Since following a predominately vegan, whole-food/plant-based lifestyle, I’ve had to get creative with some of my favorite foods. I’ve always loved queso — hey, I’m a Texan — it’s in my blood! So when I had to give up dairy (due to some health issues), I was so excited to learn about vegan queso.
If you’re new to the vegan world, almonds and cashews are a great ingredient to use in order to make things creamy. I use them in dips, today’s queso, and many soups.
Now you might be skeptical of this “faux” queso, but I promise you, it’s SOO good! It’s hard to replace real queso, but sometimes I actually think I like this recipe even better. It’s full of protein and really good for you, so if you’re a clean eater, this is the recipe for you.
Spicy Cashew Queso
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup raw cashews (unsalted, not roasted)
- 1/2 cup almonds
- 3/4 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk) *add a little more milk if queso seems too thick*
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder *add more to taste*
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder *add more to taste*
Instructions
- Slice red pepper into large chunks, de-seeding
- Once the pepper is sliced, throw all ingredients into a Vitamix (or other high-powered blender)
- Put the top on the Vitamix. Starting from the #1 setting, slowly work your way up to the 10 setting on the Vitamix. You might need to use tamper to push all the chunky ingredients into the blade.
- Keep on high (setting #10) for 6 minutes 15 seconds. This ensures the queso will be smooth, hot and ready to serve.
