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!
Cedar says
I've been making this recipe for years and I've used it for many different things. Mine never looks like the texture of the original but that isn't that big of a deal for me. Great recipe and has saved the day when I have nothing else in the fridge. Recently made some bulgur cheesesteak filled buns with this and it turned out great, love this recipe and is a staple in my house!!!!!
Melissa says
This was great to use as a base recipe! I swapped oat milk for the water and added 1 tbsp of marmite to add depth and it was absolutely delicious.
Sher says
This looks amazing but can you substitute white flour for coconut flour or almond flour
Sher says
Can you substitute any other flour for white flour
Kenzie says
It’s a great nooch-o sauce 😂sorry had to make the pun. But this was so delicious it only lasted a day in our house .
Becky says
This went perfectly with tacos I made for supper, thank you! I used turmeric instead of curry powder and I found that mine thickened really fast so I just added more water until I got it to the right consistency. I will definitely be using this recipe again!
Bianca says
awesome! :)
Amanda says
I love the consistency and flavor of this cheese sauce! It also has no expensive ingredients and requires no blender, so it’s easy to make with ingredients I already have!
Eileen says
Can almond flour be used ?
KBIVS says
This may sound weird, but if you cook and purée butternut squash to add to this it gives it a lovely color. Also, you can use turmeric if you don’t have curry powder. I like to add some chopped jalapeños too for nachos or baked potatoes.
Bianca says
great tip! :)
MARY says
Ok, so I NEVER leave comments on boards but this was so good I had to share. Before going vegan, I loved Velveeta and Rotel (don't judge me). So I changed just a few ingredients and this is so much like it and SO MUCH better for me. I used 3 T of vegan butter, I replaced the curry with 1/2 teaspoons chili powder and added a can of Rotel!
Tina says
I added miso and liquid aminos and it was awesome. Used GF flour too - delicious!
Jeanie Spond says
Haven’t tried it yet! Wondering if I can use Ava odor oil instead of coconut oil? Thanks. Jeanie Spond
Jeanie Spond says
Can I use avocado oil instead?
Bianca says
oh, definitely, that will work too!
Daphne says
I wanted to make this sauce but I read somewhere that you should not heat/cook it, but sprinkle on afterwards?
Victoria says
Nookie yeast is nasty