Easy cheesy cashew sauce! You won't believe how creamy and cheesy this sauce is when it is made from just cashews and a few other simple ingredients. Great for vegans, those avoiding dairy and paleo-dieters.

This recipe has been a long time coming. I make this cashew cheese sauce all the time and have done for years - I can't believe it's taken me this long to blog it!
I love to use this sauce on pasta, on pizzas, in risottos, drizzled over potatoes or vegetables, burritos and more. It's SO delicious.
I remember when I first tried it years ago, before I was vegan, I wasn't expecting to like it at all.
I was a very fussy eater and was only just starting to experiment with free-from foods so wasn't expecting something made from cashews to be a good substitute for cheese.
But I was shocked at how delicious and cheesy it was! I remember I said "oh my god" out loud and proceeded to eat it by the spoonful.

So definitely don't knock it before you try it!
And don't be put off if you've not heard of a couple of these ingredients because I promise you they're not that expensive or hard to find.
Your local health food shop will more than likely stock nutritional yeast and you can find miso paste in your local Asian supermarket or the world food aisle at the general supermarket.
The rest can be found at any supermarket!
This cheesy sauce is:
- Dairy-free & vegan
- Gluten-free & paleo-friendly
- Healthy
- Versatile (can be used for so many different recipes)
- Easy to make (you just need a blender!)
Use this cheese sauce on your pasta, on your toast or on a pizza!

Use this vegan cheese sauce to make:
Store-cupboard Vegan Fettuccine Alfredo
Vegan Creamy Leeks & Butter Beans
📖 Recipe

Cashew Cheese Sauce
A delicious dairy-free cheese sauce, perfect for pastas, pizzas and more! Feel free to halve the recipe if you want a smaller portion.
Ingredients
- 150g / 1 cup raw cashew nuts, soaked overnight in water
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes*
- 2 tsp miso paste or 1 tsp marmite*
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- (optional) ½ tsp mustard powder*
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 240ml / 1 cup unsweetened dairy-free milk (I use roasted almond)
Instructions
- Drain the cashews and discard the water they were soaked in.
- Add to a high-powered blender along with the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Add more almond milk, if needed to create the desired consistency. I like it when it's thick but runs off the spoon.
- Use straight away or add to a container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Notes
*Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast with a natural cheesy flavour. You can find it in most health food shops or online and it's not expensive. If you want to use powder, halve the amount.
**White or red miso paste really helps give that fermented cheese flavour. It can be found in health food shops or Asian supermarkets. I buy mine from my local supermarket in the Asian food aisle. Marmite gives the same effect but is more intense so you need to use less.
***You can use a pinch of ground paprika instead. It just gives a subtle kick.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 8 Serving Size Approx 2-3 tbspAmount Per Serving Calories 123Total Fat 8gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 3mgSodium 135mgCarbohydrates 9gFiber 2gSugar 3gProtein 6g
Mary says
Made this last night and it's already gone! My non-vegan family loved it too. I didn't have miso or mustard powder, so I just did a little bit of spicy brown mustard and it tasted awesome. Making more today for baked potatoes and vegan chili :)
Leanne Makris~Rothe says
I made this I just tweaked the recipe a little bit.. I didn't use Miss and I used garlic salt with dehydrated garlic granules in it good karma plus flax seed milk and it really ramped up the protein delicious..!!
Yasmin says
This is our go to cheese sauce recipe.
It goes perfectly as a white sauce on lasagna.
Soooooo yummy and creamy!
Aimee says
Thanks Yasmin! So glad to hear you're enjoying the recipe.
Tammy Peterson says
LOVED this. My sister-in-law and niece made this for me when I was at their house for dinner and it was AMAZING. I couldn't stop eating. Can't wait to make this again.
Aimee says
Yay, so glad you liked it Tammy!
Brittany says
I think I already commented here, but I just made this for the second time, and it was somehow even better than the first time.
I heated up the almond milk and added 1tsp of mushroom base (better than bullion) for the sauce. I left out the nutmeg (because I didn’t have any), but I otherwise followed the recipe.
I sautéed half a yellow onion with 8oz carton of chopped baby Bella mushrooms and a few cloves of garlic. I cooked this mixture down for about 15 minutes.
I cooked 1lb of fettucini (linguine preferred!) and reserved about 1/3 cup of the pasta water. I added the mushroom mixture to the cooked noodles and added the sauce. I added the reserved pasta water which helped to keep it from drying out (like it did before) and it turned out SO creamy.
Best meal I’ve made to date. Thank you for this sauce! It’s a staple in our vegan home.