>U Mom Knows Best: Vegan Cheese Sauce

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Vegan Cheese Sauce

 

  In my quest to live a healthy lifestyle, I am trying to eat less dairy. I am fine without drinking milk as I love the taste of cashew milk in my coffee, but my weakness is cheese. I just love the taste of cheese. I could eat cheese all day. My favorite way to eat cheese is melted over beans and rice or melted in a tortilla. I want to eliminate cheese from my diet as it is high in fat, cholesterol, and fat. In order for me to eliminate cheese from my diet, I need to find a substitute that tastes good and looks like cheese.



  I think I have finally discovered a meatless, dairy-free, vegan cheese sauce. I actually discover two different recipes for vegan cheese sauce and they both looked so delicious. I had a hard time deciding which one to make, so I decided to make both just to see which one tasted the best. Both recipes used potatoes and carrots, along with spices. The only difference one recipe used nutritional yeast flakes. I have used nutritional yeast flakes in other recipes like my cashew pate and it gives great flavor so I wanted to see if the yeast flakes made a difference in taste. I made both recipes and will include both at the bottom of this post with notes about the taste of each. I love that these creamy vegan cheese sauces can be used just like regular cheese sauce. I can see myself using these cheese sauces over baked potatoes, veggies, tortilla chips, and in Mexican dishes like beans and rice. They might even be good in a pizza like a breakfast pizza that is made with scrambled eggs. My kids would love for me to make mac and cheese with these. So here are the two recipes that I discovered and I love that they use carrots for the orange color. Both of these cheese sauces can be stored in the fridge for a week.



                                   Vegan Cheese Sauce #One

                          Ingredients
                              2 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
                              1 large carrot, chopped
                              4 tablespoons olive oil
                              ½ cup unsweetened cashew or almond milk
                              1 tablespoon lemon juice
                              ½ teaspoon garlic powder
                              ½ teaspoon onion powder
                              ½ teaspoon salt
                              ½ teaspoon paprika
                               4 teaspoons mustard
                               1 teaspoon soy sauce
Instructions
Combine the potato and carrot in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until fork-tender. Drain and transfer to a food processor.
Add all the other ingredients to the food processor and process for about 2 minutes, or until totally smooth. Makes about 3 cups.

Notes: I liked that this one uses ingredients that most have around the house. This sauce had a mild flavor but had too much of a mustard taste so next time I would reduce the mustard to 2 teaspoons.



                           Vegan Cheese Sauce #Two

                                  Ingredients
                                      2 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
                                      1 cup carrots, chopped
                                      1/2 cup water
                                      1/3 cup olive oil
                                      2 teaspoon salt
                                      1 tablespoon lemon juice
                                      1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
                                      1/4 teaspoon. onion powder
                                      1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

            Instructions
        Boil the potatoes and carrots until soft. Then place the cooked carrots and potatoes along with the other ingredients in a food processor and blend until very smooth. Makes about 3 cups.
.

Notes: The nutritional yeast flakes add some extra nutrition like protein, iron, and b-vitamins. This sauce had a sharper taste like sharp cheddar flavor. The nutritional yeast gave this sauce more of a brown color.


I really had high hopes for these cheese sauces but they fell short of my expectations. While they tasted good, they did not have a cheese flavor or texture to them. They would make great dips but I could not pass them off as a cheese sauce. These sauces would be great with veggies, crackers, potatoes, and over beans and rice, but not on a pizza. I have seen vegan cheese sauces recipes that use cashews instead of potatoes so I will try making that one next to see how that one tastes.

25 comments:

Masshole Mommy said...

That sounds delicious. I can't wait to try this.

Terri Beavers said...

My daughter would be able to eat this. I love that it's vegan, it's hard for me to find good vegan recipes.

Sab Reads Books said...

Oh my goodness! This look so yummy my stomach started growling. Lol!

Lana Bandoim said...

This looks like a great cheese sauce, and the recipe is easy to follow.

Eugenia said...

I’ve never tried a vegan cheese sauce, the photo looks delicious! Pinned it :-)

Ana De-Jesus said...

Omg this looks like real cheese I can't wait to try it!

debdenny said...

I like a good cheese sauce. Yours look so delish.

Healing Tomato said...

Wow! what a creative way to make vegan cheese. Must try it out

Elizabeth O. said...

It still looks great despite it not tasting like an actual cheese sauce! You're right it's still going to be great as a dip! Thanks for the recipe, hope the cashew one is closer to the original!

Unknown said...

Never tried this and know for sure that I have never made it. I would try it though if someone gave it to me and I didn't know there is no cheese in it.

Jamie said...

Wow, that sounds really good!! I have some friends who can't have dairy products, so this would be perfect for them! :)

The Shopping Duck said...

Interesting! Didn't know you could make a vegan cheese sauce.

Shaylee Anne said...

So interesting I never thought this would be possible! I'd love to try this since dairy bothers my stomach!

Amy Jones said...

I'll definitely try this at home. I'm not vegan myself but it makes me really curious to check it out

Unknown said...

This looks like an amazing dip. Plus it's Vegan. Great post!

PR Daily PH said...

That looks yummy and healthy! Will definitely try this recipe at home.

Doran // HauteBeautyGuide said...

These all look great. I can't wait to try them for meatless monday.

Unknown said...

Oh my goodness! This is so tempting I want to grab it from my screen lol. Can't wait to taste it.

Ayesha said...

Oh yum! Thanks for sharing the recipe and I can't wait to show this to my Aunt and make it on weekend yay!

Unknown said...

Wow, Its looks like a real cheese yum, I need to try this

Unknown said...

Sounds like a good cheese. Looks like I want to try this at home.

Eileen said...

I want to try these. We think our daughter is lactose intolerant and this would be a good vegan alternative.

CourtneyLynne said...

Oooo this cheese sauce sounds amazing!!!! Must give it a try!!!!

Nancy A at obloggernewbie said...

Pinned this so I can try out both recipes when I get a chance. Still gaining knowledge about creative ways to enhance the flavor of wholesome plant-based food. Love the idea of potatoes and carrots as a sauce. Nancy A @ obloggernewbie.blogspot.com

Deborah Davis said...

My friends and family will love this comforting Vegan Cheese Sauce recipe-and so will I. I have to make this delectable recipe soon! Thanks for sharing it at the Plant-Based Potluck Party. I'm pinning and sharing!

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