This Vegan Cauliflower Queso is a dairy free version of your favorite cheesy dip! Made with roasted cauliflower, diced green chiles, spices, and nutritional yeast for that “cheesy” flavor. It’s super creamy, and even more delicious! Perfect for snacking on with chips, or drizzled over salads and burrito bowls!

Welcome to TACO MONTH on Hungry by Nature! All month long, I am going to be sharing recipes to get you ready for Cindo de Mayo – aka the best holiday ever because holidays dedicated to margaritas, tacos, chips and guac, tortillas, and QUESO cannot be beat.

I figured what better way to start the month than with one of my favorite appetizers for any Cinco de Mayo party…

VEGAN CAULIFLOWER QUESO

How insanely creamy does that look?! And all without the dairy.

After my first and second Whole30, I realized that dairy is not my friend. I can handle small quantities of hard cheese, but definitely not soft and definitely not queso quantity.  And ever since then, I have been recreating that ‘cheesy’ flavor in any way possible.

You only need a handful of ingredients for this silky-smooth vegan cauliflower queso!

Cauliflower: Roasted with onions in olive oil and taco season, this cauliflower becomes the base for our queso.

Cashews: Specifically, soaked cashews! I like to soak mine for at least 4 hours, but you can soak them overnight, or, you can pour boiling water over them and soak them for 15 minutes or so, and you’ll get the same result. The longer you soak, the creamier and dreamier the queso. Especially if you don’t have a high powered blender!

Nutritional yeast: I love Bragg’s nutritional yeast to add a cheesy flavor to any dish. All you need is a 1/2 cup to make this queso!

Taco seasoning: The taco seasoning is where you can really make this recipe your own. Use your favorite store bought variety (I love Trader Joe’s! but it does contain some sugar so just be careful if you are doing a Whole30) or you can totally make your own blend too. 

Green chiles: Feel free to use mild, spicy, or a mix of both in this recipe depending on the amount of heat you can handle! I opted for mild because of the spice in the taco seasoning.

Can you believe how creamy that is?!

The recipe works best if you have a high powered blender – this is the one I have – but if you soak your cashews for long enough, a regular blender should do the trick!

I love to garnish with sliced jalapenos for extra kick and a little cilantro. I’m literally salivating just thinking about how insanely good this vegan cauliflower queso is!

I really can’t get over how much I love this. It’s SO freaking good. It’s killer on burrito bowls, taco salad, and obvi with chips. And I miiiight have had some by spoonful too.

Vegan Cauliflower Queso

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• Author: Ellie
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 30 min
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Category: Appetizer, Snack
• Method: Oven, Blender
• Cuisine: Mexican

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Description

This Vegan Cauliflower Queso is a dairy free version of your favorite cheesy dip! Made with roasted cauliflower, diced green chiles, spices, and nutritional yeast for that “cheesy” flavor. It’s super creamy, and even more delicious! Perfect for snacking on with chips, or drizzled over salads and burrito bowls!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

5 cups cauliflower florets (1 medium head of cauliflower)

6 cloves garlic, whole and peeled

1 medium yellow onion, sliced

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons, divided – (I love Trader Joe’s)!

1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for at least 4 hours or overnight

1 1/4 cups unsweetened almond milk or vegetable broth

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

2–4 oz cans diced green chiles

1/2 cup water

Optional toppings: sliced jalapeño, fresh cilantro, finely chopped red onion, cherry tomatoes

Serve with tortilla chips and bell peppers.

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the cauliflower, garlic, and onions on baking sheet, making sure the veggies are in a single layer. If your veggies overlap, spread between two sheets. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons taco seasoning. Toss to coat.

Roast until golden and tender, about 30 minutes, tossing once halfway through.

Transfer the roasted vegetables to a blender, and add in the soaked cashews, vegetable broth, nutritional yeast, salt, and remaining 1 Tablespoon taco seasoning. Blend until very smooth, adding water a few tablespoons at a time as needed to reach your desired consistency. (I added about 1/2 cup water for a very thick queso.)

Transfer to a saucepan and heat over medium until warm. Stir in the drained chiles. Taste and add salt of additional taco seasoning if desired.

Serve in a bowl as a dip or drizzle over chips with your desired toppings for nachos!

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Keywords: queso, taco, vegan

Make sure you pin this recipe for Cinco de Mayo!