The most amazing Vegan Cheese Sauce that is Nut-free and Oil-free, as well as fat-free! It has no nuts and no cashews! It is also is the perfect sauce to make vegan Mac ‘N’ Cheese. This cheese sauce is healthy, creamy and made from potatoes and zucchini.
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NUT-FREE VEGAN CHEESE SAUCE
Are you ready for this? Are you ready for a to-die-for creamy vegan cheese sauce that tastes rich, thick and silky smooth? This is so darn delicious over mac ‘n’ cheese too. There is no nuts, no oil and totally healthy, as it’s made from vegetables like potatoes and zucchini.
In case you are wondering, this one is totally guilt-free. It is even coconut-free and gluten-free. When I’m not stuffing my face with this Vegan Cheesy Mexican Tortilla Bake, I like to enjoy this lighter, lower calorie version.
The majority of vegan cheese recipes are made with nuts/cashews or tofu, etc. Since so many of you readers cannot have nuts, I wanted to create a nut-free and fat-free cheese sauce that we could all enjoy with absolutely zero guilt. It’s totally kid-approved too, my daughter gobbles it up.
CHEESE SAUCE MADE WITH VEGETABLES
To create a whole foods cheese sauce made with vegetables, I took inspiration from 2 of the recipes on my blog that were creamy sauces without containing any nuts. My Low-Fat Nut-Free Creamy Parsley Sauce which is made from potatoes and my Spicy Zucchini Pepper Soup which is made from zucchini! Both are incredibly creamy, so I combined the two for a magic cheese sauce.
Lastly, another key ingredient that really drives home the cheesy flavor is soy sauce. It gives a depth of flavor that salt alone doesn’t give. I tried just lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and salt and none of them gave that cheesy flavor as great as soy sauce. I mean seriously, this entire recipe is basic ingredients that I just got at my local grocery store. So easy.
HOW TO MAKE A NUT-FREE VEGAN CHEESE SAUCE
First, you will need to gather these 8 ingredients (+salt and water):
- zucchini
- yukon gold potatoes
- nutritional yeast
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- smoked paprika
- soy sauce or liquid aminos
- lemon juice
Prepare the zucchini by preheating an oven to 415°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Peel all the green skin off the zucchini and slice into 1/4 inch slices and salt and pepper well. Bake for 15 minutes.
Next, cook your potatoes either by roasting, steaming or in the microwave. Mash them with a fork and measure out 1 cup.
Add the cooked zucchini and potato, along with all of the remaining ingredients (start with 3/4 cup water and add as needed, stopping at 1 cup) to your blender and blend until smooth. You will need to stop and scrape a couple of times from the bottom during. Do not be too eager to add extra water until you’ve really blended it up a couple of minutes on high to get it completely smooth. It will seem too thick at first, but it will start to turn very smooth from all the water from the zucchini.
Whether you use it as a dip or a vegan mac ‘n’ cheese, it’s delicious!
OTHER VEGAN CHEESE SAUCE RECIPES TO TRY:
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vegan Cheese Sauce (Nut-free and Oil-free)
Ingredients
- 1 small zucchini, peeled and sliced, THEN weigh 130g
- 1 lightly filled cup (220g) cooked/mashed yukon gold
- 3/4 cup -1 cup water (as needed to reach desired thickness (I ALWAYS use 1 cup, so keep that in mind in regards to other ingredients)
- 1/4 cup (20g) nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2-3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika or regular if you don't like smoked
- 2 teaspoons liquid aminos (or low-sodium soy sauce or tamari, do not omit, this is what gives the cheesy flavor, do not use coconut aminos, it will not yield the correct flavor!)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
NOTE
- It's important to weigh the zucchini and potato, so the flavor turns out correct, too much zucchini and it could have an off taste.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 415°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Peel all the green skin off the zucchini and slice into 1/4 inch slices and salt and pepper well. It's imperative to peel the zucchini, otherwise your sauce will be an ugly green. Bake about 15 minutes until tender.
- I cooked the potato in the microwave for about 5 minutes until very soft. Do not boil them as they will get water logged and make the sauce more runny.
- Mash the potatoes with a fork and measure out 1 cup. If you followed the correct weight measurement, you should get just about 1 lightly filled cup of mashed potatoes. Update: Using a food processor will make this too gooey, make sure to use just a blender.
- Add the zucchini, potato and remaining ingredients (start with 3/4 cup water and add as needed, stopping at 1 cup) to the blender and blend until smooth. Stop and scrape a couple of times from the bottom during. Do not be too eager to add extra water until you've really blended it up a couple of minutes. It will seem too thick at first, but it will start to turn very smooth from all the water from the zucchini. If after blending it's too thick for you, add just a TINY amount just to blend it. If it's a bit thinner than you like, heat on the stove to thicken.
- Taste and add any extra lemon juice and/or salt/spices if necessary. Add any desired toppings such as red pepper flakes, chopped tomatoes, sliced jalapenos. I like a kick of heat to my cheese so I added red pepper flakes.
- To make it as a mac 'n' cheese, add cheese sauce to cooked pasta. You can either warm the cheese by running it awhile in the blender or gently warming over the stove. It gives such an incredible cheesy, thick and stick-to-pasta result.
Absolutely delicious. Best vegan cheese recipe online, thank you for this
Wonderful May! I’m so glad you loved it! Thank you for the feedback! Would you mind clicking the star rating too, they help me out, thank you!
WOW, this is insane good..
I never tried to make a recipe in my life as any sauce or dressing seemed to be loaded with fat..
THANK YOU SO MUCH, I’m so glad I stuck with wanting to make this as it took me a week as I kept forgetting the ingredient list, then on top of that was really skeptical how a vegan sauce could actually taste good or mimic the “original”.. Boy I was so wrong!
thank you
Oh yay, so very happy to hear how much you loved this Stuart, thank you so much for making it and leaving a review!
Brandi, made this yesterday, it was amazing and I used it to make Mac & Cheese. OMG fabulous!
So awesome to hear Debbie! Thank you for the review!
OH. MY. GOSH. I’ve just started a dairy free thing because I am slightly lactose intolerant. I also cannot have cashews. You see my dilemma in finding a dairy free cheese? BUT I came across this page, made it tonight, and it is SO GOOD! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Yay!! Thrilled you loved it so much Nicole, thank you for the awesome review!
Hi Brandi – I am anxious to make this recipe, but I don’t have zucchini squash. I have butternut. I know it’s a good substitute for sweet potatoes, but is it too sweet for this recipe. Can I use it in the place of zucchini squash?
Hi Coletha! I really don’t think butternut squash would work here I’m sorry. It’s a completely different texture and flavor. The zucchini contains a lot more moisture so it really blends well here for a creamy sauce and the flavor is not detectable.
I made this and added sautéd mushrooms and broccoli over garbanzo bean pasta and it was dynamite(and GF)! This would be fantastic with just chips too. I’m sure I will find many many more uses for this recipe, though. Thank you for the joy you have brought to my life with your amazing recipes!
Yay, so very happy you love this and are loving my recipes Kim, your feedback always means so much!!
Do you peel the potatoes?
Yes
This looks very intriguing. Are the ingredient amounts given anywhere, other than the potatoes? My apologies if it is in the comments somewhere – just too many to read. Thanks.
Hi Annette, the recipe card is in the post, with full instructions. You can click “jump to recipe” from the top of the post to quickly bring you to the recipe.
Too funny – that makes it easy, doesn’t it? Thanks so much for your help!
I am hard to impress, but you truly did it with this recipe. I did make a small mistake, but I didn’t realize it until after I started. I used Russets potatoes instead of Yukon Gold. It was all I had. We are on a WFPB diet (my daughter and I) and we both love potatoes. We eat them quite a bit. I had run out of Yukon gold, so without reading the instructions first and only paying attention to the list of ingredients which you list first away I went with preparing the sauce. The recipe still turned out WONDERFUL!!!!…I couldn’t believe it? Not that I doubted your culinary talents I was just concerned about varying from your recommendation. I own the cookbook the Vegan 8 and we’ve enjoyed quite a few recipes that are now staples in our home. The sauce came out thick and creamy, very tasty, much better than most that I have tried that were made with nuts. My issue with most “cheeze sauce” recipes is the use of mustard. No matter how small the quantity, mustard ruins it for me and I like mustard just not in my “cheeze” sauce. I grew up on southern “soul” food and one thing I missed after becoming a vegan was homemade macaroni like my grandmother made. She used real cheese that definitely didn’t taste even remotely like mustard. My daughter found this recipe on your blog (which we both follow) and sent it in a text to me because she knew I would be interested since it didn’t have mustard. I was afraid if I tried one of my other recipes without adding mustard that it might come out weird and since you had tried and tested it I felt more comfortable. I originally made it for homemade tacos, but now I am torn. I am going to make mac and cheese, which means I gotta make another batch. It’s a good thing I have plenty of zucchini.
This is so wonderful to read Coletha, so happy this recipe impressed you so much!!
I posted it on Facebook making absolutely sure to give you credit (I posted the link from this page). Within 24 hrs approximately 300 WFPB folks liked or loved it. I promised a coworker I would make it and bring it to work for us to sample with tortilla chips.
That’s so wonderful to hear Coletha!! Thank you so much. I’ve been getting so much traffic for this recipe. Which group was it?
Brandi I know I’m always way behind the times with my comments! Usually by the time I comment on a recipe everyone else has made it 500 times already! But I just had to say how PHENOMENAL this is! I have been CRAVING creamy, cheesy plant-based yumminess lately and this completely fit the bill! I am going to take this to work tomorrow for a dear friend who is allergic to dairy. She is not a vegan, but she had a life-threatening infection which left her severely allergic to dairy, and she loves your food! Whenever I make one of your recipes I take it for her to sample and she loves them! You have changed her life and mine! Also, it is very hot in Utah right now, so I steamed the zucchini just briefly rather than heating up the oven and my house, and it worked beautifully! I am in the group who has a tough time with nutritional yeast so I left it out and upped the tamari just slightly. It is DELICIOUS!!!! Thank you so much!!
Thank you so much Heather! What a glowing review! This was so wonderful to read, thank you so much for sharing!!
Instead of weights- zucchini and potatoes, can you measure them ? What would the measurements be ? <
The cup measurement is given for the potatoes, it is mashed lightly filled cup. For the zucchini, I really do not know the cup measurement, as I only used a small zucchini, peeled and then weighed. I would just buy a small zucchini, one that is about 8 inches long I suppose.
I served this sauce over some macaroni last night. I’m partial to cashew based sauces, but I was surprised by how creamy and cheesy this was without cashews. The biggest win was when I served it to my non vegan husband. I offered to put some dairy cheese on his plate after he asked me if it was vegan. But when he actually tasted it, he told me he did need any cheese! This is huge people! Thank you, Brandi!
That is fabulous to hear Karisa! Thank you so much for making it and thrilled to hear how much your non-vegan hubby loved it!!
Hello!
Does the potato weight of 220 grams refer to before or after microwaving??
Thank you for the clarification!
Hi Malloy, it’s 220g of cooked and mashed potatoes. (Without skins)
Thank you for the recipe but my kids and husband really dislike the smoked paprika in it. 🙁
Hi Rita! It states on the recipe to use regular paprika if you don’t like smoked, so just regular instead next time.
This is my go-to fat free vegan cheese sauce (and I have experimented with a bunch of them). A must try. It’s delicious on anything!!!
So happy to hear that, thank you Marie!
This was outstanding. I ate it over angel hair pasta with oven roasted/blackened broccoli. I couldn’t stop eating it. Just delicious – thank you!
Oh yay Susan, really thrilled to hear you loved it so much!!
Sooooo good!!!!
This recipe is FANTASTIC! Thank you so much for developing and sharing a vegan cheese recipe that doesn’t use nuts or oil! I’d never been interested in making vegan cheese substitutes before seeing this. What a home run recipe! For what it’s worth, I did use my food processor and while my result might’ve been a bit less silky than the photos in the post, the texture didn’t bother me at all! I love smoked paprika but wound up going with a heaping 1/2 tsp the second time I made it to keep the flavours in check. I also used tamari because it’s what I had on hand. Just a terrific recipe, Brandi. Thank you so much for your hard work creating meals for all kinds of eaters. It is so appreciated! 🙂
Sending lots of love from (still quite chilly) Toronto!
Terra
Thank you so much Terra for this amazing review!!
This cheese sauce is amazing!! We’ve used it for nachos, a dipping sauce for homemade steak fries, mac and cheese and tonight we made a broccoli rice casserole with it – the kind we all grew up eating. It was delicious – my husband didn’t even know it was vegan and he devoured it! This is a must try recipe!
That is so wonderful to hear Michaela, thank you so much for the lovely review!!
Do you peel the potatoes before mashing?
Yes!
Hi Brandi… this looks delish and I look forward to making it!! I’m just wondering if you have suggestions for replacing the nutritional yeast as I’m not supposed to have that but I want to find a mac and cheese recipe my non vegan family will enjoy while also meeting my requirements if possible, lol. I know nutritional yeast is a trick ingredient to replace/omit in vegan cooking so I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thank you SO much for you amazing recipes!! I’m ordering your cookbook too. 🙂
Hi Francene! Thank you for the kind words! That is really tough because for this particular recipe, it will not work right without the nutritional yeast. I have this cheese sauce instead that you could make, it has no nutritional yeast. It is a queso though, so just leave out the tomatoes and green chiles in the end and also use a low mild heat salsa so it’s not spicy and maybe try that? https://staging.thevegan8.com/best-vegan-queso/
Another delicious cheese sauce. Your flavors are exceptional. I use this on my sandwiches , nachos and in casseroles. If you haven’t tried, you should.
I have tried different cheese recipes for years with little success. I don’t have to look any further. This is without a doubt the best of the best..It absolutely amazed me with the texture and taste. My family and friends have fun making fun of me with my “weird” cooking combos. But they are going to be really surprised with this one. Thanks a zillion!!!!
We just harvested a lot of green cherry tomatoes from the garden. Go any ideas for using them/
Wow, that’s amazing to hear, thank you so much Jim! Hmmm, not sure, I don’t use those really, but maybe for part of this salsa recipe? https://staging.thevegan8.com/easy-homemade-salsa-recipe/
This is amazing! I am on a potato diet as well as fasting for six weeks for the Eastern Orthodox Christmas season (vegan basically), and this sauce is amazing! I actually made it without the zucchini) as I didn’t have any at home and I absolutely love it (I probably added little more water because of no zucchini. Thanks so much for sharing it!
Hi there! I LOVE this recipe – I eat it once per week and make it for everyone!!! I have one question – WHEN do I weigh the potato? Do I weigh the potato before cooking and mashing, or do I weight the cooked mashed potato? I have kind of been winging it but I weigh everything else and want to make sure I am doing it right! Thanks for your reply – love your recipes!
Hi Katie! So glad to hear you love this recipe! You will weigh it already cooked/peeled/mashed. I will always differentiate the wording depending on how things need to be weighed. For example, if it was before it being cooked, it would say “2 cups chopped/peeled potatoes” and then would list in the directions how to cook them. But since this is listed as “cooked/mashed” in the ingredients, that is how you will weigh it. Hope that helps!
Of all the non fat vegan cheese sauces I have tried, this is the best! Thanks!
I made this and loved it! I used it on baked quesadillas and also as a dip sprinkled with red pepper flakes (I love hot) for raw broccoli florets—yummy!
That is amazing Connie, thank you!
Could you replace the zucchini with carrots?
I’m not sure, I’ve never tried it!
Yummy, common ingredients, simple to make and healthy! What more could you ask for?
Appreciate your specific instructions. Thanks for sharing.
So wonderful to hear!
We’re seriously going nuts over this no-nut, no-oil sauce! And zucchini- who’d have thought? Currently on a month-long starch mini, and we couldn’t believe we could eat something so good for only around 35 calories for about ¼ cup of it! Love it, thank you!
So wonderful to hear that!!
That is so amazing to hear!
I’ve been plant-based for 7 years and this is the BEST cheese sauce I have tried!!! I’m going to keep this stocked in my fridge all the time.
Woohoo, that is awesome, thank you Liliana!
OM! ❤️❤️Another excellent cheese sauce recipe! This is definitely a keeper, thank you. I used it in a Mexican beans zucchini casserole, it was perfect!❤️❤️❤️❤️
I SEW Appreciate recipes with weights. Much easier to work with, and I’m in the United States!
I absolutely LOVE this recipe! It comes out great every time!
Love hearing that Joy!!