Creamy Dairy Free Cashew Queso

I LOVE dairy! I do, but my digestive system gets pretty upset with me when I indulge in it too much. I’m kind of an all or nothing girl. So, when I do eat dairy, I eat too much and then… regret it… immediately. So when I found some pretty healthy vegan queso products at the grocery store I was super happy. In the past, many of the vegan versions of my favorite dairy products have been either not so tasty or filled with junky ingredients. I’m happy to say that some of the vegan products out there have come a long way. However, they are still pretty pricey and you do still need to be sure to read those food labels. So, I came up with my own vegan queso dip to help me keep my food clean AND stick to my grocery budget.

This dip is made with a cashew base which makes it nice and creamy. I have found that I really like the texture of cashews when making any faux dairy products. I prefer it to coconut (which tastes far too coconuty for my liking), or soy which I avoid if possible.

I love this dip with veggies, or on top of salads. I also top refried bean dip with it when I make my family Mexican chicken bowls. And of course my kiddos love it with organic chips. So good!

Here is how I make my home made creamy vegan dairy free queso dip.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cashews
• 3/4 cups filtered warm water
• 1 TBS apple cider vinegar
• 1 TBS your favorite healthy salsa (preferably no sugar or citric acid added)
• 2 TBS nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp sea salt We buy ours at Thrive Market.
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika (you could use regular but I love the flavor smoked gives it)
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• pinch red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Soak your cashews in filtered water with a tsp of sea salt for a couple hours
2. After soaking you cashews rinse them off and place them in a food processor.
3. Blend cashews until it’s super smooth like a nut butter.
4. Add all your dry ingredients, water, and apple cider vinegar and blend thoroughly.
5. Make sure to scrape off the sides and bottom of the food processor in order to get any clumps of cashews off the sides and mix into the liquid.
6. Continue to blend until there are no cashew chunks.
7. Add salsa and blend just enough to mix (not chop) up all the salsa.
8. Pour your queso into an air tight container. I love to use mason jars. I also use a mason jar funnel to make sure not to spill.
9. Store in the fridge.
10. Enjoy!

I’m not entirely sure how long this lasts in the fridge. Our family eats it up pretty quickly. I’ve never had it last more than a week.

Let me know if you have any comments or questions in the comment section below.

Oh, and for those of you counting macros.

One serving (about 2 TBS) has:

86 calories

5 grams of carbs

6 grams of fat

3 grams of protein

*Some of the above links are affiliate links.  Click here to learn more about affiliate links.