Vegan Cashew Queso Recipe

Queso dip is known for its rich, cheesy, and savory flavor. The combination of melted cheese, spices, and chiles creates a taste that many find irresistible. If you live a vegan lifestyle, you might be missing some of your cheesy favorites and queso dip might be at the top of the list. We're here to help — this vegan cashew queso dip is a creamy copy using raw cashews as the base to replicate the texture of melted cheese and uses nutritional yeast to add to the cheesy taste. 

Wellness coach and recipe developer Miriam Hahn brings us this recipe and says, "There are several key ingredients that are useful if you follow a vegan diet and want to make vegan versions of your favorite dishes. Cashews are fabulous for adding creaminess to soups, sauces, and dips, and pairing them with standard spices and condiments makes them taste like the real thing." 

Read on to learn how to make this quick vegan queso. You won't believe how delicious it is!

To make this recipe, start by picking up some raw cashews. "It's important to buy cashews that are not roasted or salted so that once you soak and blend them, they are ultra creamy. You can find these at health food stores that have nuts in a bulk bin section," Hahn explains. 

Then, you'll need some filtered water, a lime, and a can of green chiles. Check your spice rack for the rest of the ingredients — cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, turmeric, and nutritional yeast. "Even though nutritional yeast is not technically a spice, most stores stock it in the spice section, if you have trouble finding it," Hahn shares. In addition, turmeric helps give the sauce a cheesy color. "It's a small enough amount that you don't even taste it," says Hahn.

If you want to top your queso with fresh jalapenos and cilantro, then grab those. A sprinkle of Tajín is a nice optional topper as well. 

If you have made vegan sauces with cashews before, you know that you'll need to soften them up. Put them into a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Let them sit undisturbed for 20 minutes. 

If you want to get this step done ahead of time, you can soak the cashews overnight with room temperature water. When they're done soaking, drain, and discard the soaking water.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. 

Then, pull out a small blender and add in the cashews, water, lime juice, green chiles, nutritional yeast, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and turmeric. Turn on the blender and blend until smooth. "If you have a high-powered blender, then this should only take a couple of minutes. If you have a standard blender, it may take a little longer to fully break down the cashews. We don't want any crunchiness here. We're going for a smooth and creamy dip," Hahn explains.

If you are going to be serving the dip right away, go ahead and transfer the mixture into an oven safe dish with a lid. Pop it into the oven and bake for 10 minutes. When you remove it from the oven, give it a good stir and let it cool for a few minutes before serving. Baking it "thickens it a bit and it tastes good served warm," says Hahn, adding, "It's not 100% necessary though." 

"If you want to make the dip in advance, just cover it and put it in the fridge, then bake right before serving," Hahn shares. This dip pairs well with chips, but is also a delicious "cheese" sauce for french fries, burritos, tacos, nachos, or even broccoli. Now that you know how easy it is, you'll want to stock up on raw cashews so you can whip together this easy sauce at a moment's notice!