Have you ever tasted something so good, so exciting, that you did a little dance?  I’m not talking about twirling around to the music blaring in your headphones while you cook.  Or is that just me?  I mean that moment your body dances a jig, of its own free will, from the pure joy of what you just ate.  That’s what happened the first time I tested this Vegan Queso Recipe.  It is everything you’ve been dreaming about, minus the dairy!

Tips & Tricks

We’re all busy these days.  Between kids, work, and school, we want life to be easier.  These tips and tricks are going to let you get your delicious vegan queso on the table with a little less effort.

Make Melting Easier

Melting dairy-free cheese is a bit tricky at times.  The way it is made makes it reluctant to get with the program!  Chop it up finely.  Yes, even pre-shredded cheese.  Tiny pieces won’t resist your efforts quite so much. 

Make Cleanup Easier

Do you want to know what’s great about this queso?  You can make it in one pan cooking up your veggies in the same pan you’ll use to simmer your queso.

Make Reheating Easier

Have leftover queso? The easiest way to reheat it is to put it back on the stove.  Put however much you need into a small saucepan and heat it gently over low heat until it’s warmed through, stirring occasionally.

What You’ll Need

My goal is to keep recipes as simple as possible for you.  Everything that you’ll need is standard grocery store fare.  If you’re dairy-free I’m confident you already have the few specialty ingredients in the recipe in your kitchen.

Fire-Roasted Tomatoes

One of the key ingredients in this Vegan Queso recipe is canned fire-roasted tomatoes.  Why? Using fire-roasted tomatoes makes homemade queso taste gourmet, like something you’d order at a Tex-Mex restaurant.  The charred bits add a deeper, smokier flavor that balances perfectly with the richness of the cheese sauce and the heat of the spices.

Dairy-Free Cheese

We are so blessed to live in a time with a plethora of dairy-free cheese options.  For this recipe you will need shredded dairy-free cheddar.  I love the Violife Just Like Cheddar Shreds.  It is the best-tasting and easiest-melting option I have found.

Full-Fat Coconut Milk

 To make this vegan queso extra rich and creamy, use full-fat coconut milk.  Other dairy-free milks are less thick and would make your dip a bit more watery.

Smart Substitutions

When you live the food-allergy life, making substitutions is par for the course.  The trick isn’t just replacing what you can’t have, it’s finding options that keep your food just as delicious as the original.  The most important step you can take to make that happen is to understand the reason the ingredient is used in the first place, then pick an alternative which fulfills that job.

Tomatoes

You can make this recipe with regular canned diced tomatoes instead of the fire-roasted variety.  The flavor will change, but the texture of the final product will remain the same.  While I haven’t tried it, roasting your own tomatoes and dicing them should also work.  Just be sure to drain off any liquid.

Dairy

Not vegan or dairy-free?  This recipe will work just as well for you.  If you can eat anything, feel free to replace the cheese with regular cheddar and the coconut milk with whole milk.  If you’re lactose intolerant, make sure you get a lactose-free milk option like Lactaid brand milk.

Spices

It is relatively easy to adjust the spice level of the queso.  If you would like to turn down the heat a little, replace the cayenne pepper with sweet paprika and cut it down to half of a jalapeño (or switch to a milder pepper like a cherry pepper/pimento).  Want to kick things up a notch?  Swap out the jalapeño for something like a serrano pepper or chile de arbol (or if you like it really hot, jump way up to a habanero).

Enjoy Your Vegan Queso Tonight

You’re going to love this queso so much you might just do a little dance of your own!  Make a dip, top your tacos, or turn it into a spicy mac and cheese.  When you make it, be sure to post a picture and tag me on Instagram at @fearlessfaithfulmom!