A lot of people told me that they could never go vegan because they’d miss cheese way too much and couldn’t live without it. I must admit that I was one of them until a couple of years ago. I was totally happy with vegetarian food, but no cheese?! This sounded kinda crazy to me. I mean how could you live without cheese sandwiches, cheese pizza, and creamy pasta? Well, now I know giving up cheese doesn’t mean you have to miss out on all those delicious flavors. There are so many yummy vegan cheese recipes that are even so much better and healthier than the real thing. Just the other night, we had these vegan nachos with pumpkin queso dip. As a real pumpkin addict, I try using pumpkin in everything these days and it also worked out reeeeeally great in this vegan cheese sauce. It’s super creamy, cheesy (haha! that’s what a cheese sauce is supposed to be, right?), and a little bit spicy.
The recipe for this vegan queso with pumpkin couldn’t be easier. The only thing you need is a good blender, so the cheese dip gets really creamy. I used 15 oz of butternut squash, which is about 2 cups. Of course you can also use canned pumpkin puree, but I think it’s a lot better with fresh pumpkin. To make the pumpkin cheese even creamier, I added 1/4 cup of cashews. I only soaked them for about 10 minutes, but it will make it easier for your blender if you soak them longer.
To give this vegan pumpkin queso dip its cheesy flavor, I added 1 tablespoon of white miso paste, 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast (I could use this in literally everything!!), and a clove of garlic. I also used paprika powder, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. For those of you, who are into spicy cheese sauces, just double the amount of paprika powder or use more red pepper flakes. The nachos we had were a little bit spicy by themselves, so I didn’t go overly crazy with the red pepper flakes. But remember homemade nachos also call for jalapeños and they are spicy too.
Besides the jalapeños, I also added black olives, tomatoes, red onions, red bell pepper, tomato salsa, and of course guacamole. These homemade vegan nachos with pumpkin queso dip are perfect for lazy movie nights. Just snuggle up on the couch, turn on a great movie or even better one of your favorite TV series (I’m totally into The Big Bang Theory right now), and have a bowl of these delicious nachos. Or invite some friends over and share this vegan deliciousness. ;-)
I hope you like the recipe as much as I do. If you give it a try, let me know.
Hope you guys have a great week. Hey it’s already Thursday, so basically the weekend is almost here!!
Vegan Nachos with Pumpkin Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
For the vegan pumpkin cheese sauce:
- 15 oz butternut squash (about 2 cups)
- 1 tablespoon white miso paste
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/4 cup soaked unsalted cashews I only soaked them for about 10 minutes, but soaking them longer will make it easier for your blender.
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 teaspoon paprika powder
- black pepper
- salt
- red pepper flakes
For the nacho bowl:
- 2 green jalapeños, cut into rings
- 1/2 small red onion, chopped
- 1 small red pointed pepper, cut into rings
- 1/4 cup black olives, cut into rings
- 1/2 cup guacamole
- 1/2 tomato salsa
- 1 tomato, cut into small pieces
- vegan nachos
Instructions
- Soak the cashews in water. Bring a medium pot of water to boil. Cut the butternut squash into small pieces and cook them for about 10 minutes or until they are really soft.
- Drain both the butternut squash and the cashews and place them into a blender. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.
- Place the nachos into a big bowl and add the jalapeños, red onion, red pointed pepper, black olives, guacamole, tomato salsa, and tomatoes. In a small pan, heat the vegan pumpkin cheese sauce until it becomes really thick and creamy.
- Pour it onto the nachos until they're nicely covered. Serve immediately.
Pumpkin queso dip sounds totally amazing! Love all the ingredients you used! It looks so creamy and delicious!
pumpkin queso?!?! how delicious is this?!?!?!
This sounds amazing! I have been trying pumpkin in practically everything too, but I would have never thought to make nacho “cheese” with it. Awesome idea! Pinning for later!
Pumpkin queso?! This sounds amazing, Sina! What a creative snack. I think I could munch on this all day long!
Thanks, Gayle! :-)
This recipe could be used for lots of stuff! How much does the butternut squash flavor come through? That’s one of my favorites.
So glad you like it, Maggie! :-) You can definitely taste the butternut squash, but it also tastes cheesy. I love how creamy butternut sauces get, so this is just perfect for nachos! Oh, and it’s one of my favorites too! ;-)
I saw one of your recipes yesterday on a vegan site but can’t find it again. It was for Vegan Butter. I really would love the recipe. I joined your site but still can’t find it. Thanks, Georgie
Hi Georgie,
Unfortunately I don’t have a recipe for vegan butter. Do you mean my Facebook page? Because I regularly share recipes from other bloggers on my Facebook page. So the vegan butter might be from another blogger. All recipes on the blog are my own though. Hope that help! :-)
Well this is brilliant! Pumpkin Queso!?! Such an amazing idea, I can’t get over how creamy it looks! This is possibly the first pumpkin Mexican recipe I’ve seen, so I think you have proven that pumpkin can do it all :) I know it doesn’t seem like I ever eat savory anything, but when I see tortilla chips and Queso I could savory snack all day!!!
Thanks, Natalie! :-) So glad you like it! Oh I absolutely LOVE all your sweet recipes!!! ;-)
I was skeptical about vegan food until my vegan cousins showed me it’s really not that bad! I’ll have to share this recipe with them!
Hi Emily, That’s so great to hear. :-) I totally know where you’re coming from! I’ve been vegetarian for about 8 years, but I always thought vegan food would be totally boring and plain! But it really isn’t! I hope I can convince you with some of my recipes that it can actually be quite creative. ;-)
Ok, apparently I need to get on the vegan cheese train! These look so good, I want them now! And perfect timing of this post because I was watching a clip this morning about why dairy really isn’t good for us (which i already know but a good reminder).
Thanks, Jessie! I’ve always thought I couldn’t live without cheese (I was a real cheese addict!), but there are tons of vegan cheese options and most of them are not only healthier, but also super yummy!! :-)
Wow! so creative! I’m going to need to try this!
Thanks, Aleigh! I hope you enjoy! :-)
I’ve seen a few pumpkin cheeses around, but none of them had me drooling like yours does! And putting it on nachos, yes please!! The color is just amazing and I love all the toppings you added. Load ’em up! Beautiful colors!
Oh my goodness, this sounds so amazing! I love squash and pumpkin in savory dishes, yum!
Omg pumpkin n instead of nacho cheesei could get down with that! This sounds intriguing!
Wow, these look so delicious! I am such a sucker for a good nacho platter and I would devour this!
I would never have considered making a pumpkin quest dip for nachos, but it looks amazing!
Way to be creative!!!
LiveLifeWell,
Allison
Seriously, dairy-free vegan cheeses are basically the best thing ever! Nooch, squash cheeses, nut cheeses….why would you go back to that crappy horrid “real” stuff! Hahahahaha! These look amazing and have me craving nachos!