The Best Texas-Style Vegan Queso Dip

Recipe:

• 1 can full-fat coconut milk

• 3/4 - 1 cup almonds or cashews

• 1/2 cup or so of plant milk (may need more or less)

• 1 tbs oil

• 2 cloves garlic minced

• 1/2 medium onion chopped

• 3/4 - 1 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tbs cornstarch or tapioca starch

• 1 1/2 - 2 tsp salt

• 2 tsp cumin

• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (less for less spicy)

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 1-2 10 oz cans rotel (tomatoes & green chilis)

• 1/4 cup cilantro chopped (optional)

1. Add almonds or cashews to a small sauce pan and cover with water. Place over medium-high heat and allow water to boil gently. Remove from heat, cover with lid and allow to soak for 10 or so minutes. The more they soak, the smoother they will blend.

2. While the nuts are soaking, chop the onion and garlic. Heat the oil over medium heat in a medium-sized sauce pan. Add the onions and cook 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes. Once soft and translucent, Add the coconut milk, spices, and nutritional yeast. Dissolve the tapioca or cornstarch in a tablespoon of water and add to the pan. Stir until smooth and reduce heat to low.

3. Add the nuts to a blender or food processor along with 1/4 cup plant milk. Blend until smooth. Add more milk as needed to get it as smooth as possible. Next add it to the saucepan and stir to combine. Mix in the cans of rotel. Taste the queso and adjust seasonings as needed. Stir in the chopped cilantro.

4. Serve warm with chips or veggies and enjoy!

Growing up in Texas, I've eaten a lot of Texmex in my day and my favorite part was always the chips and queso! However, since going plant-based I haven't been able to find a queso recipe that even comes close to texmex queso. Or maybe I haven't looked hard enough. Either way I wanted to make my own version of it and I was very pleased with how this recipe turned out! This is easily the most similar vegan queso dip that I have tasted! It's creamy, chunky, cheesy, and flavorful! It's everything I've ever wanted in a vegan queso. It makes for the perfect party dip or entree. I don't know about anyone else but my family doesn't do a traditional Christmas dinner, we usually just eat party foods like this! I used almonds in mine and I didn't even remove the skin simply because of ~laziness~ but it really didn't make much of a difference once it was blended smooth and mixed in with everything else. I didn't really measure the amount of almond milk I used to blend with the almonds I just kept adding in a little at a time until it was decently smooth. Comment down below if you try this recipe and what you did or would do differently!