Alright, the big game is coming up! If your home team isn’t playing (or if you’re like us) you might be more interested in the food over anything! This “cheese” dip is a crowd pleaser for non and plant based eaters alike.
Andrew went dairy free almost four years ago right before the Super Bowl and tried a vegan cheese dip recipe on a whim and it was….alright. Most people politely tried it, Andrew politely ate it too. Well, fast forward to now, we’ve both been vegan for about 3 years and we have mastered this recipe! It’s a staple in our dinner rotation and we make it almost every time we have guests come over no matter if they’re vegan or not….and they love it and request it!
It’s all about the miso-Ok, before we start, there’s one ingredient that takes a vegan cheese sauce over the top. MISO PASTE! Whatever you do, don’t skip this ingredient. We’ve tried a handful of recipes without it and the flavor just never gets there. Miso has this parmesan-like flavor to it, its salty and it’s good for you! Yes, it’s a bit pricy, but it lasts FOREVER in the fridge-and if you become obsessed with this dip/sauce like we have, you’ll go through a tub every month.
Miso is a good source of various B vitamins, vitamins E, K and folic acid. As a fermented food, miso provides the gut with beneficial bacteria that help us to stay healthy. Thanks internet!
What you need :
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2 cups raw cashews
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1 1/2- 2 cups plant milk or water
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5-6 tbs nutritional yeast
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3 tbs garlic powder or 2 cloves garlic
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3 tbs onion powder
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4-5 tbs miso
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1 can of Rotel drained
How To:
Soak Cashews- If you’re a planner, soak raw cashews over night in a bowl with water or for at least 5 hours. If you’re like us and can’t think that far ahead, boil the cashews for about 10 minutes until they’re soft. Drain cashews before using.
Add ingredients and blend- Add cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic, onion and miso into the blender. Add about half the plant milk into the blender to start then slowly add in the rest depending on the thickness you want. Blend on a low speed for about 30 seconds then blend on high until smooth.
Taste test– Adjust flavors as needed. We usually like to add extra nutritional yeast and miso for an extra cheesey taste! Don’t be shy, it should have a lot of flavor!
Add Rotel– Drain Rotel and stir in with the cheese sauce. Keep it chunky by not blending. This step is optional, it tastes great without it!
Heat up– It’s great hot or room temperature! Heat it up on the stove over a low/medium heat, stirring occasionally until warm. Place it in an oven bake dish and pop it into the oven at 350 for about 20 min or until warm. Throw it into a slow cooker and let it warm up slowly and stay warm throughout the day!
This is totally optional. We actually rarely do it, because we’re super impatient and it’s delicious as is. However, when we have guests coming over we like to make it fancy.
Our Tips:
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It’s easy to change the ratios depending on the size of your meal or guests, but using less than a cup of cashews makes it hard to blend, at least in our blender.
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Not only is this dip/sauce is so good with tortilla chips it’s great with fajitas, over baked potatoes, broccoli…ooo the options are endless!
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Change it up- this recipe is so versatile, change out the spices, but keep the nutritional yeast and miso.
That’s it! It can easily be made ahead of time and heated up right before guests arrive…Just try not eat all of it before. Once you dip you can’t quit!