Behold, a dairy-free cheese recipe you might want to make often. Tastes authentic without making you feel bloated from dairy. Finally.
It’s a spicy queso, with the main ingredient cauliflower, emulsified with cashew butter or just cashews. Like most contemporary recipes my source calls for fresh. If you’re cooking the plant to death, why not use at-least-as-nutritious frozen?
Here’s the original recipe: Instant-Pot Vegan Cauliflower Queso of Epicurious.com. The Instant Pot is an electric pressure cooker, programmable with other functions such as a setting for Crock-Pot style slow cooking. I prefer a stove-top pressure cooker (Fagor currently). Conventional cooking instructions follow in the Notes.
- 10-12 oz. package frozen cauliflower
- 1 medium carrot (3-4 oz.) carrot cut into thick rings
- 1 cup water
- Heaping 1/4 cup raw cashew pieces OR 1/4 cup (2 oz.) cashew butter (see note)
- 1 10 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chiles, such as Rotel, including liquid, mild recommended over “original”
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (see note)
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp salt, to start with
- 1/2 teaspoon taco seasoning OR chili powder
- 1/8 tsp chipotle powder or red pepper flakes, optional
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1/2 cup chopped sweet bell pepper, green or red (or orange or yellow)
- 2 teaspoons dried onion
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 teaspoon dried minced garlic
- 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro OR 1 Tablespoon dried cilantro OR dried parsley
- Place cauliflower, carrot, raw cashews (if using) and water into pressure cooker. Bring to pressure and cook 5 minutes. Use the quick method to release pressure.
- Add if using the cashew butter. Puree thoroughly with an immersion blender, food processor or jar blender.
- Return the vegetable puree to the pot, off the heat source. Stir in remaining ingredients. Taste and adjust seasonings, such as more salt or more spicy heat. Simmer gently, uncovered, 5-15 minutes to reduce to thickness desired. Or add just a little hot water to thin to desired consistency.
Makes about 4 cups. Serve as cheese sauce or dip, warm or room temperature — it won’t congeal like dairy cheese dip. Keeps a week or two covered, refrigerated, then stir and perhaps warm before serving. This also freezes well.
Practical Notes
The carrot is there for color and texture. As it is naturally sweet, use this amount or a bit less, or the dip will be too sugary.
A pressure cooker is not necessary. Simmer the two vegetables (and raw cashews) in the water in a saucepan, covered, for 20-30 minutes, checking occasionally to add a little water. Or, combine the cauliflower, carrots and cashews with 1/2 cup water in a 4 cup microwave-safe bowl, cover loosely so steam can vent and microwave 5-7 minutes, stopping to stir once or twice. The veggies should be cooked to where they are mushy and the nuts soft.
Cashew butter (in stores near peanut butter) has a good neutral flavor, yet any nut better is fine except peanut butter. That’s a bizarre pad thai sauce so no. Raw almond butter works well. The oil naturally in nuts and nut butters provides the cheese mouth-feel. [2023 update: Name brands of cashew and almond butter now have added palm oil, probably for the no-stir luxury. So cooking a heaping 1/4 cup of cashew pieces with the cauliflower and carrot (thus no need need to soak the nuts first) is a great alternative.]
Nutritional yeast enhances flavor something like Parmesan cheese, so is a classic vegan pantry staple, found increasingly in major supermarkets. It usually is packaged like dried Parmesan.
Dried onion flakes and garlic (powder, flakes, granules etc) are called for as they’ll help thicken the queso. Don’t use onion powder; it’s bitter.
Consider who’s eating, like those with sensitive tummies or kids, when considering the peppery elements — and that you truly can’t undo too much spicy heat. I prefer Rotel mild over original for this reason. You might want to wait to the taste-checking step before adding more taco or chili powser, chipotle or red pepper then do so pinch by pinch.
Boost protein by adding 1/4 cup dry red lentils, sorted and rinsed, to the cauliflower, carrot and cashews to now 2 cups water then cooking by pressure, stovetop or microwave.
Whiny Footnotes
Vegan burgers, vegan versions of anything in the meat-centric world usually won’t fool conventional diners. Having fake meat or dairy is a tricky part of the animal-free cuisine. Analogs thus strike me as missing the point.
Still, store-bought (check ingredients as some have dairy or egg or lots of chemicals) or homemade veggie burgers (best is this recipe of Mark Bittman) with an easy side like a salad or steamed broccoli, green beans etc. is our quickest home dinner.
I miss cheese the most. It or eggs usually grabs my 5 percent cheat allowance. Well-stocked groceries carry vegan cheeses. They’re not cheap and their similarity to dairy cheese varies. Homemade cheeses are fun, with recipes usually requiring soaked cashews whirled in a sturdy blender.
Cashew or almond butter should be an ideal substitute for soaked and well-ground soaked cashews or almonds, although this is not seen in many published recipes. Maybe this is because quality varies a lot, and nut butters with only essential ingredients tend to be expensive. But the best blenders are expensive, too.
There are no consistent differences between definitions of “vegan” and “plant-based.” Call them interchangeable and relax!
Frozen cauliflower florets are the way to go. The quality is superb as fresh heads are hit or miss (those hidden brown spots), and cheaper, too. Hey, in this recipe you’re cooking the veggies to death, to a soggy state anyway. That said, with attentive cooking in other recipes I get good caramelization with such frozen cruciferous plants and frozen green beans as well.
