HOMEMADE VEGAN QUESO (GLUTEN FREE)

Vegan Queso – this nacho dip is creamy and “cheesy”, but dairy free, oil free, and made from whole foods. Grab a bag of tortilla chips and get to dipping!

This Vegan Queso has been a long time coming. You all know I have a chips and salsa addiction. What you don’t know is that I used to have a chips and queso addiction too. I’ve made a few versions of nacho “cheese” dip at home that I have definitely enjoyed, but they didn’t necessarily remind me of the jarred kind I used to love.

I have been wanting to make my Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese sauce into a nacho cheese sauce for some time now and I finally did it! It’s creamy, cheesy, smoky, a little spicy, and so darn delicious!

Vegan Queso - this nacho dip is creamy and "cheesy", but dairy free, oil free, and made from whole foods. Grab a bag of tortilla chips and get to dipping!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups cubed butternut squash (peeled and seeded before cutting into cubes - or you can buy a package of pre-cut squash)
• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 3-4 tbsp non-dairy milk (or water)
• 1/4 cup your favorite salsa (I like Trader Joe's Salsa Authentica)
• 1 4.5 oz can diced green chiles

Instructions

1. Add the cubed butternut squash and cashews to a pot and cover with water by at least an inch. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to med, and simmer for about 20 minutes until the squash is fork tender.
2. When the squash/cashews are done, drain and pour into a high speed blender.
3. Add the lemon juice, smoked paprika, nutritional yeast, salt, and turmeric. Blend until completely smooth, adding the non-dairy milk (or water) 1 tbsp at a time to get things moving if needed. You'll need to use the tamper to push the ingredients to the bottom. Don't make it too thin! Use just enough liquid to get it all blended. I used about 3-4 tbsp.
4. Once it's completely smooth, pour the mixture into a pot (you can use the same one you used for the squash/cashews) and stir in the salsa and diced green chiles.* Gently heat the queso over medium heat until thick and bubbly.**
5. Serve immediately with Tortilla Chips.

Recipe Notes

*Alternately, you can add the salsa and green chiles to the blender with the other ingredients. I like my queso to be a little bit chunky, so I just stir them in.

**This queso is good cold as well, but I prefer it warm.

Recipe Source:veggieinspired.com

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