoes and carrots small before measuring (about 1cm pieces); I recommend weighing the potato and carrot for the most accurate measurement.
Make it nut-free: Simply omit the cashews. It won’t be quite as rich, but it still tastes great!
Reviews
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