Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce

Name: Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 2 tbsp Water From A Jar Of Pickled Jalapenos; 1 ½ cup Soy Milk; 1/3 cup Vegan Butter (or Olive Oil); 1 tbsp Flour; 1 tbsp Tapioca Starch; 1/2 cup Nutritional Yeast; 2 tbsp White Miso Paste; 1 tbsp Garlic Powder; ½ tbsp Smoked Paprika

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This Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce is gooey, sharp, and a little smoky. Perfect on tacos, nachos or as a dip with corn chips. It only takes 15 minutes to make and much tastier than any store-bought option. A delicious cheese alternative that even non-vegans will love.

A hand lifts a thick, creamy orange sauce from a glass jar using a wooden stick.

How to make vegan cheese taste good

Before I went vegan, I was a cheese lover through and through. I’d spent some time in France in my teenage years and it had conditioned me to truly appreciate every kind of cheese, and the smellier the better. Roquefort, camembert, brie and blues were my love language. I’d even considered having a cheese tower at my wedding instead of a regular cake! So you can imagine how many years later when I went vegan in 2019, I was, quite frankly, horrified by most of the vegan cheese options in the supermarket. They were at least double the price of dairy cheese, tasted like coconut and barely melted. So a few months later when lockdowns hit in 2020, I started experimenting with making my own vegan cheeses at home. And I didn’t just limit myself to making the basics – I went into full vegan cheese hyper fixation mode. I was making cheeses in oil, in brine, curds, sauces, and even looked into buying a wine fridge to properly age vegan specialty cheeses. There were cheeses hanging from the kitchen sink in cheesecloth, fermenting in the fridge and aging on the benchtop. Around the same time I also started learning the art of sourdough and had several batches of starter ‘pets’ that were fed on my window sill every day. My husband, Steve, joked that one day he was probably going to be greeted by a sentient cheese in the kitchen.

It was through the process of a lot of trial and error, that I realised to recreate cheese well, you had to consider the purpose of the cheese. Was it to add a sharp cheesy flavor like parmesan? Or is a stretchy, melted cheese the priority? Because the way you make a good vegan cheese will be completely different depending on the outcome you’re looking for.

In the case of this nacho cheese recipe, it’s one that I’ve re-worked several times. This latest updated recipe (May 2025) is my best version yet and is also featured in my cookbook, Cosy Vegan. It is a thick sauce, replicating gooey melted cheese. It does not solidify and melt like dairy cheese, but you’ll find all the familiar flavors here to get that satisfying cheesy hit.

Ingredients

Here’s a shopping list of everything you’ll need to make your own gooey vegan nacho cheese:

Pickled jalapenos (you will use the brine in the jar, not the actual jalapenos. See substitutes if you don’t like spicy food)
Unsweetened soy milk
Vegan butter or olive oil (either works but vegan butter is a bit richer)
All-purpose flour
Tapioca starch (important for that stretchy cheese-like pull)
Nutritional yeast (essential for cheesy flavor)
White miso paste (for cheesy flavor)
Garlic powder
Smoked paprika

The full list of ingredients including measurements is in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Instructions

A ceramic jug with a blue rim filled with a white liquid on a pale surface.

Step One: Mix the soy milk with the jalapeno water and let it sit for a few minutes to thicken.

Foamy, pale liquid bubbling in a stainless steel pot on the stovetop.

Step Two: Melt the vegan butter or olive oil in a small pot, then stir in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes.

A mixture of red and yellow powdered ingredients and white liquid in a saucepan.

Step Three: Add the tapioca starch, nutritional yeast, miso paste, garlic powder, and smoked paprika.

Top half shows a thick, cooked orange mixture; bottom shows it thinned with added liquid.

Step Four: Whisk to form a paste, then slowly add the thickened soy milk mixture. Whisk continuously to prevent lumps.

Smooth orange sauce filling the bottom of a pot, evenly blended.

Step Five: Turn the heat up and simmer until the sauce is thick and stretchy.

Golden orange sauce being poured from a pan into a glass jar with a metal clasp lid.

Step Six: Serve right away on nachos, tacos, or as a dip.

Substitutions & Variations

Jalapeno brine can be swapped for apple cider vinegar if you are sensitive to heat.
Soy milk can be substituted for most other unsweetened milks. Just keep in mind that the viscosity and flavor will be slightly different. I don’t recommend using coconut or rice milk as they will impart too much sweetness and flavor.
Tapioca starch is what gives this cheese its signature stretch. If you can’t find it in your local supermarket, try online or at your local Asian grocer. In a pinch, you can use cornstarch, but it won’t have quite the same gooey effect.
Smoked paprika can be omitted for a milder, cheesy flavor that’s still full of umami.
Garlic powder can be replaced by a minced clove of fresh garlic. Add it with the vegan butter (or oil) in step two of the recipe and cook for 1 minute before adding the flour.

Storage

Store leftover nacho cheese sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat gently on the stove or in the microwave, stirring occasionally. If the sauce thickens, add a splash of soy milk or water to thin it out.

Expert Tips

Using jalapeno brine adds a touch of heat and sharp kick to this nacho cheese sauce that makes it extra delicious. Pick up a jar of sliced pickled jalapenos and drain some of the water (brine) inside to use in the recipe. You can top up the jar with a splash of water to keep your jalapenos fresh and submerged.

FAQ

Can I use a different plant milk?

Yes, any unsweetened plant based milk will work. I prefer soy because it has a very creamy consistency that is ideal for cheese.

What if I don’t have tapioca starch?

Tapioca powder is what gives this recipe a stretchy consistency like real cheese. If you don’t have it, try using cornstarch instead, just keep in mind it won’t be quite as cheese-like.

Can I double the recipe?

Definitely! Just keep an eye on the simmer time—it might take a minute or two longer to thicken when making a bigger batch.

Serving Suggestions & More Recipes

I love this recipe with on tacos, burritos or my Loaded Nachos with sour cream (an exclusive recipe in my cookbook Cosy Vegan). It would be a great addition to my Freezer Breakfast Burritos.

If you’re feeling inspired and want to try other vegan cheese recipes, then some of my tried and tested recipes are my creamy savory tofu ricotta (great as a high protein spread in sandwiches, or in lasagna and stuffed shells), easy cashew parmesan for sprinkling on pasta or salads, or tangy tofu feta.

A wooden stick lifts a thick, creamy orange sauce from a glass jar.

If you try this recipe I’d love to know what you thought of it! Please give me your review in the comments below or tag me on Instagram @glowdiaries___ so I can re-share it to my stories 🙂