Bringing you something savory, simple, and delish today: creamy vegan potato "cheese" sauce. It's wholesome, easy to throw together, and works great as a dip, as a "cheese" on pizza, on pasta, and can be used in cooking.
The versatility is one of the things I love about it -- especially if you're looking for a simple homemade alternative for store-bought processed dairy-free cheeses. It's not a perfect substitute for every kind of recipe that calls for cheese, of course, as it's naturally a bit more mellow / light tastinng, but it comes in handy for so many things.
I love DIY-ing pizzas out of all sorts of things at home (random dough, flat breads, pizza on a pita, etc.) and sometimes use this sauce instead of cheese. It bakes great and satisfies my cheesy cravings!
It works great for a quick mac 'n' cheese or cheesy pasta. I've used it to make delicious potato au gratin. I use it on vegan fritatta or savory pancakes as a drizzle. It's great as a sauce in a wrap. And I love using it fresh as a dip with crackers or veg.
I'm sure you can come up with some new creative uses of your own for it too :)
This recipe, being oil-free, filled with veg, and not heavy on the typical vegan cheese ingredient (cashews!), makes this sauce quite a lot lighter on the vegan cheese scale of things, which is another reason I enjoy this recipe a lot. I do love my cashew and almond cheeses of course, but sometimes a lighter version is just what is needed..
Plus it's a great recipe for those that can't have cashews or nuts, which is a good reason to keep a recipe like this in your arsenal.
Some Notes and Substitution Suggestions:
- If you want to make the sauce completely nut-free, use an alternate plain plant milk (soy would be my first choice, but you can also go with oat or if just looking for almond-free rather than nut-free can always use cashew milk, etc.). Just keep in mind of course that some milks will add their own flavor to the recipe, so you might need to adjust the flavors a touch to your liking.
- The turmeric in the recipe is for color, and therefore optional. You can add a bit more for a slightly darker yellow if you prefer, just keep in mind if you add too much you'll begin to actually taste the turmeric, which is probably not great here.
- You can use whatever potatoes you like for this. Creamier potatoes work better overall. Peeling the potatoes is optional.
- Note that depending on the potatoes you're using the flavor might come out a little different each time, so I suggest always tasting the mixture after blending it and adjust the flavors to taste by adding a bit more salt or other spices or additions (like some miso paste, or mustard, etc. if you're feeling adventurous and want to sharpen the flavors) to your taste.
P.S. That's it in the photo above on a piece of socca + pizza hybrid I made the other day. It might be an unconventional way to top a "pizza", but works a treat, trust me :)
PrintPotato "Cheese" Sauce (Vegan)
Easy, wholesome, and versatile vegan potato cheese sauce (oil-free, dairy-free) that can be used as a dip, topping, and in cooking.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: ~ 2 cups
- Category: Sauce
- Method: No-Bake
- Cuisine: savory
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 350 grams potatoes, rough chopped and boiled*
- 1 cup plain unsweetened almond milk
- 1⁄3 cup hemp seeds
- 1⁄3 cup nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1⁄8 teaspoon turmeric powder
Instructions
*Note: the boiled potatoes should be cooled off to close to room temperature so that they don't go into the blender hot.
1. Blend all ingredients in a high powered blender until completely smooth. Taste the mixture and adjust the salt to your liking.
2. Transfer to a glass jar and enjoy fresh as a dip, or use as a cheese sauce on pizza, pasta, or in other cooked dishes. Keep refrigerated when not using.
Notes
*Note: the potato weight measurement is for raw potatoes before boiling them. To boil the potatoes, place them in a pot and cover with water and a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and allow them to simmer until they are fork tender (it usually takes around 15 minutes or so, but time can vary based on how big the potatoes are chopped, variety, etc., so just keep an eye on them and after about 10 minutes of simmering try poking a piece with a fork and see if the fork goes in with ease -- if yes, then they are ready). Strain the potatoes and discard the cooking water.
Keywords: Potato Cheese Sauce (vegan)
Terri says
Hi Audrey, could you be more specific about how much salt you need to boil the potatoes with. Your notes say "a small handful of salt". That seems quite a lot - unless the potatoes need to be very salty for this recipe.
Audrey says
Hey Terri, thanks for your comment. I see what you mean, my wording was a bit confusing there. I just edited it to say a "generous pinch of salt" -- hope that's clearer now. It's not a ton of salt, no. If I had to estimate it's roughly a bit less than 1/4 tsp salt for this amount of potatoes.
Audrey says
(I usually just dump some on my hand first and then in the pot, hence my earlier wording, but yeah as you say it's not exactly clear and makes it sound like a lot -- sorry! :) Sometimes things seem very clear to myself haha until someone asks...)
Elsje says
This recipe is so handy, thank you!!
★★★★★
Audrey says
You're welcome! :)
Marion says
How many cups is 350 grams of potato?
Audrey says
Hi Marion, good question. I hesitated to put cups here since it can vary somewhat based on the way the potatoes are chopped, etc. But overall it's about 2 cups of rough chopped potatoes.
Ann Bartholomew says
You wouldn't be able to make the recipe 'nut-free' if you used cashew milk as a sub for almond milk...
Audrey says
Ann, thanks so much for the catch. Late night writing brain right there on my part ! You are absolutely right and I just fixed that sentence.
There are some readers of this website who are ok with some nuts but can't have almonds specifically, so I was thinking of them when I added the cashew milk suggestion, but my thinking didn't translate quite right "on paper"..