Creamy Vegan Cheese Sauce

When going vegan, or trying to eat more plant-based it seems daunting to give up cheese… it’s so creamy, rich, and delicious. But dairy is filled with saturated fat, cholesterol, milk proteins (which have been shown to be linked to all different types of cancers), and can cause inflammation all throughout the body. I came up with the perfect recipe to replace all your dairy-filled cheesey cream sauces. This cashew cream sauce is not only an amazing alternative to dairy cheese sauces, but it’s also packed with nutrients that are good for you!

Soaking the cashews helps to soften them and break them down so they can be digested better as well as blend more easily. I used raw cashews, but you can use roasted if that is the only option available to you. Cashews can be found in most bulk sections of the grocery store, as well as packaged with the nuts and seeds. They contain healthy fats that are unsaturated, and are also packed with selenium, vitamin K, magnesium, and iron.

Cashews are neutral in flavor which makes this sauce the perfect base for lots of recipes!

Nutritional yeast is an optional component of this recipe, but if you have it on hand I definitely recommend using it. It gives the sauce a cheesey flavor and also adds lots of vitamins. Nutritional yeast contains B vitamins, iron, selenium, and zinc. If you don’t already have it in your pantry, I highly recommend buying it here to use in any meals or recipes that you want to add a cheesy flavor!

This recipe is super simple, and is the perfect item to make in bulk and store in your fridge to use throughout the week on lots of different recipes and dishes.

The consistency is completely up to you, so if you like your sauce thin add some extra vegetable broth. If you like your sauce on the thicker side leave out a tablespoon or two of the vegetable broth. You could also add roasted garlic cloves, herbs, sriracha, or any other flavors depending on the dish that you’re making the sauce for.

One of my favorite ways to use this creamy vegan cheese sauce is on pasta with veggies. Extremely simple, yet so delicious. I usually will use peas, kale, and onion as my veggies and top it with some fresh basil or parsley.