5 Minute Vegan Queso
This cheesy, warm vegan queso packs a flavorful punch on top of nachos or with tortilla chips for dipping. This recipe is extremely easy with simple ingredients that are blended for 5 minutes. No need to soak cashews or fuss with a long list of ingredients or equipment – this vegan queso is as easy as can be but filled with so much cheesy, savory flavor!
Everyone raves about these dips..
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- Love pickles? This tangy dill pickle hummus is so unique and creamy!
- Buffalo lovers go crazy for this buffalo chickpea dip. Great for football games and gatherings!
Ingredients
- White beans – You can use Great Northern Beans or Cannellini beans. Make sure to drain and rinse.
- Salsa – Choose your favorite salsa and heat level (I personally like Medium for this recipe)
- Nutritional yeast – This helps adds some cheesiness to the recipe!
- Spices & Other additions – You will need some spices to add more flavor to this recipe. The addition of dijon mustard helps round out the flavor of the vegan queso. Finally, a touch of ground flaxseed helps it thicken up more.
See recipe card for full ingredient list and quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- Swap the salsa with some fresh or canned diced tomatoes (like the ones with green chiles for more flavor! )
- Instead of ground flaxseed you can use a little oat or chickpea flour
- For more heat, add some freshly diced jalopeños either to the mixture or on top!
How to Make Vegan Queso
Blend
This vegan queso recipe couldn’t be easier! Just add all your ingredients to a blender and blend for 4-6 minutes consistently.
Warm & Serve
You can warm your queso over the stove (I think it tastes better warm). Then place in a bowl and dip with tortilla chips. You can also pour over nachos!
Different Ways to Enjoy Vegan Queso
- Dipping Sauce: Obviously the most common way to enjoy queso as a dip with tortilla chips, crackers, or vegetable sticks like carrots, celery, or bell peppers.
- Nachos: Spread vegan queso over a plate of nachos along with beans, salsa, guacamole, and more!
- Quesadillas: Use as a filling for quesadillas along with vegetables like sautéed onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, or spinach.
- Burritos and Tacos: Add this cheesy queso to burritos or tacos as a creamy and flavorful topping. It pairs well with beans, rice, salsa, lettuce, and any other favorite fillings.
- Taquitos: Pour on top of these vegan taquitos for a delish app or snack.
- Vegan Chili Cheese Fries: Top a plate of fries with vegan chili and drizzle with vegan queso for a game-day comfort food!
Common Questions
How to do you store leftover vegan queso?
You can store the leftover queso in an airtight container and in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. When you’re ready to eat, simply pour the queso into a saucepan and warm on low-medium heat until it’s the temperature to your liking.
Does this actually taste like real queso?
In my humble opinion, I think it tastes really dang close to the real thing! It is thick and creamy just like dairy queso. It’s flavor is cheesy, but not the exact cheesiness of a true dairy cheese (of course) but it really satisfies that queso craving!
Pro Tips ✔️
- Use a high speed blender if possible. I love the Vitamix but you can use really any high speed blender. You can even use a food processor if that is all you can available, but you may have to stop the blade a few times to scrape down the sides. Since we aren’t using cashews, this vegan queso blends fairly effortlessly.
- If you this to be a spicy vegan queso, use spicy salsa and add in a dash of cayenne pepper.
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5 Minute Vegan Queso
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Ingredients
- 15 oz can of white beans such as Great Northern Beans
- ¼ cup salsa of choosing*
- ¾ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 1 clove minced garlic
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon ground flaxseed
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp salt add more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- dash of cayenne pepper for more heat adjust to taste
Instructions
- In a high speed blender, add all your queso ingredients. Blend for 4-6 minutes (yes actually blend that long) on med-high speed. The mixture will thicken more as you blend longer. Taste and add more salt if desired. For the best flavor, warm the queso stovetop or in the microwave.
- Serve in a bowl with tortilla chips. Feel free to top with chopped jalopeños, tomatoes, or cilantro for garnish. Enjoy! This dip is BEST the day of, but can always be reheated stovetop for a few minutes the next day.
This Vegan Queso stands out among the other vegan cheese recipes I’ve tried. It’s creamy and I love the cheesy flavor, so addictive. And I added some diced jalapeño for a spicy twist and I enjoyed it as a dip with some tortilla chips! Yum!
I just made this on the weekend and it was such a hit! Everyone was shocked then I told them what it was made of!
Thanks for your review Chhavi!