cooking / sauces

Cheesy Sauce

serves about 1 cup · easy

Why This Works

Simmered cashews blend completely smooth, and nutritional yeast plus fermented miso stack up the umami that makes this dairy-free sauce read as "cheesy." It freezes well — double the batch to keep some on hand.

Ingredients

  • ½ cup (60g) raw cashews
  • 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 2 tsp white miso paste
  • 1 tsp rice vinegar
  • ⅛ tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • ⅓ cup (80ml) water, for blending

Method

  1. In a small saucepan, cover the cashews with water. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat 15 minutes. Drain.
  2. Transfer the cashews to a high-powered blender or food processor. Add the ⅓ cup water, nutritional yeast, miso, rice vinegar, turmeric, and smoked paprika. Blend until smooth. If too thick, add water 1 Tbsp at a time.

Notes

  • Store: refrigerate up to 1 week, or freeze up to 3 months.
  • Use it on: veggie burgers, black bean burritos, sheet-pan vegetables, enchiladas, and baked potatoes.
  • Cashew-based, so it carries some richness — a batch works out to about 4 servings as a condiment.