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Vegan Cheez Whiz

Vegan Cheez Whiz can be yours in mere minutes; just throw everything into a blender! This thick creamy spread is a bolder, grown up version of the Kraft Cheez Whiz that we loved as kids. Just blend the ingredients smooth and it’s ready to drizzle over broccoli, fold into cooked pasta, top burgers and pizza — it’s up to you! Chill the sauce and it’ll firm up into thick creamy spread that’s perfect on toast and crackers.
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Video Tutorial for Vegan Cheez Whiz

Vegan Cheez Whiz Ingredients & Alternatives

This vegan cheese sauce is deliciously tangy and savory, rich and smooth but made with nutritious ingredients like red peppers and cashews. Or try sunflower seeds instead of cashews for a lower cost alternative. If you’re allergic to seeds and nuts, you could use tofu instead. Once you make this recipe in your kitchen, it becomes YOUR vegan Cheez Whiz and there ARE no rules.

The base

You can whip up this vegan cheese spread anytime with vegan pantry staples – no fresh produce necessary. For best results (the creamiest, dreamiest results), use soaked raw cashews as the base. Raw cashews are perfect for this recipe because their flavour is very mild and they have a good protein and fat content that can be blended down very smooth. Plus, they’ll help this spread firm up without the need for any additional thickeners or stabilizers. The nuts do need to be soaked to make this easier on your blender. You can either throw a cup of raw cashews into the fridge covered in water overnight, soak them for an hour at room temperature, or, if you don’t have time, boil them for 10 minutes. 

vegan cheez whiz being poured into a bowl

While, raw cashews seem to make the best vegan cheez whiz, they are pricey and it seems like they’re getting more expensive all the time. Maybe because we’re all suddenly making vegan cheese with it. A great alternative is raw sunflower seeds. The flavour is a bit more woodsy and sometimes the colour is a bit on the grey side but they can blend up just as nicely if you soak them.

If you’re allergic to nuts and seeds, you can use a cup of firm tofu instead. Drain the tofu very well before you use it but it will also blend up to a nice creamy base. There’s less fat in tofu than seeds and nuts so the texture will not be as smooth. You can get around this by adding a little extra fat in the form of butter-flavoured coconut oil or another oil that you like. Tofu sometimes also has a beany flavour so you can add a bit extra flavour to cover it up.

ingredients for vegan cheez whiz measured out

Flavourings

I recommend sticking to the ingredients list, at least the first time, when making this vegan cheez whiz recipe. I find the ingredients and amounts add up to the perfect vegan cheez whiz flavour and even minor changes can disturb the balance. Fortunately, most of the ingredients can be pulled out of your pantry so you can whip this versatile spread anytime. They are:

  • 1 small roasted red pepper from a jar (about 30grams)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice (fresh or bottled is fine)
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons butter-flavoured coconut oil (or melted vegan butter)
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast 
  • 1 clove of garlic OR 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder (though I think fresh garlic is better)
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard (regular mustard will work also if you don’t have dijon)
  • 1 – 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup

Maple syrup is the one ingredient that might give you pause in this recipe, but trust me, go with it!

Equipment

The best results I’ve gotten were when I used my Ninja blender with the single-serve smoothie cup. I was able to blend the mixture until it was glossy and smooth with only a couple tablespoons of additional water to help out. When I used the larger container to blend, I needed 1/4 cup of water.  Either way, the homemade cheez whiz will firm up in the fridge even with the additional water.

If you have a regular blender (not a high powered one), add the 1/4 cup of water at the start. Blend using the pulse setting for 10 seconds at a time. Between pulses, scrape down the sides. Continue until the mixture blends smoothly. This will take more patience but it can work! I used to use my $30 Oster blender for making vegan cheese with soaked nuts and seeds all the time.

You can also use an immersion blender for this recipe. For best results, add 1/4 cup of water at the start (especially if you know your immersion blender is not particularly powerful). Blend the ingredients in a tall narrow cup to make things easier. Pulse until the mixture blends smoothly then continue until it’s as smooth as you can get it.

I have not tested this recipe with other blenders or food processors. Please let me know if you do and how it turns out.

Finally, because this vegan cheez whiz tastes so FLIPPING GOOD and cashews are kind of expensive, you’ll really want a rubber or silicone spatula to get every bit of your homemade cheese spread out of your blender or container.

Storage

Store your homemade vegan cheez whiz in a clean closed container in the fridge. It actually tastes better on the second day after all the flavours have had a chance to meld together. It will keep for up to two weeks in the fridge. That is, if you don’t eat it up before then! Personally, I’ll use it on everything from sandwiches to pasta to raw, steamed or roasted vegetables so it’s usually gone within a week. Let me know how you’d use up this vegan cheez whiz in the comments!

Printable recipe for Vegan Cheez Whiz

Yield: 2 cups

Vegan Cheez Whiz

Vegan Cheez Whiz

This thick creamy spread is the grown up version of the Kraft Cheez Whiz that we loved as kids. It's deliciously tangy, rich and smooth; made with nutritious ingredients from the pantry in minutes.

Active Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup cashews (see Notes for substitutions), soaked for at least an hour and drained
  • 1 small roasted red pepper from a jar (about 30 grams)*
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 2 tablespoons butter-flavoured coconut oil (or vegan butter), at room temperature or warm
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 clove garlic (or 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder)
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard (or regular as a 2nd choice)
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1 - 2 teaspoons salt (to taste)

Optional

  • 1/4 cup of hot water (to help your blender along)

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients, including ONE teaspoon of salt and EXCLUDING water into your blender. Pulse until the mixture starts to blend smoothly. You may need to pause and scrape down the sides of your blender container and add up to 1/4 cup of water. Blend until very smooth.
  2. Taste and add up to one additional teaspoon of salt if desired.

Notes

*One small roasted red pepper (about 30 grams) is perfect to achieve the cheez whiz flavour. However, the colour of the spread is more vibrant when you use two.You can experiment to see whether you like the extra colour and red pepper flavour.

For those with allergies to nuts (or just allergic to the price of cashews right now), try sunflower seeds for a lower cost alternative. If you’re allergic to seeds and nuts, you could use the same amount of well-drained firm tofu instead.

Just blend the ingredients smooth and it’s ready to drizzle over broccoli, fold into cooked pasta, top burgers and pizza — it’s up to you! Chill the sauce and it’ll firm up into thick creamy spread that’s perfect on toast and crackers.

To make this recipe easier on your blender (and get a smoother result) soak your cashews (or sunflower seeds) in water at room temperature for an hour. Or you can soak them overnight in the fridge. Or if you're pressed for time, you can boil the raw cashews for 10 minutes.

This recipe makes 2 cups of vegan cheez whiz.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

32

Serving Size:

1 Tablespoon

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 41Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 170mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 1g

Nutritional Information automatically calculated by a plugin and may not be correct.

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What I Ate Wednesday 100

This Vegan Cheez Whiz recipe originally appeared in this What I Ate In A Day video.

Showing 32 comments
  • Mari
    Reply

    I just recently found this recipe and I really like it. Unfortunately I didn’t have the roasted red peppers, so I subbed pimientos, but it still turned out really good. However, I will do it as written the next time. This is so smooth and delicious. I made a double batch, and am already plotting what I can do with it. I am not a vegan, but I am casein intolerant, so I have been looking around for recipes to replace childhood favorites, and your site is a goldmine. Many years ago I found a cheese spread that was made with white beans and pimientos. It was tangy like this, and that’s really what Cheez Whiz basically is. It’s very tangy with no real, discernible taste, other than the tang! I much prefer this version with cashews. Before I started making cashew based dairy substitutes, I bought ten pounds of cashews. It’s time to order more! Thanks for a really great recipe. This was a breeze in my VitaMix.

    • Mary
      Reply

      Yay! Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Mari. Love the pimentos idea! I’m so happy this recipe could stand in for one of those childhood favourites. -xo Mary

    • Kristin
      Reply

      This looks awesome. I am looking to replace normal cheese whiz with this in a vegetable casserole this year. So I’m wondering if you are able to bake this cheese whiz? Or will it not come out ok?

      • Mary
        Reply

        I haven’t used it in a casserole. I’ve put it on pizza and it’s very good though.

  • Yesenia Koelsch
    Reply

    How long before this goes bad? Theoretically.

    • Mary
      Reply

      Up to two weeks.

  • Irene McDonald
    Reply

    I just made this and can’t wait for tomorrow morning. I am going to have this on my toast. It tastes really tangy and good as I was putting it in the fridge, I licked the spatula!
    Looking forward to trying your other recipes, especially the burgers, they look really juicy!.

    • Mary
      Reply

      Thanks, Irene!

  • Terry
    Reply

    If you do not have red wine vinegar can you sub in red wine and white vinegar?

    • Mary
      Reply

      Hi Terry,
      I’m not sure as I’ve never tried that…but it sounds like a good idea. Please let me know if you try it.
      Cheers,
      Mary

  • (another) Mary
    Reply

    THANK YOU for including a non-cashew option! Cashews make me ill, and EVERYTHING seems to have them. Even if it turns out grey, it will be worth it!

    • VeggieTater
      Reply

      I’ve done similar with white beans, cooked rice, and/or potatoes as the base for the rest of the ingredients, (any or all), and use a couple TBS of hulled hemp seeds for creaminess. Add water as needed a bit at a time. It won’t be as rich of course, but still yummy. I have to watch added fats so skipped the oil entirely and it still came out good! BTW, oats make a really smooth sauce too…dry blend a generous 1 cup them into flour first, then add the rest of the ingredients and 2 cups of almost boiling water, and blend until it thickens. If you don’t have a high speed blender, you can thicken it more in a pot on the stove.

  • Karen
    Reply

    Hi Mary! I’m eating this right now on macaroni. I had to substitute apple cider vinegar for the red wine vinegar because that’s what I have in my pandemic pantry, and I used half cashews and half sunflower seeds. I can definitely taste the sunflower seeds, but that’s fine. It’s still pretty good! Thanks for your fantastic recipes, and I hope you’re staying safe and sane.

    • Mary
      Reply

      Thanks, Karen!

  • Jessie
    Reply

    This ist so great. Although I made some substititutes, the taste is nearly perfect. I used almonds because cashews are such expensive here in Germany. And I could not find butter flavoured coconut oil, so I used “Biskin Spezial” which is a butter flavoured plant oil. I also did not have peppers in a jar. So I cooked a sweet red pepper, added a little piece and for more spicieness I took a little bit chili powder. My 20 € blender had some problems with the really hard almonds and it took so much patience (and some more water). But in the end it worked! It could have bee smoother but I love it. Next time I will try using almond butter to make it even more smooth.

    • Mary
      Reply

      Yay! I’m so glad you were able to find substitutes and enjoyed this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Jessie. I think using almond butter is a great idea!

  • Dan Anderson
    Reply

    I just made this and I’m not much of a cook. Actually I think I would qualify as the anti cook. But I really do miss cheese whiz and cheese sauces. I put a bit too much water in mine so I doubled up the batch without water to save it. 🙂 thank you so very much, it’s really good. If you want a laugh watch a totally clueless cook make this on Tik Tok. dananderson50
    Dimensions Mary’s Test Kitchen so people who really want a real instructional video or recipe can go to the real thing.

    • Mary
      Reply

      Great save, Dan!! I’ll have to get on this new fangled tik tok thing one of these days haha
      Cheers,
      Mary

  • Dan Anderson
    Reply

    In my previous post I didn’t say Dimensions that was Google Voice tossing that in for no reason but you didn’t have an edit option. Just a note.

    • Mary
      Reply

      lol thanks for the edit — google voice never understands me properly so I can empathize

      • Bonnie
        Reply

        Do you really mean 2 tablespoons of vinegar? Made it and vinegar is over powering

        • Mary
          Reply

          Yes, it is 2 tablespoons but red wine vinegar which isn’t as strong as white vinegar. Could that have been the problem?

  • Pauline
    Reply

    Hi Mary, the cheese wiz tastes amazing! Do you think I can put it on taco’s with jalapeno peppers and heat it in the oven?

    • Mary
      Reply

      I’m so happy you’re enjoying my vegan cheez whiz recipe!! To answer your question, absolutely you can do that! I think it’ll taste wonderful.
      Cheers,
      Mary

  • Rory
    Reply

    This recipe is legit!!! Soooo good. Love the flavour and the consistency is perfect. It’s gonna be a good week with a jar of this in my fridge. Thanks so much for this recipe.

    • Mary
      Reply

      Yay! Thanks, Rory!

  • Dorothy Robins
    Reply

    When using the sunflower seeds are they raw or roasted?

    • Mary
      Reply

      I used raw sunflower seeds

  • Shannon
    Reply

    For his birthday, my vegetarian boyfriend has requested a veganized version of his childhood sandwich made by his dad: cheez whiz, bacon, and pickles 🥴 As odd a combination as it is, I can’t wait to recreate this for him! This cheez whiz recipe and Edgy Veg’s rice paper bacon is going to be a HIT!! Can’t wait to whip this up!

    • Mary
      Reply

      He is going to be SO HAPPY! I’m excited for you, Shannon. You’ve definitely got this!

      -Mary

  • Joshua
    Reply

    I doubled the recipe, which I am quite happy about. When people ask me what I miss since going vegan, Cheez Whiz is the only answer I give. Given my extremely high expectations Id say this recipe is pretty darn good. Slightly too sweet in my opinion, so next time I think Ill halve the amount of maple syrup. I am enjoying the spread on my toast.

    • Mary
      Reply

      Thanks for sharing your experience, Joshua! I’m so happy you’re enjoying the recipe 🙂
      Cheers,
      Mary

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