About this Recipe

This creamy cheese sauce recipe can be made with either regular dairy milk, or like we have done with vegan almond cheese. We also used rice milk rather than dairy milk and the results were outstanding!

Why not just use cheese in a cheese sauce recipe, you may wonder? Well the truthful answer is simply that the members in our family seem to feel better when we eat the vegan cheese that is made at the farmers market with nuts like almonds and cashews. It really is delicious and for only part-time cheese lovers like us was a wonderful surprise to find this substitute. There are many options for cheese and cheese substitute recipes out there that are truly as creamy and satisfying as the cheese recipes.

All that being said … when we recently spent time in Europe we are instantly attracted to the cheese that was being sold at all the small specialty cheese shops. The creamy blue cheese in Denmark, the Parmesan in Italy. Yum! So as is the motto in Grandmother’s Kitchen: Everything in moderation, even moderation! What this really means is that although most of the time we eat in a way that is moderate, there are those times like when traveling in Italy that for us it was better to binge and truly enjoy the flavors than to avoid simply for the sake of avoid. Plus the amount of steep stairs found in Italy was much more than we expected so we were very careful to fuel up on hearty cheeses for the hikes! We also found that our long walk and hikes felt very rewarded when we had a chunk of good cheese and fresh bread for the end.

Grandmother’s TIPs for Creamy Cheese Sauce Recipe:

1. Using non-dairy milks and vegan cheeses will change the flavor a little bit from what you might be used to with a cheese sauce, so if you are really unsure about non-dairy cheese than try cutting the recipe in half.

2. Use this sauce on steamed veggies, cooked pasta, or as a yummy dip for sourdough bread!

3. The sauce flavor will change according to what cheese choices you make. The sauce is perfect with any pasta dish or is also great for adding to vegetables such as a creamy pea, broccoli or cauliflower dish. You could also use it to scoop onto potatoes.

4. It is great to have a basic creamy sauce in your recipe box that is so simple and diverse in its uses.

Check our our Cheesy Chicken Pasta Recipe.

---

Ingredients

(Print)

Makes: 2 cups

2 Tablespoons butter

2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

2 cups milk (I used rice milk, you can choose your milk of choice)

2 cups cheese grated (we used vegan almond herb cheese, you can choose your favorite cheese)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon mustard

Directions

1. In a medium size saucepan melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the flour and use a whisk to form a paste. Stir constantly for two minutes.

2. Add 1/4 cup of the milk and whisk in to combine. Add the remaining milk. You need to watch the whole time and continue stirring so it does not scorch or form clumps.

3. Increase the heat to medium high and bring to a boil whisking constantly.

4. Let the sauce boil for one minute then take it off the heat.

5. Add the cheese, salt and mustard. Continue to stir with a silicone spatula.

6. Use the whisk to get all the lumpy cheese combined into the sauce.

7. If the sauce seems to thick add a little more milk (about 1/4 cup) and continue to stir in until the sauce is nice and creamy.

ENJOY!

Return to this Creamy Cheese Sauce recipe or check out more recipes at Grandmother's Kitchen

This creamy cheese sauce is a versatile recipe that is good for vegans too. The nice thing about this creamy cheese sauce is that you can change it up if you like, or if you stay away from cheese you can make it vegan too. This is a great sauce recipe to use on your easy dinner ideas such as cooked pasta, family friendly meal ideas such as mac and cheese, vegetable recipes or just as a dip for sourdough bread.

These days there are more and more food options available which is nice if you want to try something new for your easy dinner ideas, or maybe you feel better when you stay away from certain foods. There are several vegan kinds of cheese to be found, and each will have a unique taste of its own. For this cheese sauce recipe, you can use your favorite cheese, so you have several options of what you might use.

If you are trying to stay away from dairy, or just reducing the amount of dairy that you consume because it makes you feel better, there are plenty of options to try. You will find a variety of dairy-free milk to include rice, cashew, soy, almond, oat, coconut, and more. With so many options available there is something for everyone.

You can also make your dairy free milk and that way you know what is going into the milk and it's easy to do. There are plenty of dairy-free milk recipes that you will find on the internet, and it just comes down to finding one that suits you.

You can make homemade rice milk with simple ingredients to include rice, water and salt. For added flavor, you can sweeten your rice milk with a date or some maple syrup and some pure vanilla extract. If you want organic rice milk, use organic rice. You'll need to soak the rice for about two hours, blend completely in a high-speed blender, then strain, and refrigerate. It's that easy.