Try this Melty Stretchy Gooey Vegan Nacho Cheese recipe
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup hot water
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 cup raw cashews
- 3 tablespoons tapioca starch (also known as tapioca flour)
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon white miso paste (or other light miso such as chic
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup or agave
- Carbohydrate 10.113438126241 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 6.03264229166667 g
- Fiber 3.59776042698115 g
- Protein 7.27594958338797 g
- Saturated Fat 1.14518060416667 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (113g)
- Sodium 1175.09695833348 mg
- Sugar 6.51567769925983 g
- Trans Fat 0.444511875 g
- Calories 111 calories
Step-by-step
- Soak the cashews for four hours or overnight. Or if you are impatient, just boil them for 10 minutes until soft. Drain before using.
- Add the cashews, hot water, and all remaining ingredients to a blender, and blend until smooth. It will be very watery.
- Pour into a small saucepan and heat over medium-high heat, while stirring. If you don't have a high-powered blender, you may want to pour the liquid through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth into the pot to remove any cashew bits that didn't grind up. This will ensure a smooth cheese texture.
- As you stir, it will start forming clumps, and then all of a sudden it will become a cheesy gooey mass. This takes about 5 minutes. Continue to cook and stir for an additional 2 minutes to make sure it has firmed up completely.
- Use for anything you like! Make nachos, load up a baked potato, make a grilled cheese sandwich, a vegan cheeseburger, stir into pasta for a quick mac and cheese, or whatever you desire.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Standard dairy sauces rely on casein proteins for elasticity, but plant-based alternatives must use starch chemistry to achieve similar behavior. Tapioca starch requires direct heat to gelatinize fully, transforming a watery suspension into a cohesive matrix.
The Role of Starch and Heat
Continuous agitation during the cooking phase prevents scorching on the bottom of the pan. Medium-high heat provides enough energy for the starch molecules to swell and trap liquid within five minutes. Extended cooking for an additional two minutes ensures the raw starch flavor cooks out completely. Standard blenders often leave micro-particles of nuts behind, so straining through a fine mesh sieve guarantees a velvety consistency before the mixture ever hits the burner.Equipment and Texture Control
Soaking raw cashews for four hours softens their cellular structure, though boiling them for ten minutes offers a reliable shortcut when time is limited. Nutritional yeast and white miso paste supply savory depth, balancing the natural sweetness of maple syrup. Storage requires an airtight container in the refrigerator to prevent a rubbery skin from forming on the surface.
