In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I’ve decided to update this dairy-free cauliflower queso recipe. It’s a chef-created dip or sauce with delicious cheese-inspired flavor, creamy texture, and a spicy kick. You’ll love it with tortilla chips, dolloped on tacos or burritos, drizzled on Mexican-inspired bowls, and even as a key ingredient in cheesy enchiladas.
Dairy-Free Cauliflower Queso Recipe that’s Light & Creamy
This vegan cauliflower queso recipe was originally shared with us by McCormick, but was created by chef Kevin Vetter. He uses a unique combination of basic ingredients to create this delicious infusion of flavor that’s far lighter than your average cheese dip or cheesy sauce. We’ve got more details on the ingredients and options below.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Natural Ingredients: This is a whole food-based recipe!
- Full Flavor: The blend of spices creates a very well rounded taste.
- Special Diet Friendly: It suits almost any dietary need, including gluten-free, paleo, and keto.
- No Soaking Needed: The small amount of cashews in this recipe are cooked to make them soft.
- Low Fat: Cauliflower gives this vegan queso body while keeping it relatively light.
- Adjustable Spice: See the tips below for mild, medium, or hot queso.
- Versatility: Keep it thick for dipping or thin it to use as a dinner sauce.
Mild, Spicy, or Hot Cauliflower Queso
Chef Vetter uses a combination of fresh jalapeno, salsa, and hot sauce to give this dip well-rounded spice rather than just heat. If you want a milder dip, use mild salsa, skip the jalapeno, and add hot sauce only to taste. On the contrary, go ahead and use the whole jalapeno if you want more heat. If you don’t have all three ingredients on hand, feel free to omit, if needed, or use a little more of the other spicy ingredients to compensate.
More Ingredient FAQs
- Nutritional Yeast: Can I omit the nutritional yeast? If you don’t have any dietary issues with it, I would use the nutritional yeast. If you need to omit it, the sauce should still be tasty. It just won’t be quite as cheesy. If needed, add a little more salt for pungency.
- Coconut Milk: What is full-fat coconut milk? It is the regular coconut milk sold in cans. Don’t use lite canned coconut milk, and don’t use the drinkable type of coconut milk beverage sold in cartons.
- Coconut Milk: Do you have a coconut-free option? I would use cashew cream. For this recipe, that means increasing the cashews to about 1 1/3 cups, and adding 1 cup water, plus additional as needed.
- Cashews: What are raw cashews? Use plain unroasted and unsalted cashews.
- Cashews: Can you suggest a nut-free option? You can substitute sunflower seeds for the cashews. They will have a more prominent taste, but should still work.
Special Diet Notes: Dairy-Free Cauliflower Queso
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, peanut-free, vegan, and vegetarian. It also might suit some paleo and keto diets.
For soy-free, vegan cauliflower queso, use a soy-free miso. There are some made with barley, rice, or chickpeas.