Fauxveeta Vegan Cheese Sauce

Name: Fauxveeta Vegan Cheese Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 3 cups yukon gold or russet potatoes (about 5 medium potatoes (or 530 grams), peeled and cut into large squares); 1 1/2 cups carrot (about 5 medium carrots (or 210 grams carrot), peeled and cut into large pieces the same size at the potatoes); 1 small onion ((or 175 grams), quartered); 5 cloves garlic ((20 grams), chopped); 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast; 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric; 1/2 teaspoon sea salt; 1 cup almond milk (unsweetened, unflavored ); 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 1 teaspoon miso paste; 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Rich, creamy and velvety faux cheese sauce, made using only real food. Totally plant based, vegan and oil free. Decadent, gooey and perfect for mac and cheese, nachos, tacos or queso. Believe me, okay? Just try it. It is not cheese, but it sure does work as a great alternative.

Who ever knew that potatoes would give a vegan, plant-based, oil free cheese sauce such luxuriant richness and creaminess? Not me. For a few months I saw various recipes for creamy sauces using potatoes and scoffed at them. How wrong I was.

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I've made a creamy cauliflower alfredo sauce for a long time, which is like a vegan white béchamel sauce alternative.

But, for a plant-based mac and cheese, I needed something different.

Something cheesy, gooey, creamy and, while I love using cashews, they are very rich. I was looking for an option made from just veggies.

So, I experimented with a vegan, nut-free, oil-free cheese sauce that would be a good velveeta substitute or alternative.

Presenting... Fauxveeta! (do you see what we did there?) 😉

🎙 What people say about this recipe

"Omg! Just made this sauce and it’s amazing. I’m not vegan but and trying to step away from meat and looking for easy and delicious things to try and also feed my family and let me tell you this sauce it’s where is at. Thank you for sharing your recipe."
- G. Jones

"I am so excited to try this recipe!! My coworker brought this to share and it was amazing! I am not vegan but have been dairy and gluten free for 5 years. I have alway just stayed away from dairy free cheese except for the occasional use but this will definitely be my new go to recipe. My cousin also has a dairy allergy and I can’t wait to share it with her!! Thanks for the amazing recipe!"
- Hannah

🧄 Very useful ingredient notes

All the ingredients for vegan cheese sauce on counter: potato, carrot, onion, garlic, nutritional yeast, smoked paprika, salt, ground turmeric, lemon juice and almond milk

Potatoes - The starch in the potatoes make this sauce rich, silky and creamy without the need for nuts or seeds.
Carrots - The carrots give the sauce a hint of sweetness and add to the color.
Onion and garlic - The onion and garlic are for aromatic flavor.
Plant-based milk - The almond milk adds to the creaminess and is needed to thin the mixture in the blender. I use almond milk, but to make this completely nut-free, use soy milk or oat milk. Be sure it's plain, unsweetened, unflavored milk.
Nutritional yeast - The nutritional yeast gives it the cheesy, umami flavor. Use more to amp up the cheesiness! Some people prefer the flavor of unfortified nutritional yeast (aka nooch), but we like the taste of the fortified nooch just fine. Find nutritional yeast at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Amazon or in the bulk bin of your local health food or well-stocked grocery store.
Ground turmeric - the ground turmeric helps us get that bright orange faux-velveeta color naturally

Here are some optional, but highly recommended, flavor boosters that can take this sauce to the next level.

Only use ONE to start out with. Taste and then adjust or add another option.

Smoked paprika - adds smokiness and depth of flavor, but don't overdo it.
Lemon juice - adds brightness
Apple cider vinegar - adds brightness and a hint of tang
Miso paste - adds umami saltiness, but again, don't overdo it. Start with less and see if you like it.
Cashews - adding raw cashews when boiling the veggies will soften them. Blending them into the sauce will give it a richer mouthfeel. I like to make it with the cashews when I'm serving company.

🔪 Instructions

Here's step-by-step instructions and photos for how to make this vegan cheese sauce using potatoes and carrots.

Step 1: In a medium-large stock pot, add cut potatoes, carrots and onion. (For a mild garlic flavor, add it now.) Cover with water.

Step 2: Then, boil potatoes, carrot, onion until fork tender, then drain.

Step 3: Use a high-speed blender to blend this sauce completely smooth. I recommend Blendtec (what I use at home), Vitamix or Ninja.

Step 4: Blend it up with spices and almond milk. Add cooked veggies to blender with garlic, nutritional yeast, turmeric, salt, almond milk and optional (but recommended!) flavor boosters, if using. (Adding the raw garlic now will give you a stronger garlic flavor). You may need to do this in more than one batch, depending on your blender size.

Step 5: Blend until completely smooth (I use a Blendtec and press the smoothie or soup button). If it will not blend, you may need to add a bit more almond milk.

fauxveeta vegan plant based oil free cheese sauce

Step 6- Use as you would use any cheese sauce!

12 ways to use this cheese sauce

Pour over macaroni for vegan mac and cheese
Mix with spicy Rotel or salsa for an easy vegan nacho cheese rotel dip
Loaded Vegan Nachos, hello!
Vegan choriqueso dip with soy chorizo - great for game day!
Cheese fries
Drizzle over tacos
Drizzle over tostadas
Broccoli cheese baked potato
Pour over steamed veggies and rice
Pour over steamed broccoli for vegan cheesy broccoli side dish
Broccoli cheese soup
Use chilled sauce in place of vegan butter in Southern biscuit recipes. Your biscuits will be light orange and have a slight savory cheesy flavor.

❓ FAQ

Do I have to peel my potatoes?

For a smooth sauce, peel your potatoes.
If you don't mind a speckled sauce and are using Yukon gold potatoes, which have a thin skin, you can leave the skins on (but be sure to thoroughly scrub them when washing).
If you're using potatoes with a thicker skin (like russets), they should definitely be peeled before cooking.

How long will this sauce last?

This vegan cheese sauce will last up to 5 days in a sealed container in the refrigerator. It will last up to 3 months in the freezer.

How should I thaw and reheat it?

I've tested this and it freezes well for up to 3 months.
To reheat, first let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Then, heat it up either in the microwave or on the stove.
Microwave: Remove lid and microwave for 1 minute, then stir. Repeat until hot and smooth again, as needed.
Stove: Add thawed sauce to a small-medium saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. It will look separated at first but don't worry! Just keep heating and stirring it and the smooth, silky consistency will come back when it gets hot enough.

Is velveeta vegan?

No. Velveeta cheese contains animal products, like milk, whey, milk protein concentrate, milk fat, along with a host of other preservatives and other things.
The ingredients for Velveeta are: Milk, Water, Whey, Milk Protein Concentrate, Milkfat, Whey Protein Concentrate, Sodium Phosphate, Contains 2% or less of: Salt, Calcium Phosphate, Lactic Acid, Sorbic Acid, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Alginate, Enzymes, Apocarotenal, Annatto, Cheese Culture.
This recipe for Fauxveeta Vegan Cheese Sauce is a real whole food, plant-based alternative to Velveeta. Hope you enjoy it!

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📖 Recipe

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About Abi Cowell

Abi Cowell is the plant-based food blogger and recipe developer at Very Veganish She’s certified in plant-based nutrition by the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. Abi helps busy health-conscious women create simple & healthy vegan meals in under 30 minutes so they spend less time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning. A no-judgment zone, her website, VeryVeganish.com makes WFPB eating easy, delicious, and accessible for all! She specializes in crafting recipes for specific dietary needs and features recipes showcasing the diverse food culture of Houston, Texas, her hometown. When she's not cooking, you'll find her volunteering and trying to survive the Texas summers with copious glasses of iced tea.

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