If you have leftover cauliflower, this is the recipe for Vegan Cauliflower Cheese Sauce is for you. An easy sauce that you can make in almost an instant to dress up vegetables, whole grains, and protein foods like tofu, legumes, and tempeh.
What Diet Stage is the Vegan Cauliflower Cheese Sauce Compatible With?
This sauce recipe can be used in the regular diet stage, soft diet stage, and pureed diet stage.
In the pureed diet stage you could stir this sauce into refried beans.
In the soft diet stage you can top steamed vegetables and soft tofu with this sauce.
In the regular diet stage you can mix with pasta, top seitan or tofu, and spread on roasted vegetables.
It can also be used on the bariatric pre-op diet.
Vegan Cauliflower Cheese Sauce
Equipment
- baking sheet
- blender
Ingredients
Roasted Cauliflower
- 2.5 cups cauliflower
- 0.5 tbsp olive oil
- .25 tsp salt
Sauce
- 0.5 cup soy milk unsweetened
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp white miso
- 2 tbsp cashews raw
- 1 dash smoked paprika
Instructions
Roast the Cauliflower
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Line a baking tray with a silicon baking mat or parchment paper.
- Chop cauliflower into small florets and place on baking sheet.
- Drizzle olive oil over cauliflower and sprinkle salt on cauliflower.
- Toss together and put in the oven.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Toss. Bake for another 10 minutes.
Make the Sauce
- Put all sauce ingredients and the roasted cauliflower into the blender.
- Blend until smooth.
Notes
- This recipe can be made with leftover roasted cauliflower, about 2 cups should do it.
- You can keep the sauce in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days. I have not tested it in the freezer.
Nutrition
How Long Does the Vegan Cauliflower Cheese Sauce Last?
The sauce will last about 3-4 days in a covered container in the refrigerator. I have not tried it in the freezer.
Options to Substitute the Cashews
If you don’t have cashews or if you’re allergic to them or even if you just don’t like them you can try to substitute some other ingredients. You could try:
- 2 tablespoons of raw nuts or seeds. I would suggest trying sunflower seeds.
- 1 tablespoon of nut or seed butter. I would suggest tahini.
What If You Don’t Have Miso?
Miso has a unique, savory flavor and is difficult to replace. A little bit of miso adds a lot of flavor and I would recommend trying to get it if you can. If you absolutely can’t get miso you can try adding soy sauce but know that the texture of soy sauce and miso are different. I would start with 1 teaspoon of soy sauce and then add more if needed for flavor.
What if You Don’t Have a High Speed Blender?
If you don’t have a high speed blender then I would recommend soaking your cashews in water overnight before making this recipe. Drain off the water and then add the cashews to the recipe.
What Meals Can You Make With Vegan Cauliflower Cheese Sauce?
The easiest meal to make with this sauce is a bowl meal. Take cooked vegetables of any kind, a protein food, and a whole grain and put them in a bowl. Then top with the vegan cauliflower cheese sauce.
Another delicious way to use it is on pasta for a ‘mac and cheese’ type experience. For more protein and fiber I would recommend using a bean or lentil pasta.
Ashley Krautkramer, RD, CSOWM, CD, CDCES is a vegan and bariatric nutrition expert with more than six years of experience. She is a board certified specialist in obesity and weight management.
What nutritional yeast do you suggest as I’ve never really used it and where do you get it? I live in MD. Definitely want to try this. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Bonnie,
I like Bob’s Red Mill, Trader Joe’s, and Bragg’s. If you can’t find them at your local grocery store, you can pick it up on Vegan Essentials
I hope that helps!
-Ashley