This is nach-yo average cheese, you guys! It’s a dairy-free “cheese” that also happens to be nut-free, gluten-free, paleo, and vegan. It has an unbelievably cheesy flavor. Yes, it ACTUALLY tastes like cheese. You will love this sweet potato nacho “cheese” dip because not only does it have that cheesy nacho flavor, it’s also easy to make and calls for a simple list of ingredients.
My sweet potato “cheese” dip is so good that my junk food loving husband finished the leftover nacho cheese that I was saving for myself! How dairy, right?! (dairy = dare he…)
What’s cool about this dairy-free cheese is that it’s nut-free. I feel like most dairy-free cheese is almost always made with cashews. Don’t get me wrong; I love a good dairy-free cashew cheese (I have a recipe for cashew paneer). But I think it’s nice to have a nut-free “cheese” sauce for those who might have a nut allergy. If you can tolerate nuts, you might be thinking that’s nacho problem… BUT a cashew-less cheese is good for everyone because the cost of cashews can definitely add up.
Yep. I’m going to try and insert the word nacho in this blog post as much as possible. If you haven’t caught on by now, I’m a pretty cheesy person. I’m probably definitely more “eye-roll and groan” funny than I am “actual funny.”
Want to know a secret? At one point in my life (high school), I honestly wanted to be a standup comedian. Everyone around me told me my jokes were no gouda and basically crushed my dreams. In hindsight, I’m glad they did because I would have been awful. I’d be THAT comedian that got booed off the stage. Or worse, maybe people would throw tomatoes at me. Although, if they were organic tomatoes, maybe I wouldn’t mind? AH. See? I did it again. Made a bad joke. You can roll your eyes at me now.
You want to know another secret? When I used to eat processed food, one of my favorite guilty pleasure snacks was from 7-Eleven: nacho chips, smothered in cheese sauce, chili and jalapeños. This is where I’d enter an embarrassed emoji smiley face (if I could figure out how to download emojis to my laptop). I kind of want to try and re-create that now…
The possibilities for how to use this sauce are endless. Keep it simple and serve it with tortilla chips (recipe for those will be on the blog tomorrow! Update: here they are!). Or add some salsa for a spicy cheese dip! Add a little hot water to thin out this sauce, and then pour it overtop zoodles or paleo-friendly pasta or on a baked potato! Add some broccoli and coconut milk to this, and you’ve got broccoli and cheese soup!
Think that a “cheese” dip made out of sweet potatoes is nacho thing? Don’t knock it until you try it!
And finally. I’m sorry for how cheesy this post was. I hope you’ll keep reading my blog ’cause I’m really fondue ya.
Omg. I can’t stop…
Ingredients
- 3 cups diced sweet potato approx. 14 oz
- 1 ½ cups water
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon tapioca flour
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne adjust to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon mustard powder
- Crushed red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Add the sweet potatoes and water to a saucepan. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft. Allow this to cool.
- Pour the contents of the saucepan into a blender along with the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
- Add the sauce back to the saucepan over medium heat and stir for 3-4 minutes until hot.
- If you want a thinner consistency, add water to the pan and stir.
- Serve warm.
Tameka Laglie says
Hahaha… Your maturity was never a question
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Some say immature, some say young at heart, lol!
Sarah says
Hey Ashley,
I made another batch of this last week and had the idea to use it in your vegan mac & cheese recipe after realizing that I didn’t have pumpkin thawed. It came out really well with a bit of extra nooch added! I have some frozen now and am going to try it again after it thaws. Such a versatile recipe 🙂
My Heart Beets says
Sarah, that’s awesome and so great to know! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you – and in the mac and cheese recipe!
Kayley says
This is only good if you add something like 9 or 10 more teaspoons of ACV to cut the sweet potato flavor, way more garlic and some more salt, mustard powder, and nutritional yeast. 3 cups sweet potato and only 1-1/2 c liquid is too much sweet potato for this recipe. You get a paste, not a cheese consistency, and my Vitamix was having a hard time blending it. I also added chili powder and put this over noddles and some mixed veggies.
Carol says
This is delicious! I added a bit of cumin and used my immersion blender. Yum!
My Heart Beets says
Carol, that’s awesome! I’m so glad you liked it 🙂
Rena Hale says
Don’t use canned sweet potatoes I guess or maybe I used too much potatoes. I had high hopes for your cheese recipe .i kept doctoring it up with more of the spices and it is just ok. I will try to use it as a base in a vegetable soup.
Any suggestions as to what ALL I do wrong. I will try to make it again with high hopes. I would appreciate any and all suggestions.
My Heart Beets says
I haven’t tried this with canned sweet potatoes – I wonder if that’s the issue?
Shandora says
Has anyone ever tried this sauce over she’ll noodles? Like using it as a Mac n cheese sauce?
Cynde Route says
This is great! I was in a hurry, so I microwaved the sweet potatoes, scooped them out, and added water to the blender. It was so good, my daughter said there was no reason for even non-vegans to use regular cheddar!
My Heart Beets says
Cynde, that’s so great to hear!! 🙂 Glad you and your daughter liked it so much!
Whitney says
I hate giving bad reviews but this is terrible. You can’t mask the sweetness of the sweet potato. I’ve been vegan for years and have tried lots of cheez recipes, this is probably my least favorite one.
My Heart Beets says
I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t like it… you can try using a regular potato next time? I was trying to give an option for those who don’t want to use potatoes.
kayley says
Add more ACV, spices, and nutritional yeast. I was able to cut the sweet potato flavor down doing this (and also adding at least another cup of water.
Nicole says
I think You are hilarious and i think you would’ve been a great comedian. Never give up on your dreams xx
My Heart Beets says
lol thank you, Nicole!
Cindy Shoemaker says
Do you have to have the nutritional yeast in this? And appx how many sweet potatoes? Thanks so much, can’t wait to try it!
Stephanie says
This was a perfect recipe, thank you so much! I adjusted slightly to suit my tastes (halved the nutritional yeast & vinegar) but otherwise it’s definitely a keeper. 🙂
My Heart Beets says
Hi Stephanie, I’m glad to hear that! 🙂
Greg says
Amazingly good
My Heart Beets says
Glad you liked it!!
Allison says
Does anyone have any ideas how to omit or replace the tapioca starch? My son’s allergic to it and arrowroot starch.
Thanks!
My Heart Beets says
Allison, I think it’ll turn out just fine even if you leave it out.
Deborah Bening says
I didn’t have tapioca so used quinoa flour instead. I doubled the amount of nutritional yeast and topped some steamed vegetables with it (brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini and asparagus. I think it would be good over potatoes too.
Airyfairycelt says
I used to say gleefully MINE!
Well this has tempted husband into new terrirory and he loves this as well now, I think I will have to make bigger batches. We like ours over pasta, or drizzled cold over salad too so…. We do get a bit carried away!
My Heart Beets says
So happy to hear that!! 🙂
Brittany says
How do you think this recipe would do as a cheese sauce on pasta?
Nicole says
That’s what I’m about to find out.
Rachel says
This is a great idea. I ate a dish at a vegetarian restaurant that had somehow replicated the sweet potato into a cheese element. It was not puréed though. That dish was my inspiration for my search. Glad I found you, I laughed and laughed at your jokes. Thanks for the recipe can’t wait to try it.
My Heart Beets says
I’m so glad you found me too! And that you like my jokes! Hope you love the recipe, Rachel 🙂
Kay says
I love your adorable sense of humour. I am a new vegan and will be happy to try this recipe.
My Heart Beets says
haha thanks Kay! 🙂 let me know what ya think of it!
Emma Heagy says
Hi Ashley! This is Emma, the girl that did your makeup the other day at Sephora! The funniest thing happened. I went back home to my mom’s house for the night, and my brother made dinner, which included a cheese dip. This morning, I was telling him how I did your makeup, while we looked at your blog and he said this was the recipe we had for dinner! How weird is it that I met you, and ate your recipe accidentally in the same day? Anyway, it was delicious and I can not wait to go through your vegan recipes and try them all! It was wonderful meeting you the other day, I hope to see you more often!
My Heart Beets says
Emma! What a small world!! I hope you try my other vegan recipes and let me know what you think!! It was so nice meeting you too – I’m sure I’ll see you at Sephora soon!!
Sarah says
Hi Ashley,
I just made this along with your tortilla chips- both were excellent! In regards to Amanda’s comments, I often wonder if nutritional yeast (and other dietary tricks of the trade ) are often too far left of central for those without dietary restrictions. Luckily, my fiancee is the perfect barometer as he can eat everything, but often has to taste-test my gf/df recipes.
He is already a complete convert of your naan and naan-inspired recipes, and when I put the dip down in front of him, he gobbled it up. There have been recipes with nutritional yeast that he hasn’t liked in the past (can’t recall where or when those were from), but that seems to be the fault of the recipe, not the yeast. I think he ruined his dinner tonight eating most of the chips and dip, but given the nutritional ingredients, I am okay with that 😉 I suggest Amanda try out a few nutritional yeast recipes to see if it is simply that ingredient that she can’t handle, so she can avoid those recipes in the future. I don’t like cilantro, not matter how hard I try..food is a strange beast for sure.
Thanks again for all of your recipes!
My Heart Beets says
Hi Sarah, I’m so glad you and your fiancee liked this recipe!! Thank you for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂 And yes, I completely agree – not every recipe or ingredient is for every person!
Amber H. says
I want to start out by saying that I consider myself an adventurous cook and often find myself loving a dish I never thought I would actually enjoy. I LOVE using vegetables to make fun and unusual dishes but there are some combinations I just don’t enjoy. This dish is one of them. I made this recipe the other week and I’m so sorry to say it but I am not a fan. I couldn’t stand the way it smelled or tasted. I know that some things taste better the next day so I put it in the fridge over night and warmed it up the next day and tried it again. Still couldn’t stand the taste or smell. This was my first ever recipe using nutritional yeast and it could just be that I don’t like the taste or smell of nutritional yeast. I know that this is not a great review giving you 5 stars but I hope you still post it. I always read recipe reviews before deciding to make a dish for the first time. I would not recommend this to someone trying out nutritional yeast for the first time. I may try making this again in the future to see if my taste buds have come around to it. Unfortunately I think my taste buds are just in love with the real thing and have a hard time adjusting to a non-dairy version.
Amanda says
I agree. The recipe tasted so much of yeast that even with fresh veggies, taco meat, and salty chips (we aren’t paleo, just trying out healthy recipes) the yeast taste still overpowered everything.
I am curious why it called for so much yeast? Is there a reason or could i cut it down from 1/2 cup to maybe a tablespoon?
Mary says
Amazing! I have 2 sons, 20 and 18, who unfortunately were not raised eating paleo. They have generally been great, but they approached this recipe with extreme skepticism, suggesting that we would have to add some goat cheese or something. We’re all hooked!!! We made it a little more spicy, and it truly does taste like nacho cheese. So yummy!!
My Heart Beets says
Mary, wow that is so awesome!! I’m so glad you all liked it!!
Mary says
Update: months later, and this is our go-to dip base. We always add a little sirracha and often add other ingredients like spinach, sausage, etc. Still so yummy!
My Heart Beets says
Mary, I’m so happy to hear that!! thanks for the update 🙂
mimi says
love your recipes!! so yummy making this tonight thanks for sharing.
please share your coconut naan pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! im begging!
thanks!
My Heart Beets says
Mimi, awesome!! Let me know what you think of the recipe 🙂
leena says
Hi Ashley! Do you know or think it would freeze Ok?
My Heart Beets says
Hi Leena! I haven’t tried freezing this so I’m really not sure… if you try will you let us all know?
leena says
I just popped some in the freezer as an experiment! Since my husband doesn’t like sweet potatoes, it was going to be up to me to finish it all & I wasn’t sure I could do it in enough time.. how long does it store in the fridge? I will let you know if it seemed to freeze well or not, once I thaw it to use it again 🙂
Your site is so fun!! I love the name of it – very fun & creative! ..as are your recipes & commentary!! You are absolutely gorgeous & photogenic as well!! Congratulations on everything you’ve built & I wish you much continued success 🙂
My Heart Beets says
Leena, thank you!! You’re so sweet to say all of that 🙂 I’m so happy to have you as a reader!!
The sweet potato cheese should last in the fridge for at least 2-3 days. Can’t wait to hear how it thaws! Hope you love it 🙂
leena says
Ok, so here’s the follow-up on whether it freezes well.. yes, it does! It’s been in the freezer since August, so almost 3 months. I transferred it to the fridge a couple days ago & heated it up in a pan on the stove today – it’s as good as new! 🙂
My Heart Beets says
Awesome!! That’s so great to know, thank you Leena!!
Rachel says
I wonder if this would work with canned sweet potato… #lazy
My Heart Beets says
Rachel, I’m sure it would work! If you try, let me know 🙂