This Vegan Chipotle Cheese Sauce is made with cashews, garlic, nutritional yeast, chipotle peppers, chili powder, paprika, and blended with hot water.

This is one of my favorite dips ever. It is similar to a queso but I personally like my queso thick and spicy – hence the name. My cheese-digesting powers have not been up to par lately, so I decided to try making this dip.
Fall is my favorite season ever. I walked into ShopRite and their limited edition chips were available. The Turkey and Stuffing flavor was completely sold out which was a bummer, but they still had their Bowl & Basket Wavy Chip Baby Back Ribs flavor. I decided, what would be a better way to eat these chips than a nice cheesy dip?
If you love this recipe, feel free to try my Vegan Egg Rolls or my Vegan Scallion Pancakes.
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Ingredients
You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make this. The exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:
- Cashews
- Garlic
- Nutritional yeast
- Chili powder
- Paprika
- Chipotle in adobo sauce
- Hot water
See recipe card for Vegan Chipotle Cheese Sauce quantities.
Instructions
Add all the ingredients to a blender.
Blend until creamy.
Add more hot water as needed to blend until creamy and smooth. I would use a high speed blender for this.
Taste and adjust flavor as needed adding more nutritional yeast for cheesiness, salt to taste, or chipotle for heat.
Hint: If the consistency gets too thin, feel free to add more cashews and if it's too thick, add more hot water.
Substitutions
- Cashews: You should use raw cashews for a smoother texture. If you use roasted cashew, you’re essentially eating altered nut since it was removed from its shell, and that changes the texture.
- Garlic: I minced the garlic before adding into the blender for a nicer, finer taste.
- Nutritional Yeast: This ingredient is important because it gives the dip the cheesy flavor it needs. Nutritional yeast is a good source of vitamins, minerals and even prevent muscle loss.
- Spices: You can alter the amount of paprika and chili powder in the dip. For a more smoky flavor, add more paprika. For more heat, add chili powder.
- Chipotle pepper: Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce can be found in the ethnic food section of your grocery store. This will give the dip a lot of heat, and feel free to alter the amount.
- Hot water: The water must be hot to be able to blend thoroughly well. I put the water in a coffee mug and heated it up in the microwave for 2 minutes before mixing in.
Variations
Cooking is a chance to be creative! Have fun with it and feel free to make your own variation.
- Spicy - add more chili powder for more spice, or cayenne pepper.
- Deluxe - top with cilantro and jalapeno slices.
- Kid friendly - Dip with potato chips.
Check out my Vegan Gazpacho.
Equipment
Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Stone bakeware takes longer to heat up than metal pans, and also retain heat for longer, which could make the recipe more watery, or burnt on the outsides.
I love using my Caraway pots, pans and baking sheets for best quality. Get yourself a discount by clicking here!
Storage
This will be good in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
This cheese sauce can be frozen for up to three months.
Top tip
If the consistency gets too thin, feel free to add more cashews and if it's too thick, add more hot water.
Vegan Chipotle Cheese Sauce
- Total Time: 4 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
Description
This Vegan Chipotle Cheese Sauce is made with cashews, garlic, nutritional yeast, chipotle peppers, chili powder, paprika, and blended with hot water.
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
- 1 cup hot water
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until creamy, adding more hot water as needed to blend until creamy and smooth. I would use a high speed blender for this.
- Taste and adjust flavor as needed adding more nutritional yeast for cheesiness, salt to taste, or chipotle for heat. If the consistency gets too thin, feel free to add more cashews and if its too thick, add more hot water.
- Use potato chips to dip!
Notes
Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce can be found in the ethnic food section of your grocery store. This will give the dip a lot of heat, and feel free to alter the amount.
You should use raw cashews for a smoother texture. If you use roasted cashew, you’re essentially eating altered nut since it was removed from its shell, and that changes the texture.
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 minutes
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Blending
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 92.3
- Sugar: 0.8 g
- Sodium: 119.7 mg
- Fat: 6.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 6.4 g
- Fiber: 1.2 g
- Protein: 3.8 g
- Cholesterol: 1.0 mg
Food safety
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
May Esther
I used roasted cashews at first and then reazlied you need raw cashews. I tried again a second time and it was phenomenal!
★★★★★