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!
Lex says
This recipe is amazing!! I haven't even tried it but I'm going to, since I already have all this stuff at home!! I'm a vegetarian who eats probably 75% vegan, and I haven't tried making any vegan cheese yet because I don't have a good food processor. I'm so happy I found this, thank you!
Bianca says
Hope you enjoy it, Lex! :)
Emily says
What do you think about replacing all purpose flour with almond flour? Wonder if it would work.
Bianca says
I'm afraid it will turn out grainy! I haven't tried it yet, though. Also, it won't be gooey at all.
AJ says
I used arrowroot powder which brings down the carb count significantly!
Angel Cotton says
This nooch cheese was fantastic with the garlic pretzel knots. Spot on Bianca!
Bianca says
It's my favorite 'cheese' sauce :) So I'm happy you like it too!
Rhiannon & Roger says
Tastes great, good alternative to potato and carrot vegan nacho cheezes. It has an interesting flavour profile, yet super simple to make.
A beautiful bouquet of flavors blossoms upon my pallet.
Bianca says
I love that you don't need to clean (and need) a blender for this vegan cheese sauce! And yep, it's super quick to make.
Thank you so much for the great review!!
Erin Gibson says
“Cheesy” dream come true!!
Bianca says
Glad you like it!! :)
Karla says
Looks great! I'm on the whole 30 diet. Is there a nooch recipe with a substitute for the flour?
Aria McNeil says
I was having a craving for mac and cheese, and this sauce definitely hit the spot. Thank you for this amazing recipe! Also really great with tortilla chips!
Bianca says
Yeay!! :)
Liana says
Loved it on top of nachos and as a cheese dip (mixed in a few spoonfuls of salsa for a salsa con queso-vibe). Have you ever tried making it by adding all the dry ingredients at once? I was thinking it'd be handy to have a big jar of the flour, yeast, and spices already mixed, then just cooking in the pan with "butter" and adding water.
Sally says
I just made a beautiful, luscious batch with olive oil and gluten-free Bisquick. IT WAS AWESOME! I didn't follow your exact amounts from the recipe because I was sorta-kinda winging it. Didn't matter, though, because it came out smooth and creamy and spicy. Thanks so much!
Angel says
Can you substitute almond flour or arrowroot flour for the wheat flour? How much will it alter the recipe?
Carol anne says
Mm it’s delicious can’t believe how much like cheese it tastes thanks for the recipe
Bri says
I was so excited for this! It tastes delicious. But gave me a really bad stomach ache 🤕. Wish I knew why! Assuming from the nutritional yeast.
leigha says
Really good if you like the taste of flour.
Teresa says
I've stopped eating dairy about 6 months ago and desperately miss cheese. I stumbled across your recipe this afternoon and decided to try it. I didn't have curry, but made it anyway. It is delicious and soothed my cheese craving. Thank you!
Judy says
An experience with freezing this?