One of the things that has surprised me the most with vegan cuisine is how I’m able to create similar flavours and textures that I used to enjoy while eating animal products. The goal, for me, is not to aim for the vegan dish to taste exactly the same, but to try to bring out something about the non-vegan dish that I really enjoyed, like a rich sauce or a thick chocolaty pudding. This doesn’t apply to all foods however, I have no desire to create a dish that has the texture of meat because I just don’t crave that texture or taste anymore. It really just depends on the food!
[Butternut Squash Mac n Cheeze: Two Ways]
One of the things I’ve always loved about Mac ‘n Cheese is that it’s comforting and creamy. When I make a vegan version of Mac ‘n Cheese, I’m not trying to create a carbon copy, but a dish that gives me that same type of comforting feeling when I eat it.
Over the past couple years, I’ve found that I can create dishes that satisfy my cravings without having to sacrifice. I crave the new dishes that I make, instead of the dishes I used to eat. Now that I’m used to this lifestyle I rarely feel like I’m missing out. The only time I feel left out is when I am eating at a non-vegan friendly restaurant, otherwise I have so many choices the hardest part is trying to decide what I will eat!
One thing I don’t always enjoy about vegan cooking and baking is the often long ingredient list that is required to make some recipes. The recipes tend to involve more creativity, more spices & seasonings, and other ingredients to achieve that outcome that I’m looking for. It’s not necessarily a bad thing per say, but sometimes I just want a quick and dirty recipe that I know I can whip up within a minute’s notice.
This 5-ingredient cheeze sauce is one of those quick and dirty recipes that I know I will keep coming back to again and again! It’s hands down the easiest cheeze sauce I’ve made and it doesn’t require a food processor or other special kitchen tool. Just a stove top and a whisk…gotta love that!
Low-Fat Vegan Cheeze Sauce
Yield
2/3 cup
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
This is the Lexus of all the cheeze sauces I’ve made to date. It’s extremely smooth, buttery, and comforting!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsweetened, unflavoured almond milk (or more as needed to thin out)
- 6 tbsp nutritional yeast (Bob’s Red Mill makes one in natural food section of most grocery stores or bulk food stores)
- 1 tbsp Earth Balance or other non-dairy buttery spread
- 1 tbsp all purpose flour (or other flour)
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
- In a skillet or pot, melt the Earth Balance over medium heat.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour and milk until all clumps are gone.
- Add milk & flour mixture and nutritional yeast to pot and whisk well. Reduce heat to low-medium.
- Add Dijon, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste and whisk frequently until the sauce thickens up, for about 5 minutes. If it’s still too thin you can add more flour to achieve the thickness you desire. To reheat: reheat in the microwave or on the stove-top (add a splash of milk if it’s too thick) and whisk well. Store in an air-tight container for up to 5-7 days.
Just 5 ingredients and just as delicious as the other sauces I’ve made!
I first made this sauce a couple weeks ago and we’ve been enjoying it a lot! I’ve poured it into pasta, on vegetables, sandwiches, etc. It’s so silky and delicious, you really have to try this. You could also get creative and add some herbs or spices to it to change it up quite easily.
Yesterday, I also made a fantastic lunch with it…
more on that recipe tomorrow!
The Quick & Dirty 7-Ingredient or Less Challenge
Speaking of short ingredient lists, I thought it would be fun to challenge myself to create more vegan recipes with as few ingredients as possible. Quick & Dirty recipes if you will!
My goal is to create more recipes with 7 ingredients or less that don’t require a lot of time or even special kitchen tools. It’s going to be tough, but I’m really excited for the challenge!
I’m curious, what’s your biggest cooking or baking hurdle? Long ingredient lists, hard to find ingredients, special kitchen tools, not enough time?
Leave me a comment below if you have any recipes in mind that you’d like ‘condensed’…no pun intended!
This is totally yummy! the family all liked it! I didn’t have enough nutritional yeast, so I added some basil, oregano, a tiny bit of parsley and extra garlic and onion powder to make it more flavorful. thanks for this recipe!
Hi Alisha – so happy to hear the recipe was a hit!
Wondering if I can substitute grape seed oil for the butter?
I made this tonight and have to say it was not good at all. I’m trying to please a five year old that can’t have dairy. I used KAL brand nutritional yeast based on research about it being the best tasting. I don’t know if this sauce is supposed to taste like cheddar or not. It was creamy but I didn’t taste any cheese resemblance, my 5yr old took one bite and spit it out. I was so hoping this would save the mac & cheese delema! Have any suggestions?
Thank you so very much for this. I avoid nuts, and many other vegan cheese mixes use nut milks. I’ve tried rice milk and it was just too sweet. I made this recipe last night and have already finished off the batch, using it as a tortilla chip dip.
FYI – recipe can be made gluten free (apologies if someone else addressed this, there are lots of comments): I replaced the flour with potato flour. Just add half of what you would use if you were using wheat flour. I’m guessing you can use any alternative flour, but I thought potato would make it more savory. I haven’t made it a second time, though, so I have no comparison. Thanks again!
Hi Karen, thank you so much for sharing those substitutions! It’s great to know they worked out well for you. :)
just tried this…. it’s pretty damn amazing. I love how simple it is to make, as I absolutely despise spending so long just trying to make any vegan cheese sauce. I also added about a teaspoon and a half of lemon juice! I would definitely try adding it, it adds so much to the recipe
New to Veganism. New to having to cook for self. This was a great recipe! Loved the consistency, color, the taste was not at all offensive actually quite good. I was not expecting a cheese taste but yet a yummy pasta dish so I was not at all disappointed, but pleasantly enthused. To be honest I had tried Nutritional Yeast in the past and was not a fan. I was hesitant about that as the main ingredient in the cheese sauce.
It was amazing all together. Will be making it again. It was especially nice because it is something soft enough to eat after wisdom teeth removal and filling enough to feel satiated.
Thank You! Keep it up!
Just made my first vegan mac n’ cheese with this recipe. So delicious. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
tried this out and I love it! Added some liquid smoke and some agave and it turned out amazing! will make this again :)
I just got done making this. I had to customize it a little bit since I didn’t have all of the ingredients. I Used coconut oil instead of earth balance, Almond flour, and I didn’t put in the Dijon mustard. It was absolutely amazing! I kind of wanted to eat this as a soup it was so good!
Glad you enjoyed it, Nicole, even with the ad libbing! :)
This was amazing!
Are you sure this only makes 2/3 cup? Glancing at the ingredient quantities I would assume it made at least a cup… does the flour thickening things up reduce the volume? I’m putting this into my recipe software for scaling purposes and wanted to double-check about the quantity. Thanks!
Hi Diane, I’m sorry it’s been ages since I made this sauce so I’m not positive. I would say anywhere from 2/3 to 3/4 cup. I’ll be sure to update the yield the next time I make it, if necessary.
I struggle with unusual ingredients, sometimes these are ingredients (like specific squashes) that just aren’t available in the UK
I just made this and it’s AMAZING ?. Thankyou for the recipe!! I used soya milk too and it worked just as well ??. ITS ACTUALLY SO GOOD!
Thank YOU for the warm words! I’m so happy you liked the sauce.
this sauce is amazing!! i added a few tbsp of medium salsa to it and then used as a topping for nachos! soon yummy :) love this recipe
Great idea, Sophie!
That’s what I did too! I have another recipe I usually use for sauce that is more involved, but my blender is packed and I needed something simple. This was really good!
Hi! I’ve tried this recipe before and loved it! Best vegan cheese sauce I’ve made so far. I used bakers’ yeast because I didn’t realise nutritional yeast was different and better… Oops. It’s also not so widely available where I live.
Anyway, now I have my nutritional yeast and I would like to multiply this recipe by 4, but 24 tablespoons of nutritional yeast sounds like a lot! Is there a ratio one should keep in mind when multiplying recipes using nutritional yeast?
Thanks for any advice
Hey Bron, Glad you still loved it despite the mix up! haha. Rather than adding 24 tablespoons, I think you’d probably be better off to simply add it to taste…start with a half cup and add slowly from there (as nutritional yeast can be quite strong!). Good luck :)
Fuck!
This is amazing <3
Oh my gooooodnesss! Just made this recipe substituting the garlic & onion powder for fresh garlic & onion, then caramelise it in the pan. Ohh I’m never that enthusiastic about a recipe but you just made me want to eat mac and cheese which I’ve never had before haha just this cheese sauce is SO good! I’m using it now over some steamed brocolli & cauliflower. Never really made a dairy cheese sauce but I’ll sure be making this one regularly. Thanks for this awesome recipe!
I’m so happy you’re loving the recipe, Rose! Thanks for taking the time to let me know–it’s always so great to hear! :)
Wow, six years later I stumble upon nutritional yeast in Germany and I was so happy to rediscover this recipe. It has never failed me. Thanks again!
Ok, this looks amazing! Have you tried it with oat milk? I’m really not a fan of unsweetened almond or soya milk, so thougth oat milk could work as a base. Thanks :)
Ty for creating this without oil…I am going to try it tomorrow. I also don’t care for long ingredient lists as it becomes too time consuming. I have 2 granddaughters to play with….soon in a couple of years to teach to cook. You are a life saver