This is a recipe for a quick and easy homemade vegan Cheese Sauce. Give this Nooch Cheese Sauce (made with Nutritional Yeast) a try because it's perfect for lasagne, pizza, mac & cheese or as a dip for tortilla chips! It's also nut-free and you don't need a blender!
This is a recipe for a basic Nooch Cheese Sauce. I make this cheese sauce quite often and use it mostly for lasagne, pizza, as a dip for tortilla chips or for mac and cheese.
It's really simple to make and it comes together quite fast - it will only take about 10 to 15 minutes. Then get your tortilla chips ready because it's dipping time!
I love this cheese sauce because it's
- vegan (and therefore dairy-free and lactose-free)
- without nuts (my wallet says thanks!)
- super quick to make
- made with only a handful of ingredients (I always have these at home!)
- so versatile! Lasagna, pizza, mac & cheese, or as a dip are my favorite uses for the sauce!
- ooey-gooey and stretchy
When I started following a vegan diet in 2012 supermarkets didn't offer any vegan cheeses. So making vegan cheese at home was the only way to go. I have been making this cheese sauce countless times!
Now, there all kinds of vegan cheeses in the stores and I really enjoy trying these new products, however, I still make this cheese sauce a lot because it's my favorite for pizza and lasagna - I love it!
But wait... What is Nooch?
Nooch is short for nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast is deactivated yeast and can be bought in the form of powder or flakes.
It is often used for vegan sauces because of its super cheesy taste. Nutritional yeast is something that should not be missed in a vegan household. It's one of my secret (but not so secret) ingredients for vegan cooking.
How to make Vegan Cheese Sauce with Nutritional Yeast (Nooch)
The Ingredients for the Nooch Cheese Sauce
The ingredients you'll need are rather basic. You probably have them at home already!
- coconut oil or vegan butter - both will work just fine
- all-purpose flour - makes the cheese stretchy
- spices - I used salt, paprika powder, curry powder, ground pepper, and garlic powder (but feel free to experiment with different spices!)
- nutritional yeast flakes - adds the cheesy flavor!
- water
Most vegan cheese recipes use nuts (oftentimes cashews or almonds). This one doesn't. So if you're allergic to nuts (or you don't want to spend all that $$ on expensive nuts), this sauce is for you!
Step by Step Instructions
This is the process of making the cheese sauce! Basically, it's like you would make a Bechamel Sauce - but with a cheesy twist!
Tip: If you don't use the sauce immediately, it will thicken up quite a bit. Add a bit more water and whisk again. Then it's good as new!
My favorite uses for this vegan Cheese Sauce
More Vegan Cheese Recipes
I hope you love this 'cheesy' sauce as much as I do! Let me know if you give it a try!
Cheers, Bianca
Nooch Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil or vegan butter e.g. EarthBalance, Alsan,...
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon curry powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika powder
- ground pepper
- 1 pinch garlic powder
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Heat the coconut oil or butter in a small pot on low heat.
- Add the salt, pepper, paprika powder, curry powder & garlic powder.
- Add in the flour and whisk.
- Add nutritional yeast, whisk again until clumpy.
- Add the water and whisk on low heat for a few minutes. If it gets too thick you can add a little bit more water and whisk again.
- Use it as a dip, pour it over some lasagne or pizza or whatever you like. Enjoy!
Maggie says
Would almond flour work ok?
Bianca says
I don't think it will be stretchy at all, because almond flour is gluten-free and very different to regular flour. I haven't tried it yet! But I'd love to hear if it works if you give it a try!
Bobbi says
I made this with coconut oil and coconut flour. The texture is nothing like the picture. It is grainy and not saucy at all. The flavor is still good, albeit very coconutty! It is tasty on the spaghatti squash I cooked to go with the sauce. I also topped the dish with an array of wild mushrooms. I will try this again using a vegan butter and all-purpose flour.
Bianca says
Thank you for trying it out with coconut flour! I had the feeling that it wouldn't work, because it needs the gluten to develop the gooey consistency. But now we know! :)
Erza says
Will definitely need to try again. I don't have flour so I used cornstarch and used a little cumin and Trader Joe's Mushroom Umami seasoning instead of the curry powder.... It might have been too overpowering as I didn't taste any "cheesy" and only seasoning :(
Madeleine says
@Erza, I find it a bit ridicolous to rate the recipe low (giving it only three out of five stars) when you not only didn't actually follow the recipe but switched out some of the key ingredients and replaced it with something that doesn't work as well. What is really being rated here is _your_ recipe, not the recipe posted. Yet, your rating is not affecting the overall rating of this recipe, completely unfairly. Please be mindful of these things when you rate people's recipes.
Stephanie says
I to used coconut oil and coconut flour.Mainly because that is what I had. I used it on Spaghetti Squash.
Tasted good with a smooth texture.
BTW I used the metric method and 20 grams of NutritionalYeast is way more then a third of a cup.
Bianca says
I'm glad to hear that it worked with coconut flour as well!
I just checked it again and 1/3 cup of nutritional yeast is exactly 16 grams on my scale. It's not too far off, but I've updated the metric measurement to be more exact :) Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Shawna says
Hi! I just made this sauce tonight...OMG!!!!! So delicious. I didn't have all purpose flour so I used garbanzo bean flour and it is still yummy 😋. Going to try with the all purpose flour next time to compare. Thank you for posting this recipe!
Bianca says
Glad you enjoyed it, Shawna! That's good to know that it works with garbanzo flour too, I haven't tried that yet :) Yeay!
Franzi says
I was so keen to try this recipe after i finally got my hands on nutritional yeast. Because of an allergy can't eat dairy products. The result is very disappointing, it wasn't only far from delicious...for me(and non allergic husband) it wasn't even edible.
Bianca says
I'm sorry to hear that you didn't like the sauce.
Just to make sure, I often hear people mixing up nutritional yeast with baker's yeast or brewer's yeast. You could check if you've bought the right kind because that's essential for the recipe. Other than that, some just don't like the taste of nutritional yeast. That's okay. Tastes differ. I appreciate your feedback! :)
Franzi says
Hi Bianca,
thanks for your reply.
Maybe i fall into the latr category ;)
L says
Holy shit. I have just found this recipe on your site and now I have made it about 6 times in a couple of days. I started out very civilised; putting it on vegetables and the like, and am now just spooning it out of the bowl directly into my mouth. THIS IS A REVOLUTION. I even halved the amount of flour to make it a lot more like a sauce, and it's amazing.
Bianca says
omg, you have no idea how happy your comment makes me!! Thank you so much <3
Aja says
I read your comment and laughed my ass off because I've just finished licking my plate from the mac and cheese I've made with nooch, which I am just trying for the first time. ALREADY OBSESSED I've just sent my partner a bunch of links describing what nooch is and what the health benefits are ahah. I'm not a vegetarian or a vegan but I like to have a pretty varied diet and every now and then I go off meat and dairy for a while. I'm pretty much immediately convinced that I'm going to replace cheese in my diet with nooch entirely (and I am a cheese LOVER trust me). The health benefits and flavour make it an obvious choice. Looking forward to trying this recipe!
Debby says
Insanely good! We made this to use on a falafel sub and ended up eating the leftover sauce straight from the pan.
Bianca says
Thank you for the great feedback, Debby!! So glad you like the sauce! :) I've never had the cheese sauce with falafel --- and I feel like I've been missing out :D
Ayana Hargreaves says
Can i use olive oil or soyabean oil instead?
Bianca says
I haven't tried those yet, but I'd say soyabean oil would be the better option to try, because olive oil has too much flavor to distract from the cheesy taste. Let me know if you give it a try!
Sherley says
Can I use a grain free flour instead of regular all purpose flour ?
Bianca says
Hi Sherley,
I personally haven't used another flour than ap-flour because I don't think it will have that ooey-gooey consistency but another reader made it with bob's red mill gluten-free flour mix and she said it works just fine :)
Another one tried it with coconut flour but it was just grainy and not gooey at all.
Lisa says
Really want to try this! Wondering if arrowroot flour would be a suitable substitution for the AP flour?? 🤔
May give it a try and see what happens. Also have coconut & almond flour on hand but doesn’t sound like either of those would be a good sub.....
Thanks for the recipe!!
Bianca says
Hi Lisa, I haven't tried the recipe with arrowroot flour yet but I'd love to hear how it turns out if you give it a try.
People tried the recipe with coconut flour and got mixed results. For one reader it turned out grainy and not gooey at all (because of the missing gluten), for another reader, it turned out great with coconut flour.
Lillian says
Great Recipe!!
I added a touch of lemon juice right at the end (it looks like its about to curdle but then returns to smooth) and it really helps to bring out the cheesy flavor!!
Bianca says
Great idea! :)
Nick says
I never comment on blogs but this cheese was so damn good I had to!
I avoid dairy at all costs, and while I loved cashew cheese for a while, it does not agree with me. This is my new favorite!
Bianca says
Yeayyy! So glad you like it, Nick! :)
Heather says
I didn't enjoy this. Too much flour for me. The texture was like glue. I prefer a creamy finish. Its quick and doesn't require a blender but not worth making again.
Bianca says
Sorry to hear that you didn't like it! I appreciate your feedback, though! :)
Jennifer Toops says
This was pretty good--the flour flavor was a little strong so I had to double all of the spices and add some sweet dijon mustard and extra salt. I used Pamela's All-Purpose Baking Flour Mix (gluten-free), so perhaps regular wheat flour would not require as much "fixing"--
I have tried three different variations on vegan cheese now. The best tasting recipe used a pound of raw cashews plus the nutritional yeast, but I am allergic to cashews and I had to throw most of the cheese away when I realized what was causing the reaction. I also tried a recipe that used potatoes, carrots, mustard, and garlic in addition to nutritional yeast. This was quite flavorful, but the veggie taste didn't work well with the corn chips and I ended up using it in a vegan enchilada recipe.
This sauce will be excellent when combined with other nacho toppings. The consistency is very convincing, and it has a pretty neutral flavor. I might add some chili powder or other seasonings later. Thank you for the recipe!
Bianca says
Ah yes, I'm sure it's because of the gf flour because whenever I use all-purpose flour, I can't taste the flour at all. Glad you like it! :)
Kate says
I just made this. I used olive oil instead of vegan butter, and whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose. I had to add way more water than the recipe called for in order for. it to come out as a sauce rather than a dough. I used curry powder, turmeric, black pepper, cayenne, and garlic powder as the seasonings. It is very tasty and very easy -- my favorite combination!
Bri says
I had to do the same! I used olive oil, unbleached flour, and turmeric :)
Rebecca says
Delicious! I love that I don’t have to pull out my blender to make!
I did use smoked paprika and black garlic in place of the regular but otherwise amazing!