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This is the best vegan queso recipe EVER. Ready to eat in less than 10 minutes, it tastes so much like the real thing you won’t believe it! Rich cashew cream, a little potato, and a touch of nutritional yeast blend together with traditional Mexican flavors for a dairy-free vegan queso you’ll fall in love with.
🧀 What Makes This Recipe So Good
- It’s a foolproof copycat. Seriously, it tastes so much like real queso you might worry you’re actually eating dairy.
- It’s really easy to make. A quick blend in a Vitamix gives you a smooth, hot dip that’s ready to eat in less than 10 minutes!
- It’s low-calorie and low-carb, which means you can eat as much as your heart really desires.
- It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so you can make it ahead of an event or on meal prep Sundays. Store it in an airtight container, and add a little unsweetened almond milk when you reheat it if it’s too thick.
👩🏼🍳 Chef’s Tips
- Tapioca starch is an optional ingredient in this recipe, so don’t worry if you don’t have it. It does make a difference, though. It gives this queso a gooier texture than other vegan queso recipes, making it more like real queso.
- If you don’t have a high-speed blender (like a Vitamix) that’s okay! You’ll just need to soak your cashews overnight in hot water to help them blend more easily. Simply pour hot water over the cashews and let them sit – don’t worry about changing out the water after it cools off. After blending, you’ll need to transfer the queso to a saucepan and heat it through over medium-low heat.
- If you don’t want to use coconut milk, you can leave it out! Increase the cashews to a total of 1.5 cups and use 1.75 cups of water or stock to make up for it.
- For vegan queso blanco, leave out the turmeric and the can of tomatoes and chiles. Still use the small can of green chiles, though!
🌱 More Vegan Recipes You’ll Love
- The Best Vegan Alfredo Sauce
- Vegan Chili
- The Best Avocado Chocolate Mousse (Vegan, Dairy Free)
- Vegan Nutella
- Quick Creamy Vegan Coconut Chickpea Curry
- Seitan Grilled Chicken with Vegan BBQ Sauce
- Vegan Crème Brûlée
- Crispy Vegan Chicken Sandwich
- Vegan Enchiladas
Best Vegan Queso (Ever)
The best vegan queso recipe ever, it tastes so much like the real thing! Made with potatoes, cashews, and nutritional yeast, this magical combination does not taste dairy-free, paleo, or vegan – but it is!
servings
Equipment
- standard blender high-speed preferred, see Notes
- medium saucepan optional
- Large wooden spoon optional
- serving bowl
Ingredients
For the Vegan Queso
- 1 cup boiled, cubed potatoes approximately 2 medium red or yellow potatoes
- ¾ cup raw cashews soaked if needed, see Notes
- 4 cloves garlic peeled, roughly chopped
- 1 4-ounce can diced green chilies with juice
- 1 4-ounce can chopped pickled jalapeños juice reserved, ¼ cup jalapeños reserved
- 1 tablespoon pickled jalapeño juice reserved from 4-ounce can of jalapeños
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 cup unsweetened, full-fat coconut milk from can not carton
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt more or less to taste
Optional (But Recommended) Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon tapioca starch
- 1 dash turmeric for color
- 1 10-ounce can diced tomatoes & green chilies drained
To Serve
- ¼ cup chopped pickled jalapeños reserved from 4-ounce can of jalapeños
- chopped fresh cilantro to garnish
Instructions
- Add 1 cup boiled, cubed potatoes, ¾ cup raw cashews, 4 cloves garlic, 1 4-ounce can diced green chilies, 1 4-ounce can chopped pickled jalapeños (excluding reserved ¼ cup jalapeños), 1 tablespoon pickled jalapeño juice, 1 cup vegetable broth, 1 cup unsweetened, full-fat coconut milk, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, 1 teaspoon cumin, and 1 teaspoon salt to blender. Add 1 teaspoon tapioca starch and 1 dash turmeric if using.
- Blend ingredients until mixture is very smooth and all ingredients are fully combined.
- If blender does not heat queso mixture while blending, transfer mixture to medium saucepan. Heat saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring queso constantly, until mixture reaches desired temperature.
- Taste queso and stir in additional salt if desired.
- Transfer queso to serving bowl. Add ¼ cup chopped pickled jalapeños and 1 10-ounce can diced tomatoes & green chilies, and gently stir until ingredients are well incorporated.
- Garnish queso with chopped fresh cilantro if desired and serve warm.
Video
- Cashews: If you don’t have a high-speed blender, you’ll need to soak the cashews first so they’ll blend completely. Place them in a bowl and pour 3 cups of hot filtered water over them. Place the bowl in the fridge and let the cashews soak 6-8 hours.
- Vegetable Broth: If you’re not strictly vegan, you can use chicken broth instead if you want.
- Make it Paleo: If you’re on a strict Paleo diet, or if you must avoid nightshade, swap the potatoes for 1 cup mashed, steamed cauliflower.
- Leftovers: Store leftover queso in an airtight container in the fridge up to 5 days.
- Reheat: Add unsweetened almond milk if the consistency of the queso is too thick. Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave until just heated through.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Serving Size: 1servingCalories: 171calProtein: 5gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 7gSodium: 725mgPotassium: 353mgTotal Carbs: 12gFiber: 3gSugar: 4gNet Carbs: 9gVitamin A: 370IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 30mgIron: 2mg
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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Have you ever tried this w/ a white sweet potato? Wondering about using that instead of the cauliflower?
Try it, and please let us know how it works!
Sooo good! I used it in Enchiladas Suizas from thedefineddish.com and it was amazing!! Delicious, Paleo, Yummm!
So glad you enjoy it!
You are a dairy-free magician!! How do you do it? Thank you so much again for another amazing recipe! I used cauliflower instead of the potato, but I followed the recipe exactly and you cannot tell this is not cheese! I know this will help me get my nacho-loving son off of processed cheese!
Could arrowroot powder be subbed for the tapioca starch?
Yes!
Can you make this without the nutritional yeast? I don’t have any on hand, but have everything else. Thanks in advance!
You can omit the nutritional yeast if need be, however it is a great addition to the dish because it gives it that extra cheesy taste.
I like Amy in February do not usually write reviews or make a recipe without making changes. This Queso recipe is delicious and perfect. So so so good. Make it as is and you will be adding it to your favorites book like I did!! Yum!!!
This is by far one of the best queso’s I’ve ever had! Vegan or not! My non vegan friend tried it and said the same thing. She couldn’t believe it was vegan. Thank you so much for the recipe! I did add a bit more lime to it and to me, it’s perfect! Definitely saving this one forever! Thank you!!
Made this as part of our plant-based taco night. It was a HUGE hit with omnivores and herbivores alike. I was seriously skeptical during assembly – no way could these ingredients come together to make anything remotely like queso blanco. I was absolutely gobsmacked when I tasted the finished product. Fantastic and relatively simple. Will definitely make again.
We’re absolutely in love with this queso! So delicious, we’ve made it three times already!
This was SO awesome!! We are new to this vegan thing, and I am a very good (Southern) cook. So, this change has forced me to revamp every recipe I have. My kids REALLY miss cheese. ☺️ When my little man was having a cheese withdrawal today, I said “How does queso dip sound?” And bam – 20 or 30 minutes later we were ALL devouring this stuff like it was our last meal. THANK YOU for this recipe!!! I never leave reviews, and I rarely make a recipe without a good bit of modifications. This review-worthy recipe is completely perfect as is, and gives me hope for a delicious dairy-free life!!! ❤️❤️❤️ #welovefood
This made my day. 🙂 I’m so so happy it was such a hit!