Spicy, cheesy, creamy, healthy and delicious. This Healthy Buffalo Vegan Cheese Dip has it all!
When it comes to junk food, cheese dip is one of my all time favorites. And this one is GOOD! Like really good. The best part? It’s not even junk food. There is no oil in this recipe and the ingredients are all very, very minimally processed.
You can keep it ultra healthy and scoop this tasty dip up with carrot and celery sticks or go the traditional route and use tortilla chips. Either way, seriously, this is delicious.
Vegan Cheese Tips
Boiling cashews and blending with various veggies & milk is a pretty standard way to make a vegan cheese sauce. There are about a thousand different combinations to use depending on what flavor you’re going for. For this dip I settled on carrots as the main vegetable. They add color, mild flavor and really mesh well with the buffalo flavors. It’s hard to measure a carrot though, at least in terms of recipes. So you’ll notice that this calls for 2 small/medium carrots, not an exact amount, I know. As long as your carrots aren’t too big it’ll taste great! Using larger carrots will give your dip a distinct carrot flavor, so make sure to grab some smaller ones for this.
When it comes to soaking cashews lots of recipes call for soaking them over night. But, if I’m being honest, I don’t think I’ve ever remembered to do that. Plus, sometimes I want some cheese sauce without having to wait till the next day. I’ve found that pouring boiling water over my cashews and letting them soak for about 20-30 minutes gives them a nice head start. While the cashews are soaking I get my other ingredients ready and boil my pot of water. Then everything goes in to boil and the jackfruit goes in the oven. This way, all the ingredients will be ready at the same time. Works like a charm!
Once your cheese sauce is all blended up and tasty and the buffalo jackfruit is crispy it’s time to assemble. Stir, in about 3/4 of the jackfruit, reserving the rest for topping. At this point my preferred method is to bake this until the dip is nice and hot! You can also put it in a sauce pan and heat it up that way if you’re short on oven space. That’s the method I used when I took these photos, but I think the result is a bit better when baked. Top with the remaining jackfruit, diced celery, cilantro and a drizzle of hot sauce and you’re ready to go!
Once assembled and baked this delicious Buffalo Vegan Cheese Dip is best served immediately. But you can make the buffalo jackfruit and cheese sauce ahead of time, store separately and then bake when you’re ready to serve.
Looking for more dips! Try these out :
Guacamole with Roasted Peppers & Corn
If you make this recipe snap a photo and tag me or use #mealsbythemountain!
Vegan Buffalo Cheese Dip
Ingredients
For The Cheese Sauce
- 1 Cup Raw Cashews
- 2 Cloved Garlic
- 2 Carrots Small – Medium sized
- ½ Tsp Yellow Mustard
- ½ Tsp Stone Ground Mustard
- 3 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1 ½ Cups Plain Unsweetened Oat Milk (most plain unsweetened vegan milk will work)
For The Buffalo Jackfruit
- 1 20 Oz Can Young Jackfruit Rinsed, squeeze excess liquid out, dice finely
- ½ Cup Franks Red Hot
- ½ Tsp Garlic Powder
- ¼ Tsp Onion Powder
- 1 Tsp Liquid Smoke
- Pinch Salt
Toppings
- Cilantro
- Diced Celery
- Green Onions
- Tortilla Chips
- Veggie Sticks
Instructions
- Bring a couple cups of water to a boil
- Pour boiling water over cashews and set aside to soak
- While cashews are soaking bring a pot of water to a boil
- Preheat oven to 400°
- Peel garlic and chop carrots into thirds, set aside
- In a small bowl whisk hot sauce, liquid smoke, salt, garlic & onion powder.
- Rinse, drain and chop jackfruit then mix thoroughly with hot sauce
- Spread buffalo jackfruit evenly on a baking sheet
- When water is boiling add garlic, carrots and soaked (drained) cashews to water and boil until very soft, approximately 30 minutes
- Add jackfruit to preheated oven and bake until jackfruit is starting to get crispy edges, stirring once while baking, approximately 30 minutes
- When veggies are soft drain, allow to cool for a few minutes and add to a high speed blender
- Add yellow & stone ground mustard and nutritional yeast to the blender and process
- Slowly add non-dairy milk to blender, scraping down the sides as needed until the sauce is smooth and creamy
- Pour sauce into a baking dish and stir in ¾ of the cooked buffalo jackfruit, setting the rest aside
- Return to the oven and bake until the edges are starting to get crispy and it's nice and hot, about 20 minutes*
- Remove from oven and top with remaining jackfruit, diced celery, green onions and cilantro
- Serve immediatly with tortilla chips or veggie sticks.
Notes
- Alternatively you could heat this up in a sauce pan, stirring occasionally until hot but results will be best baked
- This dip can be made ahead of time, once the cheese sauce is smooth and the jackfruit is baked store separately in the refrigerator for up to two days
[…] Vegan Buffalo Cheese Dip […]