Technically I should call this Anacardos Blancos I think, since it is not “cheese” in the moo-ey sense of the word. But I am sticking with Queso Blanco and here’s why… it is no secret I love cheese. And when I say love I mean I am a cheese stalker. I will seek out cheese at any restaurant, any party, any menu, any time, anywhere.
But as many of you know well by now, cheese + me = a sad state of affairs. So I will spend the rest of my days on earth (dramatic much?) attempting to recreate the dreamy creamy goodness without having to yank on the teet of another mammal. <- That helps me want it a little bit less.
In Down South Paleo, I have recreated yellow QUESO like that in my favorite Tex-Mex restaurants in the Lone Star State. But while living in many other states, I have also come to appreciate QUESO BLANCO which is its own delicious treat. So here it is y’all! Smother your enchiladas, use plantain chips to dip dip dip away, or just pour it straight down your throat, I won’t tell.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup raw unsalted cashews, soaked for at least 1 hour and drained
- 1 cup hot water
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch
- 2 ounces (1/2 can) diced green chilies
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- Pinch ground white pepper
- 2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro (optional)
- 2 teaspoons (or more) nutritional yeast (optional)
- Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high for a solid 2 minutes
- You want the mixture to thicken slightly upon blending
- Serve right away or refrigerate for later – it will thicken in the fridge
- If you want it thicker to serve as a dip, you may empty the contents into a sauce pan and heat over medium heat, whisking continually until desired texture is met
- If you get clumps in your cheese mixture, transfer contents back to the blender and puree until creamy again
- Try it on my PALEO CHICKEN ENCHILADAS for a delicious Tex-Mex dish
Please let the world not interrupt me this weekend. Looks like I have plans! Yumms!
Haha! You get it girl. Lock the doors!
This looks epic, Jen! I will have to make it; my family loves anything that resembles cheese!
Enjoy it!
Is the 1 c. of hot water for the nut soaking (thus drained and out of the picture) or if 1 c. of hot water is added to the blender with the cashews and other ingredients?
Hoping someone can help me clarify! Thanks!
So you want to soak in cool water, then drain, then add the hot water for blending. Does that help?
Perfect, thanks!! It was delicious. We had everyone fooled.. Only told them later it wasn’t cheese!
No way!!!!!
In the queso dip, could you substitute any other type of but for the cashews. Also, would arrowroot work in place of tapioca starch
Yes you can use another mild tasting nut. Brazil nuts work for example! Arrowroot will work in place of tapioca just fine!
Could you use guar gum in place of tapioca starch?
I’ve never tried! I would try arrowroot in lieu of tapioca first though!
Hi! I made this to go with your mexi meatloaf, which was delish(!), but it made a lot so now going to make the chicken enchiladas with it but was wondering how long this was good for? I made it Saturday and was going to make the enchiladas tomorrow, Tuesday….so that’s 4 days. Is it still good? I just don’t want to make us sick!!:)
thanks!
I love your site…I’m born bred and raised in texas so I love the tex mex paleo you’ve got going on!
I think 4 days might be okay but I wouldn’t go past that. Some people stop around 2-3 days but others go a week!
Holy crap–this is THE BEST non-diary cheese sauce I have EVER tried! Like this is REALLY GOOD! After tasting it and the thinking about everything I could slather it on, I had a flash of brilliance (if I may say so myself), of adding gelatin to it (like in other vegan cheese recipes), to make it sliceable! I have a loaf of Gutsy By Nature’s Autoimmune Protocol Sliceable Cheese 2.0 in the fridge right now and it’s good but it’s a very strong nutritional yeast taste. I’ll report back when I try my experiment with yours!
So glad you liked it!!!
Did you try making it sliceable Nicole?
Do you think this could be frozen? I am prepping food for a cross country rv trip and plan to make your mexi-loaf in the instant pot and would love to have this on it. Thank you!
I would think so yes!