Quick Vegan Cheese Sauce (no nuts)

A pot of vegan cheese sauce in front of a tray of spiral shaped pasta in the background.

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Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Servings 700 ml (4 servings)

Calories 269kcal

Cost £1.79 for whole recipe

Ingredients

500 ml (2 cups) unsweetened soy milk or your fave unsweetened plant-based milk
100 ml (1/2 cup) water
100 g (7 tbsp) vegan butter, vegetable shortening (e.g. TREX), refined coconut oil or olive oil
300 g (2 medium) potatoes peeled and coarsley grated
3 tbsp nutritional yeast (see section below recipe card if you don't have any)
1 tsp garlic granules
½ tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp American mustard or your favourite mustard
4 tsp malt vinegar or any neutral vinegar
1 tbsp marmite or dark soy sauce or miso paste (not a heaped tbsp!)
salt and black pepper

Instructions

In a medium pot set over a medium heat, warm the soy milk, water and vegan butter/shortening/refined coconut oil/olive oil until the fat has melted.
500 ml (2 cups) unsweetened soy milk, 100 ml (1/2 cup) water, 100 g (7 tbsp) vegan butter, vegetable shortening (e.g. TREX), refined coconut oil or olive oil
Add the grated potatoes, nutritional yeast, garlic granules, smoked paprika and mustard to the pot and stir. Bring up to a boil then turn down the heat to let it simmer for 10-15 minutes until the potato is completely soft.
300 g (2 medium) potatoes, 3 tbsp nutritional yeast, 1 tsp garlic granules, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 2 tsp American mustard
Remove from the heat and add the vinegar and marmite/soy sauce/miso paste. Blend until smooth using a stick/immersion blender (or a jug blender) then taste and season with salt and black pepper. We suggest being quite generous with the salt here, start with 1/4 to 1/2 tsp and go from there! Remember that cheese contains quite a lot of salt so it's key to getting the right flavour.
4 tsp malt vinegar, 1 tbsp marmite or dark soy sauce or miso paste, salt and black pepper
Your sauce is now done - enjoy it hot or allow to cool at room temperature and store in a lidded container in the fridge for up to 3 days, or the freezer for up to 3 months.

Notes

Make it Gluten-Free: both the marmite and malt vinegar contain gluten so you'll need to replace these. For the marmite, try tamari, gluten-free soy sauce or gluten-free miso. For the malt vinegar, use any neutral-tasting vinegar or lemon juice.

Cost breakdown (based on prices from Asda as of 17 Nov. 2023):

Unsweetened soy milk (500 ml): £0.25
Vegan butter (Flora Plant block) (100 g): £0.50
Potatoes (300 g): £0.20
Nutritional yeast (20 g): £0.60
Garlic granules (5 g): £0.04
Smoked paprika (2 g): £0.04
American-style mustard (10 g): £0.04
Malt vinegar (20 g): £0.01
Yeast-Extract (i.e. unbranded Marmite) (10g): £0.09

Total cost = £1.77
Cost per serving (1/4 of the recipe) = £0.44

Nutrition