Name: Vegan Cauliflower Cheese Sauce with Fries
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 16 oz cauliflower, cooked (frozen or fresh); ½ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (see note 2); ½ cup nutritional yeast (see note 3); 2 tbsp tahini, optional; Juice of 1 medium lemon; 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar; 1 tsp garlic powder; 1 tsp onion powder; 1 tsp sea salt; ½ tsp turmeric, optional; ½ tsp agave or sweetener of choice, optional; ¼ to ½ tsp paprika; ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, optional; 4-6 large Russet potatoes, cut into fry shapes (peel if desired); Seasonings if you want

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This ultra creamy Vegan Cauliflower Cheese Sauce is crazy delicious, so easy to make and packed with nutrients. Put it on homemade fries, pasta, other veggies, chips, or anything you like.

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This ultra creamy Vegan Cauliflower Cheese Sauce is crazy delicious, so easy to make and packed with nutrients. Put it on homemade fries, pasta, other veggies, chips, or anything you like.

Hey Internet, you’ve probably figured out I really like cheese. I mean, I make all these nut-free vegan cheeses, and I have like 4 mac and cheese recipes on my site…

So, when I had the idea to make a cheese sauce out of cauliflower, I was really excited but knew I had to put it on something other than pasta.

Thus my vegan cheese fries were born. Dang. These are SO GOOD.

No matter what you put it on, this vegan cauliflower cheese sauce is absolutely delicious.

But let me guess the burning question on your mind right now… Does it taste like cauliflower?

The answer is NOPE!

While it’s the main ingredient in this sauce, you can’t really taste the cauliflower because there’s all these amazing flavors from spices, richness from a little tahini, and a great balance of acid (vinegar/lemon juice). You’re gonna love it.

Plus, this sauce is super easy to make from fresh or frozen cauliflower. Just steam it until it’s fork tender (fresh) or heated through (frozen), pop it in the blender, and add the other ingredients.

Pour it on homemade potato fries (I’ll note how I made these oil-free in the recipe below in case you’re interested), pasta, chips, more veggies, or whatever you want and enjoy! It also makes a little over 2 cups so there’s plenty to last a few days (or a very hungry husband).

Despite the vegetables, this versatile sauce is kid-friendly, making it a serious kitchen hero. Check out my list of vegan kid-friendly recipes or my list of 50+ vegan snacks for kids!

Alright, let’s make this easy and delicious vegan cheese sauce.

What You’ll Need

It may come as a surprise, but you’re gonna need some cauliflower. It doesn’t matter if you use frozen or fresh.

I used 16 oz of frozen cauliflower for this. If using fresh, use about 2 ½ cups of cut florets (you can use a large amount of the stalk, too. Save the leaves for a stir fry!

You could also swap the cauliflower for boiled potato and carrots if you’d like, but this is a vegan cauliflower cheese sauce, m’kay?

So, what else do we put in it?

To blend, I used an unsweetened non-dairy milk. Any will work.

For ultra richness and creaminess you could use canned coconut milk, but I just used regular from the carton non-dairy milk.

So whether you’re soy-free or nut-free or what have you, any unsweetened non-dairy milk will be fine.

Next up, I did want to add a little bit of richness so I added a few tablespoons of tahini. It’s totally optional though, so don’t feel you have to. Note you don’t need the tahini if you’re using coconut milk.

And instead of tahini you could use a neutral nut butter like cashew, or a neutral oil if you normally cook with it.

The main thing that adds cheesiness in this recipe is the nutritional yeast. If you don’t like nutritional yeast, you can up the spices and it will just be a nice savory sauce (not cheesy) OR you can add in some store-bought vegan cheese shreds (about the same amount, a half cup).

As far as spices go, I used a few: garlic powder, onion powder, salt, turmeric (mostly for color), a pinch of cayenne pepper (optional), and paprika. Feel free to play around with the spices to your own tastes.

I tweaked this recipe a lot -- good thing it was so easy to make -- and found that the combination of fresh squeezed lemon juice and apple cider vinegar tasted the best. But feel free to just use one or the other if that’s what you have on hand.

Finally, I’ve been reading a lot about flavor combinations and recipe development. A great way to balance a flavor profile like this one is just a touch of sweetness.

So, a half teaspoon of agave (or maple syrup, or sweetener of choice) doesn’t seem like much in all this, but it does do a surprisingly good job of bringing all the flavors together.

How to Make Vegan Cauliflower Cheese Sauce

First, prepare your cauliflower. If using frozen, follow the directions on the package to reheat--I put my frozen cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl with a couple tablespoons of water and microwaved for 5-7 minutes (about 7 minutes for me; my microwave is so ancient it doesn’t have a turntable…). If using fresh, cut the cauliflower into manageable pieces and either steam or boil it until fork tender. Either way, drain the cauliflower before adding it to the blender.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust according to your preferences. Too thick? Add a little more non-dairy milk.
Use as you like! The sauce should be still warm from blending the hot cauliflower, but if not, you can heat it up in a pan or the microwave pretty easily.
To make oil-free fries to serve with it: Peel (if you want) several large Russet potatoes and cut into fry shapes. Oven method: arrange fries on a lined baking sheet a half inch apart and bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit (218 degrees Celsius) for 30-35 minutes, flipping halfway through. Air Fryer method: add fries to your air fryer basket and cook at 400 degrees Fahrenheit (205 degrees Celsius) for 20-25 minutes, shaking the basket every 5-10 minutes. Of course, you’re welcome to use oil, seasonings, etc. as you like.
Refrigerate leftover vegan cauliflower cheese sauce in an airtight container and reheat in a microwave or saucepan. Can also be frozen in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.
Fun tip: add some vegan chili on here for chili cheese fries!

More Awesome Vegan Sauces

Sauces are fantastic as a vegan. Learning to make my own sauces are one of the major things that helped me transition to being vegan, since you can throw them on just about anything and it’s a meal (grains, pasta, potatoes, etc.).

You’d be surprised how many sauces have animal products in them, or even just a lot of sugar, oil, and preservatives. Here’s some of my favorite homemade sauces.

Anything Else?

As always, I hope you love this recipe--I know I do, and Mr. Zardyplants does too.

This vegan cauliflower cheese sauce is:

Cheesy
Rich
Lush
Savory
Satisfying
Customizable
Low in fat
Secretly healthy
And great on fries, pasta, chips, veggies, or anything!

Let me know in the comments below if you make this recipe or tag me @Zardyplants on Instagram so I can see your beautiful recreations! If you tag me on IG, I will share your post in my stories :)

Also, one quick request: if you love how this recipe looks or tastes, please leave me a 5-star rating and a nice comment–ratings help more people find my recipes which helps me keep providing them! Thank you!

<3 Liz

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