Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Cheese Sauce

This Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Cheese Sauce blog post has been updated. The recipe that follows is the same as before but with new pictures and more details.

I’ve been putting this Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Cheese Sauce on everything. I’m absolutely obsessed. It’s creamy, smoky, and the perfect dipping sauce for just about anything. I created this cheese sauce because I really wanted a healthy sauce to put on veggie burgers but now you can find me putting this on tacos, enchiladas, nachos, using it as a dip for chips and veggies, served on top of a burrito bowl, or maybe even a chili mac and cheese. The options are endless!

What You Will Need For This Roasted Red Pepper Cheese Sauce

Kitchen Essentials:

This sauce is very simple and easy to make but you will need a blender. The cashews are boiled and softened before blending but a good quality blender is much needed to ensure a smooth and creamy sauce. I used a NutriBullet.

Main Ingredients:

• Cashews
• Jalapeños
• Roasted Jarred Red Pepper
• Nutritional Yeast
• Smoked Paprika

Substitutions:

1. Cashews: Blanched Almonds are the only thing I recommend substituting the cashews with. If you have a nut allergy, try silken tofu. I haven’t tried it myself but can picture it being very delicious. Use 1 cup.
2. Jalapeños: Use pickled!! The recipe calls for 1 jalapeño so substitute with 2-3 tablespoons of pickled. It’s very subtle in spice and used mostly for flavor.
3. Roasted Jarred Red Peppers: Buying a jar of roasted red peppers is faster and works better in this recipe in my opinion but you could also roast your own.
4. Nutritional Yeast: This is very important for flavor and I don’t recommend substituting this.

Serving Ideas:

• Drizzle over tacos, enchiladas, nachos, in burritos, and on burrito bowls!
• Use as a sauce for a chili mac & cheese.
• Use as a queso cheese dip. Maybe use it in a 7 layer dip.
• Drizzle over my Vegan Breakfast Tostadas recipe
• Dip these Impossible Beef Taquitos in this sauce!! Yummm

How To Make The Best Cheese Sauce Every Time

Don’t skip soaking the cashews. This will ensure that the sauce is smooth and creamy! A tip I always use is to touch the sauce and rub between two fingers. If the sauce has texture, keep blending. 

More Sauce Recipes You Might Like:

• Baba Ganoush
• Whipped Vegan Feta
• Romesco Sauce

If You Make This Recipe:

Tag me on Instagram! I’d love to see your delicious re-creations and feature them! As always, I would greatly appreciate if you share your review in the comments below. Don’t forget to add if you made any fun substitutions. Thank you!

Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Cheese Sauce

5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Liv
• Prep Time: 20
• Cook Time: 10
• Total Time: 30
• Category: Sauce
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

I’ve been putting this Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Cheese Sauce on everything. I’m absolutely obsessed. It’s creamy, smoky, and the perfect dipping sauce for just about anything. I created this cheese sauce because I really wanted a healthy sauce to put on veggie burgers but now you can find me putting this on tacos, enchiladas, nachos, using it as a dip for chips and veggies, served on top of a burrito bowl, or maybe even a chili mac and cheese. The options are endless! 

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 cup Cashews
• 1/4 cup Yellow Onion, minced
• 1 Fresh Jalapeño or 2–3 tablespoons Pickled Jalapeño
• 1–2 Garlic Cloves
• 1 Large Roasted Red Pepper, from jar
• 1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast
• 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1 cup Water

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Instructions

1. Boil cashews for 15-20 minutes to soften. 
2. Mince the onion, jalapeños, and garlic. Skip cooking the jalapeños if using pickled. 
3. Heat a small pan on medium-high heat and add roughly 1 teaspoon of oil. Add the onions and jalapeños to the pan and cook for 5-7 minutes until soft and starting to brown. Then, add in the garlic and cook for another 1-2 more minutes. 
4. Add the boiled cashews and onion mixture to a blender along with the roasted red pepper, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, smoked paprika, onion powder, black pepper and water. If using pickled jalapeños, add them in the blender as well. I used about 2-3 tablespoons but add to your preference. 
5. Blend until smooth and creamy. Touch the sauce and rub between two fingers. If the sauce has texture, keep blending. 
6. Add cheese sauce to a pan on low heat to warm up or serve chilled. Delicious both ways! 

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Notes

Store leftover sauce in an airtight container and keep in the fridge. Reheat on the stove. 

Keywords: roasted red pepper cheese sauce, vegan nacho cheese sauce, cheese sauce