When I published my popular Easy Cheezy Sauce and Vegan Cheddar Cheese Sauce recipes, I immediately got requests for nut-free versions. It seems quite a few of you have allergies or want a lower fat recipe. I’ve been playing around with a bunch of ingredients, but this Chickpea Cheese Sauce has stolen my heart.
How to Make this Easy Vegan Cheese Sauce with Chickpeas
Just like my Eazy Cheezy Sauce, this chickpea cheese sauce is incredibly simple to make. You’ve got just seven required ingredients in this recipe. You simply dump everything together in a blender and process for a half a minute or so.
Then, I like to cook this sauce gently for a few minutes to marry the flavors. Most dishes you’ll probably make this sauce for—pasta, baked potatoes, a cheese dip—all taste better with a warmed sauce anyway.
That’s it—instant, easy, cheesy done! And probably one of the healthiest ‘cheese’ sauces you can put in your mouth.
Why I Love This Nut-Free Chickpea ‘Cheese’ Sauce
This chickpea cheese sauce has so much going for it. Let’s break down the healthy, whole food plant-based goodness:
First, it makes the BEST low fat, high fiber nut free vegan mac and cheese! I never expected this recipe to become a Shah family favorite, but indeed it has. I mean, it’s got some pretty stiff competition with the other cheese sauces in our repertoire. 🙂 But this chickpea cheese sauce is so darn tasty and satisfying, we keep coming back to it again and again.
Second, it’s low in fat and high in fiber thanks to the chickpeas. In fact, it has about half the fat as a nut-based cheese sauce. And of course, it’s oil free. Third, it’s budget friendly. Let’s face it, chickpeas are way cheaper than cashews. At least where I live.
Fourth, it’s full of beans! (Or legumes, in this case.) According to Dr. Greger’s recommended Daily Dozen, we should all get about three servings of beans and legumes a day. What a tasty, creamy, satisfying way to fit more in. Fourth, if you have nut allergies, or your kid does, or your co-workers—no worries here. This one is nut allergen free.
How to Make the BEST Nut Free Vegan Mac and Cheese
This cheese sauce is great on baked potatoes, nachos–wherever you want to add creamy cheesiness. But we love in as a healthy mac and cheese sauce.
I like to use a whole food, plant-based compliant pasta, like a brown rice pasta or even a chickpea pasta. And while it’s great with just the sauce, I love adding extra flavors like:
- fresh parsley (so simple, and my favorite)
- crushed red pepper flakes
- diced sun-dried tomatoes (rehydrated)
- fresh basil
- Italian seasonings
- and if you don’t mind a small amount of nuts, a sprinkle of vegan parmesan cheese
With this simple sauce and a pot of pasta, you can have dinner on the table in 15 minutes!
If you like this whole food plant-based recipe, you might also like:
- 5-Minute Vegan Chickpea Alfredo Sauce
- Vegan Easy Cheezy Sauce
- Vegan Cheddar Cheese Sauce
- Easy Vegan Oil Free Pesto Sauce
- Vegan Oil Free Mayonnaise
Chickpea Cheese Sauce
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked chickpeas or 1 15-ounce can, LIQUID RESERVED
- 1/4-3/4 cups low sodium vegetable broth adjust for desired thickness
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/4 cup lemon juice about 1 large lemon
- 2 tablespoons white miso paste (see notes for substition and info about miso + sodium)
- 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
- Sea salt to taste
- Optional: 1/2 teaspoon turmeric for color
For Nut Free Vegan Mac and Cheese, serve over macaroni or pasta shells
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and process on high speed until thoroughly blended, about 20-30 seconds. Add a little of the reserved chickpea liquid ('aquafaba') to thin the sauce if needed. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
- For the best results, gently cook the sauce for 2-3 minutes to combine the flavors.
Notes
- Nutritional information shown is for sauce only
- Sodium: the sodium in this recipe may seem high, but is primarily from the miso paste, which is a healthy "green light salt" according to Dr. Greger. You can read more about miso here.
- I use mellow white miso paste for this recipe. If you can't find it or are allergic to soy, you can substitute 1 tablespoon tahini + 1-2 teaspoons of low sodium soy sauce, tamari or Bragg's aminos.
- If the sauce gets too thick (especially after refrigerating), thin it out with a little reserved chickpea liquid, how pasta water or hot tap water
- To add extra flavor to your mac and cheese, add:
- fresh parsley (so simple, and my favorite)
- crushed red pepper flakes
- diced sun-dried tomatoes (rehydrated)
- fresh basil
- Italian seasonings
- and if you don't mind a small amount of nuts, a sprinkle of vegan parmesan cheese
This turned out really good. I did add some stone ground mustard. I used my Ninja and used my smoothie cup to blend it. It was not grainy at all I also only used one tablespoon of miso. Delicious!
Hi Jan, so glad you liked this recipe and that it worked well in your Ninja! I suspect some comments about it being grainy are a result of the blender not being high speed, or even the quality of the chickpeas (some canned chickpeas can be quite hard). Thanks so much for sharing your comments!
So should you use one can of chickpeas with the liquid and one can without? I’m confused by the ingredients used
Hi Stacey, You use just one can of chickpeas and their liquid OR cooked chickpeas if you’re making them from dried. I updated the recipe to try to make that clearer. Thanks!
Pret-ty good! I cooked my own chick peas. May be why texture is a little grainy. But! On a whim, I added a little Chardonnay. Yum. I’d make it again!
Hadn’t thought of Dijon. Thanks!
Sounds delish with the addition of white wine 🙂
I’ve tried a few of the cheese sauces and this one is really good. I don’t eat much salt so next time I will use 1T miso instead of 2. Love it’s nut-free. Thanks for a great recipe.
Hi Pam! You’re so welcome, and I’m thrilled you enjoyed the cheese sauce. 🙂
Hey, not bad! The miso gives it a little zing that I like. I also added a dollop of tahini for richness and a squirt of Dijon mustard because I like that in cheezy stuff. I might actually prefer to use cashew butter (I’d better not EVER develop a problem with nuts) next time so it isn’t so much like hummus, but the recipe is a keeper. Thank you!
Hi Chessie, Glad you liked it. I developed this recipe as a nut-free cheese sauce for folks who are either allergic to nuts or looking for a lower fat alternative. You’re rigth–it’s not quite as smooth and rich as a cashew version, but I think it definitely has its own merits. Thanks for your review and comments!
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
You’re welcome! It will keep about 5 days in the fridge, and a few months in the freezer. Enjoy!
This looks so good! What a simple alternative when you want to be dairy free!
Thanks Suzanne! I agree, SO simple.
Hi Elizabeth,
Came across your website while looking for a nut-free sauce/dip. Would be trying this recipe for the weekend. One question: is the nutrition facts accurate? How did you come about measuring those? Thank you in advance!
Hi Sylvia, The nutritional info is relatively accurate. I use a standard database of nutritional info that is built into my recipe program. However, I have added a note in the recipe about the sodium, which in this recipe is almost all from the miso, which is a ‘green light salt’ per Dr. Greger of NutritionFacts.org. (Not sure if sodium is part of your question, but I have gotten a few questions about this in particular.)
Just made this! How long will it keep in the fridge??
It keeps for about 5 days.
Yummm!! Being arabic I always have chickpeas at my house! So the next vegan recipe I will be trying out is this one. Thank you so much Elizabth.
You’re so welcome! Not sure what I’d do without chickpeas in my life 🙂
Absolutely phenomenal sauce! Easy to make and delicious. It will definitely become a staple in my kitchen. I ended up using canollini beans and it came out just great anyway. I poured it over some pasta and mixed in some steamed veggies and added a bit of paprika, cayane, and oregano to give it an extra bit of spice. Divine! It’s so good and definitely worth the 10 minutes it took to make it. I’ll be coming back to this one for sure.
Hi Dani! I’m so glad to hear that you liked this recipe. I love how you made it your own, too.
This is pretty yummy ~ a little grainy (I used my vitamix), but definitely tasty. My daughter tasted it and said, “this would make a great vegan Walkabout soup!” (A soup that used to be on the menu @ Outback Steakhouse). So I caramelized a red onion, added this sauce, and a bottle of bock beer. Served w/ homemade pretzel rolls. Delicious!!!
The ‘grainy’ texture here is from the fiber in the chickpeas, definitely not as smooth as say a cashew sauce, but great for your gut! Your adaptation sounds really good–reminds me a bit of my Wisconsin Beer Cheese Soup!
HI MWG, I made this yesterday and liked it but it was very “grainy” not smooth. I was afraid to keep processing for fear it would be overly runny. I ended up using the full amount of broth bc it was thick going…is it supposed to be really smooth?
Hi Mary, It should definitely be smooth. You shouldn’t worry about it being overly runny; chickpeas can withstand a good amount of blending! I make this sauce in a high speed blender, but any decent blender should work if you process it long enough. Also, if you ever have a sauce like this that gets too thin (especially if you end up adding liquid to help it blend), just cook it down until some of the liquid evaporates and it thickens up. I do this with nut-based sauces, and it works like a charm. Good luck, let me know if you try it again!
Gonna make this for Mac and Cheese . How much pasta will it cover. Will it be good over a pound ? We love leftovers
Hi Linda, It all depends how saucy you like your pasta, but you’ll get more than 2 cups of sauce, and I’d say that this recipe is about right for 1 pound pasta. I typically store my sauce in the fridge separate from my pasta and thin it out a little as needed. (It tends to thicken with time.) Good luck!
Yummy and easy to make!
Thanks Melissa, so glad you like this easy sauce!
Hello Healthy Midwestern Girl! I was home from work today and wanted to make a quick lunch.. I had saved this recipe, but had not tried it yet… Oh my goodness is it good!! I have made several “cheese” sauces, but most so time consuming… I added all the ingredients to my bullet and poured over my pasta… easy peasy! The only think I changed is I used soy sauce instead of miso and used 1/2 cup of veggie juice and jalopeno juice combined… thank you for this great healthy sauce recipe!
Hi Karen, Thanks so much for trying this recipe! I’m so glad to hear you like it, and your adaptations sound super–especially the jalapeño juice. 🙂 I gotta give that a try! I’m with you–I love how quick and easy this is; it’s a go-to when at our house whenever we need a quick healthy meal. And, you’re most welcome.
What could I sub for the miso?? We have a sit allergy and can’t get soy free miso in our country 🙁
Hi Stephanie, You could substitute some tahini and tamari or soy sauce for the miso. That combo will give you some of the umami flavor and texture of the miso. I’ maybe go with just half as much tahini, unless you’re not too worried about adding fat. Good luck!
Can agar agar be used in place of miso paste?
Hi And, I’ve never tried this so I can’t be sure if it would work or how much to try. The miso here acts only a little as a thickener; it’s more about adding texture and flavor/salt. One substitute I can recommend is tahini + tamari or soy sauce. Good luck!
I grow pimentos. I wonder if a pimento would be good in it like cashew cheese. Gonna try this recipe. Thanks
Hi Angela, I don’t see why not! I’d love to hear how it goes if you give this a try. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reaching out.
Can tahini be substituted for the miso paste?
Hi Debra! You could definitely give that a try, though miso paste and tahini have different qualities. Miso paste adds salt (healthy, ‘green light’ salt), thickens, and tends to pull the other flavors together. Tahini will add richness/fat, but not salt or quite the same texture. That said, I believe it would still work and taste good–it would just be different. Good luck!