Growing up school lunches were far from healthy. In middle school I often remember getting a chocolate chip cookie (a big one) and a platter nachos with cheese covering the entire pile of chips. That is when my love for nachos began.

I remember craving the salty, creamy cheese sauce in the summers when school was out and the jar of queso just didn’t do it for me so I scouted the area for nachos. I finally found out that K-mart’s little snack shop sold nachos. I frequented a lot that summer although it was never as good as my schools cheese sauce.

At this same time I was dealing with lot’s of stomach aches and skin issues with no idea where they were coming from. It wasn’t until I phased out dairy years later that these pesky issues went away.

After a few years without nacho cheese I began wondering how I could get my queso fix without dairy. After trying many recipes, I pulled together what I liked about each recipe and made it into my own. This queso recipe is tried and true and a beloved sauce in my house.

This queso sauce is great on burritos, nachos, tacos, in broccoli cheese soup, and dipped with home-style fries. If you want everything delicious about cheese sauce minus the dairy, this is a recipe you have to try! Leave a comment and let me know what you did with it!

Cashew Queso

4 servings, stays good in the fridge 4-5 days

1/2 cup cashews (soak over night or boil for 10 min. until soft)
1 chopped medium carrot (boiled soft, save carrot water)
2 tsp miso paste
2 T nutritional yeast
1 tsp of better than bouillon paste (or 1/2 veggie bouillon cube)
2 T salsa
1 Cup water (left over carrot water)
Optional tsp of cumin/chili powder/sriracha or jalapeño

Chop carrot and boil in sauce pan until sauce around 10 minutes.
Drain cashews and add them to blender pitcher along with the carrot, 1 cup of carrot water (or regular water) and the rest of the ingredients.
Blend on high until cheese sauce is very smooth. Feel free to warm up in microwave or in sauce pan and stir in some more salsa. Serve immediately or store in airtight container in fridge for 4-5 days.

If I am making nachos I will bake my own chips instead of always using fried chips. Turn oven on to 400 degrees. Take a stack of corn tortillas and using a pizza cutter or knife cut into triangles and arrange on baking sheet. Bake as is or squirt a little fresh lime and salt. Bake for 10 minutes, or until crispy!