Shelli McConnell
Shelli McConnell graduated with a bachelor of science in consumer food science and a minor in journalism from Iowa State University. She began her career as a home economist in the Better Homes & Gardens test kitchen before moving into an editorial position within DotDash Meredith. She has since freelanced for 25 years and has served as an editorial project manager for many books and magazines, including three editions of the Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book. She has also developed thousands of recipes for publications including Forks Over Knives magazine; Eat This, Not That!; Diabetic Living; Better Homes & Gardens; The Magnolia Journal; and more. McConnell loves to entertain and inspire, so when she’s not in her office, she’s usually in her kitchen. Find her on LinkedIn.
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Comments (210)
This stuff is absolutely amazing! I’ve made pant-based queso sauce before with raw cashews and although it was good, it wasn’t nearly as good as this – plus the cashews are much more caloric than rolled oats. It truly tastes like you just melted a block of cheese. My only question is how you came up with the color shown. Mine was a much darker color, almost like an orange red. Of course that was due to the roasted red peppers. Not sure how your color came out the way it did unless you used roasted orange peppers. Just curious. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
What can the red pepper be substituted for?
By far my favourite vegan cheese like sauce, and my second favourite has 3/4 cup cashews per similar quantity, so happy to find a low fat version for more regular use. Kids loved it too, including one who hates peppers in any other form than raw.
I just made this and was amazed at how good it is. Am going to have it on a large potato with sauted onions, mushrooms, red pepper stripes and steamed broccoli. I am so looking forward to supper tonight. I made it with only 1 cup water as I make way too much for 1 person.
Is the recipe missing a comma between 1 and 7, or is it a 17oz jar of roasted red peppers?
It’s one 7 ounce jar.
Recipe calls for one 7 ounce jar of roasted red peppers…
If you can get some Canadian measuring tools they generally have both measurements. We switched to metric while I was in school (long ago). And I use both. Does that make me bilingual?? Also if I need to convert ounces to ml as for canned goods I just ask Siri and she tells me. Canned goods are similarly sized enough that it doesn’t matter. But in all fairness a big company like FOK should be providing both to a world wide audience IMOP.
What kind of hot pepper sauce do I use? I don’t know much about hot pepper sauce
I didn’t have hot sauce so I used Sriracha sauce and it turned out great.
I would use standard issue Tabasco for this recipe.
As much as you want?
Finally found a recipe that didn’t require cashews, although I like them—but not in every recipe. One new favorite queso recipe just added!
I tried this recipe for the first time – it was delicious! I made some mashed sweet potato and pour the vegan queso and it was delightful! Since this batch made a lot, I am going to use over veggies, rice, etc. Wonderful recipe!
Wow! I made this exactly per the recipe for the Super Bowl and it is delicious! Super creamy and great flavor. Definitely as good or better than any store bought queso, vegan or not.
Wow Sue! That sounds delicious. My mom was just telling me about this recipe, I’ll have to try it!
I live in Germany and have only found roasted red peppers in oil or vinegar (the vinegar made the queso very bitter). Are the roasted red peppers in this recipe in a brine or..?
Thank you so much for your replies. I did try the grilled bell peppers from Freshona – this was the bitter variant. I found another recipe that called for fresh bell pepper. Fantastic. I will try this recipe again though only with bell peppers that I have grilled in my air fryer.
Maybe just drain and rinse them, then add another 1/4 cup or so of water?
Hi Marie-Louise, I recently moved to Germany from the US. I found the brand Freshona of Paprika-Schoten gegrillt at Edeka. These would definitely work in this recipe.
I used Trader Joe’s Fire Roasted Red Peppers. They are in water and vinegar and the recipe wasn’t bitter at all.
They are in water. Could you roast some fresh red bell peppers? I would add them to the rest of the ingredients and after blending, add more water to get the right consistency.
I really like the flavor – quite different from the cheese sauces made from raw cashews (which I also like). I excluded the hot sauce, and it still had some tang from the roasted red peppers. Substituted arrowroot for the corn starch – the result wasn’t very thick, but it was pourable and worked.
A few tweaks and this also makes a lovely Béchamel Sauce for potatoes, steamed veggies, etc.
I followed all the steps the same, except I left out the peppers, vinegar and hot sauce and added one big clove of garlic, black pepper, a little nutmeg and an extra splash of nut milk instead – it’s fantastic! 🙂
Great idea! TY for sharing!
If you took things out then you didn’t follow exactly the same.. ha
Holy Hannah!! I like to go through the annual tradition of telling my husband that I am going to try a new cheeze recipe, he rolls his eyes, I try, he makes fun of me, we have a good laugh and then we have the annual “throw it in the bin” party. It’s like tradition! Well, happily that tradition came to an end tonight…I actually had to limit intake so we have something left for Super Bowl!! Thank you, thank you, a million thank yous!!
Okay, update, I couldn’t stay out of it. I warmed it up and poured it over baked sweet potato and steamed broccoli… OMG!!! It was JUST as good on day 2!
Oh, man! This is GENUINELY GOOD! Cheesy texture; tastes just like the “real” queso from the grocery store! 10/10, will make again! I personally can’t have too many oats, as I am allergic, but this works for my husband! I used the cider vinegar option, and Tabasco’s Chipotle hot sauce.
Great cheese sauce. I like a spicier and smokier cheese sauce, especially for chili or tortilla chips. I added some garlic and a bit more onion, as well as some guajillo chile and smoked paprika to bolster the flavor. It definitely hit the queso spot.
I roast my own pepper in season and freeze to use for this. I love it.
I would drain the water from the jar of bell peppers as it’s full of salt. Best to add a pinch of salt instead. Not tried this yet but definitely will!
What can I use instead of oats? I have an allergy to them. Chickpea flour?
Barley, millet, or wheat berries would all have the desired effect.
How much boiling water?
2 cups boiling water
Best. Sauce. Ever!
Mine was thin however I was able to thicken it by cooking.
Really good. I was surprised. Very cheesy tasting. Going to put mine over broccoli.
Kind of don’t think you have to finely chop the onion if you’re gonna blend it for five minutes on high.
Wow! I’ve made this recipe a few times now. Just had to substitute tomato sauce for the roasted red peppers. Delicious!
This was great! A bit thin at first, but thickened with standing. I might add 1.75 c water or a touch more corn starch for next batch. We used ours as a crudité dip and with tortilla chips, beans and roasted veggies for football Sunday, and my usually picky, anti-veggie family gobbled it right up. Thank you! Will definitely make this again.
I got this recipe originally from a “Forks Over Knives” magazine. My kiddo, who is very picky, loves it!
There isn’t any water in the recipe ingredients but the instructions mention adding water? Maybe a typo? Thanks for clarifying 🙂
2 cups of boiling water added to the blender right before the final 5 minute blend 🙂
I think that’s for when you reheat it after it’s been stored in the refrigerator.
Wow! Usually me making any kind of cheese sauce goes like this: make recipe, taste, throw away.
THIS is the game changer! Thank you!
Lovely, but my sauce was much darker. I used red bell roasted peppers. Is that the same what you used? I live in the Netherlands. So sometimes the translation is difficult. Also oz, never heard of it.
But thank you fot these free recipes, really I love your site ❤️
Thanks for the explanation, I think I used to much red Bell pepers
Mieke, oz is the abbreviation for ounces in the US. There are 8 ounces in one cup. The jar of roasted red peppers would be slightly less than one cup or 8 ounces. I hope this helps.
I just made a double batch and I used it on my steamed veggies and potatoes and it is awesome…can I freeze some..
Tasted good, but was too thin. Any suggestions to thicken it up for the second day? I’d like to add it to some pasta.
bring it to a boil over low heat; it will thicken right up
I am going to try adding less water. Someone suggested 1 3/4 c.
How much boiling water? It is missing.
How many total carbs? Thanks!
It says 2 cups in the written instructions.
What are the nutritional factors such as protein, carbs, etc?
Hi Marchita, we have not included calorie/nutrition information in our recipes to avoid encouraging nutrient tallying and calorie counting, which can create more problems than they solve. With a whole-food, plant-based diet, it’s recommended to eat until comfortably satiated instead of counting calories. The higher water and fiber content of whole plant-based foods allows our bodies to more accurately gauge how much food we need to eat.
If your condition requires you to know specific nutrient information, we recommend entering our recipes into online nutritional software, like Cronometer or MyFitnessPal.
You may find Jeff Novick’s “The Caloric Density Approach to Nutrition and Lifelong Weight Management” article helpful: http://www.forksoverknives.com/the-calorie-density-approach-to-nutrition-and-lifelong-weight-management/
This is the one I have been used for awhile, I believe Jill McKeever came up with the original recipe.
You were close. Jill McKeever stated in her video that she got the recipe from Dr. McDougall and adapted it. It is a very tasty recipe!
How many calories?
Hi Stephanie, we have not included calorie/nutrition information in our recipes to avoid encouraging nutrient tallying and calorie counting, which can create more problems than they solve. With a whole-food, plant-based diet, it’s recommended to eat until comfortably satiated instead of counting calories. The higher water and fiber content of whole plant-based foods allows our bodies to more accurately gauge how much food we need to eat.
If your condition requires you to know specific nutrient information, we recommend entering our recipes into online nutritional software, like Cronometer or MyFitnessPal.
You may find Jeff Novick’s “The Caloric Density Approach to Nutrition and Lifelong Weight Management” article helpful: http://www.forksoverknives.com/the-calorie-density-approach-to-nutrition-and-lifelong-weight-management/
Wow! Always on a cheese replacement quest sine I became vegan. This satisfies my nacho-taco quest cravings! So good!!!! Lol my dog loves it too
Please be mindful that dogs cannot eat onion. Its terrible for their blood, its a cumulative allergy, no shaming just informing.
Wow! Delicious. We love our dairy. Our whole family loved it! I finally found a plant based recipe EVERYONE will eat. Thank you FOK!
Please don’t feed it to your dog, onions are toxic to dogs.
Would it make a huge difference to omit the onion :)? I cannot eat onion but I’m wondering if it will impact it drastically consistency-wise
Thanks for the recipe xo
itd be amazing if ppl could leave comments that arent just attacking other ppl and countries over prefered systems of measurements :o(
Just a suggestion to people asking for metric, another option would be to measure it out how the recipe has it and use your scale to estimate measurements for a future time you make it. I do this with recipes, we aren’t baking in this recipe so weight isn’t AS important. This recipe, if you use what is basically given, can be adjusted to taste preference. I don’t use as much water because I don’t want it very watery, I like more of a “queso from the jar” texture.
Since I keep track of all my recipes in an app, I just measure as I go when using cups and other measurements.
Best
Hello, I use LoseIt. Works very well for me. I make “Recipes” on their and use them frequently to recreate prior meals.
Could you share the name of the app you use to track recipes? Thank you in advance
Hi there! Love this recipe, and want to continue making it as consistently as possible. In the future, would you consider including your recipes a weight-in-grams & the metric system conversion? I often try and use a conversion method, but it would feel reassuring coming from directly from the source. Cooking by weight has created such a consistent outcome for me!
No matter what, thank you so much for these free recipes! Working to maintain a whole-foods, plant-based diet has been life-changing for me, and recipes like this are a big help along the way.
Thank you for your comment, Mike! Your message has been received by the team 🙂 So glad you know you’re enjoying the free WFPB recipes!
I add a squeeze of lemon to give it some tang.
Please provide metric units for all recipes.
I’m an American but the metric system is so much easier to work — it feels like going backwards to deal with the imperial system again.
Metric units applies to everyone in the world so your traffic can only increase.
For those who are ignorant of the metric system and its benefits — literally try it.
You won’t want to go back because it makes no sense to continue with imperial measurements. It makes clean up so much easier. You don’t dirty as many dishes and utensils. And, because you weigh your ingredients — there’s never any ambiguity as with volumetric measuring.
Finally, for those Americans with a misguided allegiance to the imperial system: I hate to let you down hard but it’s British. It’s literally a British invention. It’s not American. Maybe learn to let go of a system that was never American to begin with.
Despite the criticism of the criticism stated above the point about increasing traffic and making the recipes more accessible to a wider international audience is a good one. Most people from ‘metric countries’ are mystified by gallons, quarts, pints, pounds, ounces, cups, tablespoons and teaspoons and their respective fractions. It requires a lot of research to find out what is what and what is how much. Some of the measures of capacity can even convert into different metric measurements depending where you look them up (US and Imperial systems differ). If you’re not familiar with these units you’re sometimes not even sure whether you’re supposed to measure volume or weight (it’s a problem I have with ounces especially). Decades ago when I visited the US I bought a set of measuring cups and spoons. If i didn’t have those, I probably wouldn’t even attempt many of the recipes.
I don’t care whether it’s American or British, whether I’m misguided or not, that’s what I use, I like it, and prefer it, has always worked for me. You do your thing and I’ll do mine, and see no need to criticize others for their preferences.
Thank you for your comment, Andromeda! It has been received by the team.
What could we sub for the nutritional yeast?
Hi Peg, I am allergic to the yeast, and have learned to make my own recipe. The idea came from “The Gourmet Kitchen on the web, posted Dec. 13, 2019. I went further and grind already roasted chickpeas and buy dried miso powder. I mix them together in an approx. 1:3 ratio. I make a lot and keep it in the freezer. Its working well for me.
Just leave the nutritional yeast out or substitute with a variety of other spices.
This is the best I have ever made. It can be used for so many dishes. The whole family just loves it.
Hi – Metric units too please. The USA isn’t the only country!
I often find recipes on non US sights that provide measurements in the metric system. I would never demand the author use another measurement system. I appreciate all the work the author did to create the recipe. It is minimal effort on my part to convert the measurements to another measurement system. We should be thankful these recipes are for us all to share no matter the measuring system because they measure up to a great plant based meal!
You can easily convert the units using Google. I believe forks over knives is based in the US, which would explain the method used.
Try this
You can swap out cornstarch for Xanthan gum if you prefer. Xanthan is great because it doesn’t require heat to thicken. Also Agar-Agar can be used if you want a firmer cheese that you can pour into a bread pan or similar and then refrigerate. You can then slice it for “cheddar cheese slices”.
This has become my go-to cheese sauce on the grounds it’s super easy to make. I don’t have to peel anything, the only thing I have to boil is water, and I have most of the ingredients on-hand and the ones I don’t are cheap to purchase. I do swap out the chopped onion for 2 tsp of onion powder to make it even easier on me. I will either measure out the roasted red pepper on a scale to get about 7 oz or I’ll just used a drained 10 to 12 oz jar.
This doesn’t taste anything like queso though! It reminds me more of Cheeze-Its (or at least vegan versions of them) than queso. It doesn’t make it any less delicious!
I’ve put it on pasta, chili, numerous rice dishes, and fries.
I’ve found it heats up the best when I can drizzle it on something and then just zap it in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute. For most dishes I can do that, but for pasta, I’m better off using it when it’s fresh or just slowly heating it up and stirring frequently.
Highly recommend!!
It’s great!!! It is eaten every day at our house! I’m hoping James can let us know how much agar-agar he used.
The best cheese sauce we have found since going vegan, bar none. I like that it does not have coconut milk, which I don’t mind but for the extra calories,. My substitution was to fire roast a red pepper, medium to large size, over the burner and put it in a covered bowl to steam. Remove the char and seeds and use the whole pepper and whatever liquids came from it. One less bottle to recycle.Poured over white beans sauteed with onions and garlic for “Cheesey Beans” enjoyed by the whole family
Please don’t convert to the metric system. Keep the current system of measurement. I live in the United States and do not plan to leave the country.
Why couldn’t they just include both?
Yes please FOK include the metric units as well so that everyone around the world can follow the recipes just that little bit easier. This is a global website Patricia, not just created for Americans and it’s pretty weird to demand that they don’t do it because you won’t be leaving the USA anytime soon. Extremely selfish.
My daughter has to stay away from nightshades (ie peppers, cayenne, chili, etc), are there any suggestions on what I could replace the red peppers with? I will try to replace the hot pepper sauce with ginger but I’m not sure about the red peppers. I could add a little liquid smoke and maybe some zucchini as the replacement has anyone tried modifying to account for nightshade free?
i love this cheese sauce.. i will be making it often.. i am so glad it freezes well… thank-you.. oh by the way i added white beans to mine.. it is so creamy!!!
Someone asked if they could freeze this. Yes, I have successfully frozen batches of it and reheated it. However, it does get thicker when reheated, so you’ll have to adjust it with water.
Taste is awesome but it’s really watery! Any recommendations???