Vegan Chipotle Carrot Queso
This dairy-free, vegan queso gets its yellow hue from carrots, its โcheesyโ flavor from nutritional yeast and smoky spiciness from chipotle peppers.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
Yeah, I would be skeptical of this cheese-less queso if I were you. Queso literally means โcheeseโ in Spanish. This dip is a dairy-free, cheese-like fraudโa fraud that this dairy-eating queso lover thoroughly enjoys. That counts for something, right?
I was highly skeptical of vegan queso until Ali convinced me to give Fรผdโs vegan nachos a chance. She said theyโre the best nachos in town, vegan or not, so I agreed to meet her there for lunch. While I would still argue that the worldโs best nachos feature golden, bubbly, baked cheese (and are cooked to order at The Library Bar and Grill in Norman, Oklahoma), Fรผdโs nachos were pretty good.
They were good enough that I happily polished off my half of our heaping plate of nachos and left with a belly full of chips and โcheese,โ like I would if presented with real cheese nachos, except this time I didnโt need a nap afterward. Bonus point for dairy-free queso.
Even after sampling those nachos and a couple other vegan โquesosโ since, I had no intention of posting a recipe for one. Then I tried Ali Maffucciโs (sheโs another Ali) recipe for chipotle carrot mac and cheese in her new book, Inspiralized. I was hungry and the recipe sounded interesting and easy enough. It was really tasty, too. I got hooked on the creamy chipotle-carrot mixture and after playing around with it a few more time, realized it would make a great queso. I mean, โqueso.โ
If youโre going to give cashew-based queso a shot, youโll need to adjust your expectations first. Beware that it wonโt taste quite like cheese and it wonโt have that cheesy stretch-and-pull effect to it. It will be creamy, however, thanks to the cashews, and cheese-like in flavor, due to nutritional yeast. Mine includes cooked carrots, which lend a golden color and a light sweetness that is balanced out by spicy, smoky chipotle peppers. Try it and let me know what you think!
Vegan Chipotle Carrot Queso
This dairy-free, vegan queso recipe gets its authentic yellow hue and slight sweetness from carrots, its โcheesyโ flavor from nutritional yeast and smoky spiciness from chipotle peppers. You can serve this queso with chips as a dip or drizzle the mixture over nachos, burritos, enchiladas or any other Mexican dish with complementary flavors! This queso turns out best in a high-powered blender, so if youโre not sure your blender is up for the job, be sure to either soak the cashews or use an alternative method (available in the recipe notes). Recipe yields 3 cups queso.
Ingredients
Queso
- 3 large carrots (about ยฝ pound), peeled and chopped
- 1 small white or yellow onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 ยฝ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours if not using a Vitamix or Blendtec blender (see notes for quicker alternatives)
- 1 ยผ cups vegetable broth
- 3 to 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes, to taste
- 1 to 3 tablespoons adobo sauce (from canned chipotle peppers)
- ยฝ teaspoon ground cumin
- ยฝ teaspoon salt, more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Recommended mix-ins and garnishes
- 1 small can green chilis, drained
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped pickled jalapeรฑo peppers (optional, for a vinegary kick)
- Big handful cherry tomatoes, chopped
- Handful chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Warm the olive oil in a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Add the chopped carrots, onions and garlic and a dash of salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are translucent and the carrots are tender, around 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
- In a blender, combine the cashews, vegetable broth and carrot-onion mixture. Add 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast, 1 tablespoon adobo sauce, ยฝ teaspoon cumin and ยฝ teaspoon salt. Puree the mixture until it is completely smooth.
- Taste and adjust as necessaryโadd more nutritional yeast for more cheesy flavor and/or more adobo sauce for more heat. (I find that the heat mellows out with a short rest and that it tastes less intense on a corn chip than by the spoonful.) Season to taste with salt and black pepper and blend again.
- Next, warm the queso, either by using the soup function on your fancy-pants blender until itโs sufficiently heated or by pouring the queso back into the pot and warming it over medium heat, stirring frequently, until warmed through.
- Stir the drained green chilis and optional chopped jalapeรฑos into the mixture. Pour it into a serving bowl and top with chopped cherry tomatoes, cilantro and more jalapeรฑos, if youโd like. Dig in!
Notes
Recipe roughly inspired by/adapted from Inspiralized: Turn Vegetables into Healthy, Creative, Satisfying Meals by Ali Maffucci.
Where to buy chipotle peppers in adobo sauce: Look for small cans of chipotle peppers in the Mexican aisle of well-stocked grocery stores or specialty Mexican groceries. (You can freeze the leftovers of the can in a small freezer-safe bag for later!) If you canโt find canned chipotles, try seasoning the queso to taste with ground chipotle powder or a smoky/roasted/chipotle-flavored hot sauce.
About those cashews: Soaking the cashews makes them easier to blend and to digest, so thatโs a good option albeit a time-consuming one. My Vitamix had no trouble blending the raw cashews as-is. If you donโt have time to soak the cashews and donโt have a fancy-pants blender, try this instead: Heat the broth on the stove until itโs pretty hot and pulse the dried cashews in the blender until they resemble a fine powder (stop before they turn into cashew butter). Then, pour the broth into the blender and blend until smooth (beware of hot steam escaping from the top of the blender). Proceed by adding the carrot mixture and spices as directed.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionistโs advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
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Oh myyyy goodness! I had the hardest time finding a queso that I liked, but carrots in queso? LOVE it. I canโt wait to try this Kate.
Love this! Look at how creamy that queso is! I canโt wait to surprise my mom with this recipe โ Iโm sure sheโll love this healthier take on one of her favorite treats!
As an ardent cheese lover, my initial reaction to vegan โquesoโ is WHY? BUT the more I think about the sweetness of the carrots, the flavor of the nutritional yeast, and the kick from the adobo sauce, the more I think this is something I want to try. And I really like the fact that I can eat a whole plate of nachos with this sauce and not feel gross and bloated afterwards. Anytime nachos are in front of my face, that usually happensโฆ..:)
Iโm with you, Trisha, I love me some queso! This is really just a creamy, flavorful dip that I really, truly enjoy. Bet you would, too!
My husband and I have been mostly vegan (I call it โfleganโโflexible vegan) for 3 1/2 years now and have experimented with various โcheeseโ sauces. The husband has been adding a dash of red miso to our โcheeseโ sauce to give it that slight umami kick and it transforms the sauce. You donโt want to add so much that you taste miso. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Flegan, thatโs great! I just mixed in a bit of my white miso, canโt decide which way I like it better! I may have added a bit too much.
I will definitely be working Flegan into my vocab!
This looks delicious! I have only ever had vegan queso made with butternut squash. Seeing as I adore carrots, this will have to be made soon.
I bet this one will taste similar! Hope you love it!
Me gusta!
I love cashew and yeast โcheeseโ sauce โ itโs surprisingly tasty! I bet the addition of carrots and chipotle peppers make it even more delicious!
Wow! This sounds amazing! I am going to try it ASAP. I actually have most of the ingredients already except for the tortilla chips, Grrr!
Perfect! Hope you love it!
Love this idea! I make a pretty stellar cheese sauce (if I do say so myself) using orange bell peppers for sweetness and I bet carrots work the same way! Canโt wait to try this.
I bet so! Great idea, Alex!
This queso makes me want to dip all the things! Yum!
holymolyโฆ I wish I hadnโt discovered this while I was hungry lol. It looks incredible!! x
this looks like a creamy non-cheesy cheese dip I could wrap my head around! And it actually looks like the velveeta dip i know and (not so secretly) love but am grossed out by. Canโt wait to try it.
Haha, it does, now that I think about it! I canโt resist a big dollop of Velveeta dip when I find it at partiesโฆ
Now that is one sexy vegan queso! I actually just cooked with chipotle peppers in adobo for the first time a few weeks ago and couldnโt believe what I had been missing. They are loaded with flavor! I bet they make this queso taste even better than it looks!
Right?! So good. Iโve been on a chipotle kick lately.
Making this Friday for our fun dinner night along with your super yummy roasted cauliflower/lentil taco :)
Great idea! Hope you all love it!
Yum! What a wonderful recipe; Iโm looking forward to trying it out. Thanks for sharing!
Thereโs no harm in trying new ways to make old favourites! This sounds like a great different version of nachos. Nachos for the nights when you know you need to eat vegetables instead of cheeseโฆ
I canโt wait to try this queso, sorry, โquesoโ sometime soon. Might have to invite some girlfriends around though because my man is very specific about me not messing with his nachosโฆ.
Whoah, this is blowing my mind! It looks so darn good.
Hey, quick question,
My friend brought me a huge stick of Tamarindo from Mexico. I have no idea what to do with it. Ideas? Thanks.
Iโm sorry, Iโve never cooked with fresh tamarind! You might find some ideas here: http://www.finecooking.com/item/5801/tamarind
I have never used nutritional yeast flakes before. I went on Amazon to buy some and I was wondering if Braggโs nutritional yeast seasoning was the same thing. It looks more manageable sized to keep in my spice cupboard:)
Yep, same thing! That container is bigger than it appears on Amazon (much bigger than a regular spice jar). You can also find it at health food stores, sometimes in the bulk section.
Yum! Looks delicious!
I love your food blog! Please check out mine and letโs connect?
swedishcavegirl.blogspot.com
Made this last night along with your cauliflower lentil tacos. My husband, upon having a huge dollop of queso on a chip, says โTrish, you out-did yourself on this one.โ My oh my this was fabulous. Never expected it would turn out this flavorful! Kate, I used to first go to vegan sites as my go-to websites, but lately youโre my go-to website. You typically always have a โmake it veganโ option which I love about you. Anyway, I digress :) This queso will not disappoint! Make it and youโll be in vegan queso heaven! Thanks, Kate for another hit!!
Youโre the best, Trish! So glad you two enjoyed my tacos and queso. Hooray! Hope youโre having a great weekend.
Made this โquesoโ this week. So good! I love the savory โcheeseโ indulgence, without hating myself or my digestive system afterwards.
However, as a Texan, I found it necessary to more than double the amount of chipotle peppers. This dip was approved by vegans and meat-eaters alike. :)
Thanks, Melody! Two thumbs up for adding more spice. You are my kind of girl.
I am a self proclaimed cheese addict, but I daresay I could get down with a big bowl of this and a plate of chips!
Thanks for the recipe. This is now my go-to queso recipe.
The viscosity and mouth-feel are great, as well as the colour. Thereโs a real difference, as well, when you add the jalapeรฑos, cilantro and tomatoes. Really, really good (great, actually).
The cashews dial up the richness really nicely.
One observation: the sauce could almost be served as a rich and creamy carrot soup if its thickness were reduced a bit (another 3 cups of stock?), and it does come across as sweeter than cheese sauce because of the soffritto.
Thanks again.
Thanks, AC! Delighted to hear that you appreciate the queso. Yes, I think you could turn this into a soup. It can also be used as a pasta sauce, although Iโd probably hold off on the jalapeรฑos for that and maybe add a splash of vinegar instead.
Just made it again and was thinking that it could work as a mac & cheese sauce, with or without jalapeรฑosโas well as working with other pastas (perhaps with parsnips instead of carrots?)
I made the sauce today with someone who doesnโt have great knife skills and was pressed for time; so we grated the carrots and onion with a box grater before sautรฉing them. I highly recommend this (just be sure not to heat the grated veggies at too high a temperature as theyโll burn more easily when theyโre grated).
So many great ideas! I can confirm that this sauce makes an awesome mac and cheese. Thanks, AC!
I made this last weekend for some dairy intolerant friends and it was a big hit! We had a full taco bar with all the fixings and this sauce was everyoneโs favorite โ even the cheese loving people were happy to keep going back for more. I will definitely be making this again! Loved it!
Wow, thatโs so great! Thank you for letting me know, Grace. :D
This was really tasty! I donโt (yet) own a high-power blender, and even with soaking the cashews had some trouble getting the queso perfectly smooth in my food processor. I also ended up adding more adobo sauce + a whole chipotle, more nutritional yeast, and some extra cumin. The end result โ while not as pretty as yours! โ was addictively good. Iโll definitely be making this again!
Thanks, Kelly! Glad it worked out for you!
I was a little nervous about this one but I was wrong! I am not a vegan and love my cheese but this was good (not cheese but creamy and flavorful). I served it with nachos (yum!) and then I used it on some roast veggies enchiladas. Delicious! Thanks!
Yay, glad we agree on this queso! Your enchiladas sound epic.
This looks insanely mouth watering good! Iโm dying to try some of this!
This looks great but one question my sister has to eat gluten free and says she canโt have the yeast flakes is there any substitute you know of?
Hey Kelly! Braggโs nutritional yeast is gluten free. I canโt think of a substitute. If you omit it, youโll still end up with a creamy, spicy dipโit just wonโt be as โcheesy.โ
Oh my god! Iโm drooling with that recipe and Iโm not even a fan of chipotle!
Just made this. While it definitely does not taste like cheese it is still a delicious and addictive dip. I added a half tsb of white miso to up he creamy and savory factor.
Thanks, Gem!
I followed the recipe exactly and used the larger amount of adobe sauce. Huge hit with my non-vegan husband. He even commented that he doesnโt get tired of the flavour, as with a cheese-based sauce. This will definitely be a standard in our house. Thank you!!!
Awesome! Thanks, Laureen!
Delicious! We soaked the cashews and used our dinky immersion blender, so it doesnโt look as smooth as yours but itโs nevertheless in-cred-ibly good. Thank you for the guilt free treat.
Thank you, Mike!
This looks just delish ! Iโm wondering if you have any ideas on what I could use instead of Nutritional Yeast ? Iโm in France and not sure if I can get it. Iโm not Vegan or Vegetarian so am wondering if any UMAMI adding ingredient would do the trick ? Very creative recipe, thank you :)
Hi Kate, Iโd love to make this as a dip for Superbowl Sunday but my husband is allergic to cashews. Any recommendations for a nut swap?
Love this โquesoโ! My husband went crazy for it. I added some black olives for garnish too. I was toying with swirling in some Rotel tomatoes too. Has anyone tried this?
Oh my goodness! This is amazing! And super easy and quick! Do you think it would freeze well?
Kate, super late to the party but made this recipe tonight for a gameโฆ.SO DELICIOUS! Iโve made other vegan โcheeseโ dips before and have been disappointed โ this is great. You never let us down!
I made this last week and have been eating the leftovers out of the fridge since thenโI canโt get enough of this. This โquesoโ is delicious and a perfect (healthy!) vegan dip. The texture isnโt quite like true queso, but after having avoided cheese for so long I donโt even mind. Thank you Kate!
Youโre welcome, Kenzie!
Hi Kateโฆand cookie!
Made it for tonightโs game. I canโt stop eating and our friends didnโt even get here yet! Awesome queso.
All youโre recipes are delicious!
Cheers!
haha!! May want to double it next time ;) Cookie says hi!
Iโve never felt the need to comment on any internet recipe beforeโฆbut this โquesoโ is INSANELY AMAZING. Every time I make it, I fall in love with it againโฆitโs SO SO GOOD. Weโve made it countless times for different parties and events, and Iโve yet to meet someone who doesnโt like it.
Thank you! Iโm so glad you found it that good.
Iโm not vegan, but was curious about this dish si I made a half batch. I also donโt have a fancy blender but my kitchen aid did just fine. Followed recipe exactly and wish I would have made the full recipe! The creamy cashew and adobo flavor is addicting! Thx again, Kateโฆ
Just made this for the first time, and itโs fantastic! Used it to top my veggie tacos yesterday and break it out again later on for my Girl Gang Friday Night! Thank you!
Thank you for commenting! Iโm glad you loved it, Marla.
This looks amazing! Can it be made the day before and taste just as good?
Hi! I believe others have enjoyed this leftover.