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.
Found this recipe when looking for a lower fat and calorie cheeze sauce for lasagne. It worked a treat. Those extra veggies are a bonus as well.
Tasted delicious, I doubled the recipe but still only used just over a cup of water. I love that it’s oil free and so easy to make. Thank you!!
I am so thrilled to hear this incredible feedback, Gabrielle!
What are your thoughts on using a yam instead of the Yukon gold. 🤔
I assume it will work fine!
I couldn’t find nutritional yeast but I did find days sliced cheeses (American and cheddar) and I was wondering if maybe I could use one of those slices as a substitute and if it would yield the same cheesy flavor.
I honestly have no idea, nutritional yeast is so different than actual cheese. This recipe is meant to create a from-scratch vegan cheese sauce, so if you are adding cheese, then that is changing the recipe entirely.
Hello, I would love to try this but I am allergic to potatoes. Would it work as well with sweet potatoes?
I’ve never tried it before!
I loved this recipe! I’m following the starch solution diet so this was perfect! I didn’t have a zucchine so I used a roasted red bell pepper. Was perfect! Thank you!
So awesome to hear!
I love this recipe. It’s one of my staples. Thanks so much for it! I never cut off the green skin off because it’s packed with nutrients and the tiny green flecks have not changed the beautiful orange color at all. Plus,I always double the recipe because it’s just so good.
That makes me so happy to hear Paula!!
Do I need to peel the potatoes before mashing, or can I mash with the skins on?
I made this once and it was fabulous. I peeled the potatoes then, but I was thinking it would save some time if I didn’t need to mash them.
It will be smoother with the skin removed!
Because you receive multiple e mails, I will keep this short. Thank you for sharing your awesome work. I have a serious allergy/ reaction to nutritional yeast. Can you suggest alternatives? Ronna
A vegan parmesan would be the best sub. I haven’t tested it, but that is my suggestion.
Thanks for this great recipe! Do we need to bake the zucchini? Can we also cook it in the microwave? Thanks.
Yes, that should be fine!
Very good! Thank you for the super clear instructions. I’m very sensitive to salt and seasonings, so the next time I will start with a little less salt and garlic powder. Made it to go on baked potatoes tonight so I actually may find that seasonings don’t need to be adjusted. Thanks so much for a great nut-free, oil-free cheese sauce!!! 💕
Thank you for another great recipe! Since going WFPB, no oil several years ago, your recipes are consistently my favorites! I love the cheese sauce with cashews (yum), but need to lose some weight, so have been looking for a good no oil, no nuts cheese sauce. I’ve tried soooo many and this one is finally the winner!
Awesome to hear!!
What are the nutritional information per servin? Please add that to your post.
Appreciate it
I’m a newbie to plant based cooking…this is SO SPECTACULAR! Broccoli and cheese on a baked potato…SO GOOD! I love that there is no nuts and no oil…cutting out the calories is even more amazing!
Thank you so much Robin! So thrilled you love it!!
Love this. I am making for my son who has a ton of food allergies and I am wondering if this can be easily frozen. The amount it makes is way more then we can use in a few days. Thanks!
So sorry I missed this before! I’ve honestly never tried freezing it but I think so!
I quadruple this recipe and freeze it in portions. It’s perfect
Fantastic idea!!
Any alternative for zucchini?
Hmmm that’s a big part of the recipe so I really don’t know. I’ve only ever tried it with zucchini.
You can use carrot or red bell pepper.
Wow this is delicious. I finally found a cashew free cheese sauce that I actually like! So far every one of your recipes I’ve tried have been amazing.
Yay, so happy to hear that!!
Can you confirm ‘cup’? I understand this varies depending where you are located
Hi Angela, what do you mean confirm cup? The grams are also listed.
Thank you so much! I’m experimenting with a High Raw diet/lifestyle and really couldn’t get a good, raw cheese sauce. (I’ve always used potatoes.) This is delicious. You’re so right- the liquid aminos is perfect. (I’d been incorrectly using coconut aminos.)
Wonderful to hear!
I’m not a fan of nutritional yeast so I’ll try making this without it. Am thinking of other ingredients that might make up for that.
Hmmm, the yeast provides lots of flavor and cheesiness, so that will definitely alter the flavor. Maybe a vegan parmesan or some miso….
I didn’t like nutritional yeast at first because I had only tried the fortified one carried at most grocery stores. I absolutely love the flavor that non-fortified nutritional yeast adds to recipes. Sari brand is my favorite.
I have added additional tanginess in some cheese recipes by adding sauerkraut brine (natural fermented sauerkraut, not a brand with vinegar in ingredients).
Exactly! That is the brand I love! Non-fortified is the ticket!
Will this recipe work with a regular blender? I don’t have a vitamix. Thank you!
Yes, it should since there are no nuts!
May I just say wow? WOW. I’ve been making this once a week for a few months and it never disappoints. Once I even forgot to peel my zucchini! It was still yummy if a bit less great of a color! I’m amazed that you put this together — finally, delicious cheese without cashews. It really helps me stick to a weight-loss plan and I never, ever feel deprived. I’d love even more ideas for using it! My go-to is, of course, the glorious baked potato. With a swish of good balsamic and something spicy — salsa, for instance — nothing satisfies me more. Thank you thank you. I bought your book and am enjoying cooking my way through it.
I’m really happy to read this, thank you Robin!