Simple and fabulously cheesy vegan cheese sauce. Ideal for lasagnas, pastas, vegan mac and cheese or anywhere you would usually use a cheese sauce.
Making a vegan cheese sauce really couldn’t be easier.
You start off with a basic vegan white sauce – also called bechamel sauce and then with just a few added extras, it magically turns into cheese sauce!
How To Make Vegan Cheese Sauce
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
There are just 3 basic ingredients – oil, flour and plant-based milk (I used soy milk) to make your basic white sauce.
To that you add some salt, black pepper, dijon mustard, great for adding a cheesy flavor don’t even ask me why but really it works, and some nutritional yeast.
And that might be as far as you need to go to get your perfect cheese sauce flavor! If you want to intensify the flavors a bit more, you can add in some optional onion powder and garlic powder too.
How To Serve Vegan Cheese Sauce
This isn’t the kind of cheese sauce you’re going to use on a pizza.
Have you had a white sauce (bechamel) before? It’s exactly like that, just flavored to be cheesy!
It’s what you want when you want a cheesy version of a white sauce to use in your lasagna! It’s also great as a pasta sauce or served over vegetables.
It also makes a great sauce for a vegan mac and cheese.
If you want a cheese sauce to drizzle on your pizza, then you’re looking for a cashew cheese sauce! Or you can even grate up some hard sliceable cashew cheese and melt it on your pizza!
Storing and Freezing
Keep leftovers stored in the fridge and enjoy within 4-5 days.
It’s also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. Thaw it overnight in the fridge. It may look watery and separated but simply reheat in a saucepan, whisking all the while and it will come back to its full glory.
More Delicious Vegan Sauces
- Vegan Mushroom Sauce
- Vegan Peppercorn Sauce
- Vegan Chipotle Sauce
- Vegan Teriyaki Sauce
- Vegan Worcestershire Sauce
- Vegan Buffalo Sauce
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 5 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
- 4 cups Soy Milk (960ml)
- 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
- ½ cup Nutritional Yeast (30g)
- ½ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper
Optional:
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- Grated Vegan Cheese
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a pot on the stove and turn the heat to medium high.
- When the oil begins to heat up, add the flour, stirring briskly all the time.
- Fry the flour in the oil for a bit, stirring vigorously, and then add in all the soy milk at once. Stir vigorously. Alternate with a hand whisk and a wooden spoon while it heats up to prevent any lumps from forming.
- Continue to stir until the sauce begins to thicken.
- You will usually reach the right thickness a few minutes after the sauce has reached boiling point.
- When it has reached the desired thickness remove from the heat (bear in mind that it will continue to thicken as it cools).
- Stir in the mustard, nutritional yeast, salt and ground black pepper.
- Taste test and see how you like it. If you want to intensify the flavors, add in the onion powder and garlic powder and stir in. Depending on what you want to use the cheese sauce for, you may prefer it plain or you may want to intensify the flavors with the onion and garlic powders.
- Serve with pasta or use as a sauce in a vegan lasagna. Add some grated vegan cheese to the sauce as well if you like.
Video
Notes
- My favorite oil to make this with is olive oil, but canola oil or vegetable oil also work.
- You can use different non-dairy milks with slightly different flavor results.
A very tasty and easy to make sauce. I love it.
Thanks Ann!
I just have to say: OMG! This cheese sauce is fit as f*ck! :’)
I have tried SO MANY recipes before this one, yet this is the one that got printed out and added to our DIY kitchen recipe book <3
I used this in a mac n cheese recipe which we served at a neighborhood BBQ and EVERYBODY was asking for the recipe. When I told them it was vegan their minds were blown.
I usually add a sprinkle of smoked paprika or all purpose just to give it an extra pop of flavour.
Alison: Thank you, for all your hard work creating the BEST vegan recipes on the internet. A perfect combination of great taste, using vegan pantry staples & easy to follow instructions.
This is literally my go to recipe site before I look anywhere else… (Must've made 40+ recipes)
Thank you so much Bailey! We really appreciate that! 🙂
This is my go to recipe for cheese sauce. Super easy to make and everyone loves the taste.
Thanks for the awesome review Natasha!
I’ve used this as a bechamel substitute in lasagne and moussaka and it worked really well. I’ve also made a portion that I froze, then later defrosted, whisked up and reheated, and it still tasted really good. More nutty than cheesy, I would say, but did a great job, thank you!
Awesome Nic, thanks for sharing!
Made this SOOOO many times now. Hands down the BEST vegan cheese sauce! Super simple to make and so delicious and creamy! Plus, no cashews or pureeing required! THANK YOU!!!
Thanks for the awesome review Karen!
Has anyone had issues with a vegan cheese sauce separating? I used mine for a cauliflower bake and for some reason it separated and went really runny? I used oat milk and regular flour. It was still a yummy gravy but am wondering what went wrong and why it lost its thick cheese sauce consistency?
Hi Nicole, sauces can ‘break’ if they bake too long. We have a recipe for cauliflower cheese and we roast the cauliflower first, so that the baking with the cheese sauce is just the final step (and doesn’t need to ‘cook’ the cauliflower). So maybe check out that recipe for next time. All the best! 🙂
I made a couple substitutions, I use a rice flour blend, and almond/cashew milk. I love using yeast as cheese. Next time I make this I’m adding a dollop of tahini.
So glad you enjoyed it Keith! Thanks so much for sharing your adjustments!
Thanks super easy & delicious
I used a thermomix & put everything in at 90 Degrees Celsius for 7 minutes- it was perfect. I served the sauce with broccoli & pasta & cashew cheese on top.
Awesome, thanks so much for sharing Angela!
An easy to follow recipe that results in a wonderful tasty sauce.
A lovely sauce that is easy to make and very tasty.
Thanks so much Ann!
Would roasted peppers be good to add into this to turn this into a nacho sauce or would it ruin the recipe?
I think you could do it! It sounds delicious!
Thank you for the quick response!
This recipe is amazing! I made lasagne and it was soooo good!
Wonderful! Thanks Casey!
Is there any alternative for the nutritional yeast flakes…it’s quite difficult to find near me.
You can leave it out, though you do lose some of the cheesiness.
Sunny, you can it order online from Walmart (or several other places).
Would coconut flour or almond flour or tapioca flour work
I’m not sure about those, but a gluten-free all purpose blend does work.
Rice blend flour worked amazingly well.