This nut-free vegan queso dip is easy to make, budget friendly and a great alternative to cashew-based vegan cheeses. Plus is spicy, creamy and perfect with chips or nachos.
I don’t know about you but when it comes to chips and dip, I’m definitely not a one dip kinda gal. I need 3 kinds of salsa, guac, hummus, spicy bean dip and most recently, this easy creamy, nut-free vegan queso dip.
Oh and margs. Cuz what’s a chips and dip party without margaritas?
But I digress. Back to the vegan queso dip.
Cheese was actually the food group I missed the most after going dairy-free and then vegan. At the time, the options for dairy-free cheese weren’t all that great so I avoided them as much as possible.
Luckily, vegan cheese has improved by leaps and bounds over the last couple years and as I’ve became more comfortable with vegan cooking, I’ve even started making my own vegan cheese.
My first attempt was this cashew cheese ball that was pretty freaking amazing, if I do say so myself.
But as much as I love it, it’s a little too labour intensive to make regularly. Plus, cashews are kind of expensive so they’re not something I have on hand that often.
But potatoes? They’re cheap AF and I always have at least a couple in my pantry.
The recipe for this vegan queso dip is fairly simple and only calls for about 10 ingredients. It starts with boiling the potatoes until just soft, draining them, then blending them together with dairy-free milk, my trusty pickled jalapeños, nooch and a bunch of spices.
Then you just have to heat it up until it thickens, add in salsa and more jalapeños if you want and BAM. You’ve got yourself a creamy, delicious, nut-free vegan queso dip that’ll have cheese connoisseurs everywhere weak at the knees.
If you make this nut-free vegan queso dip, I’d love to hear what you think. Leave a comment and rate the recipe or take a pic and tag it @ExSloth on Instagram!
More easy appetizers:
- 2 cups white potato, peeled and cubed
- ¾ cup sweet potato, peeled and cubed
- ⅓ cup sunflower oil
- ⅓ cup non-dairy milk
- juice of 1 lime or ½ a lemon
- 10 pickled jalapeño slices
- ¼ cup jalapeño pickling liquid
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 - 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp mustard
- ¼ - ⅓ cup salsa of choice
- optional: 2 tsp corn starch + a little water
- Boil potatoes for about 10 minutes or until soft and cooked through. Be sure not to over boil or dip will be too starchy
- Drain the potatoes and add to a blender along with oil, almond milk, lime/lemon juice, jalapenos, pickling liquid, mustard, nutritional yeast and spices
- Blend until smooth then transfer to a skillet and warm over low heat
- Add salsa and stir gently until dip begins to thicken
- If too thin, mix together corn starch and water in a small bowl and stir into the cheese sauce
- Continue to warm, stirring gently until desired thickness is reached and the dip is heated through
- Serve immediately with chips, nachos or any other food you think needs a hit of spicy cheesiness!
ah giselle this looks amazing! so creamy!
WOAH! I was shocked that this was vegan and nut free. It’s beautiful.
I used leftover pumpkin soup instead of potatoes. 😉
No garlic, and I think I used a half cup of nutritional flakes, plus a little mustard, paprika, and onion powder to help bring out the “cheezy” flavor. Actually came out great!
Oops, meant to ask, have you ever tried freezing and thawing any of this? I was concerned I would ruin it…
But would be great if could be made ahead.
Thanks you, Your blog is great and this recipe very usefull with me. I will try it today.
Greg Mahnke recently posted…Making the Perfect Chocolate Fudge from Scratch