Dairy-Free, Vegan "Cheese" Recipe Series- Part 3
For the last part of my 3 part dairy-free, vegan "cheese" alternatives series, I am sharing this AMAZING cheese alternative!
Now this one is my pride and joy! I worked tirelessly on perfecting this recipe. It needed to meet 4 criteria:
It must be shreddable
It must be sliceable
It must be melty
It needed to be nut free and nightshade free
After lots of trial and error I finally perfected this cheesy "cheese" alternative and I am so excited to share it with you all!!
I've developed three dairy-free, vegan "cheese" alternative recipes as part of this series. The first "cheese" is a Cauliflower & Cashew "Cheese" Sauce (part 1). The second "cheese", is a Vegan "Parmesan Cheese" (part 2). And finally, the recipe you landed on now, my shreddable, sliceable, melty Nightshade & Dairy-free Nacho "Cheese" (part 3).
This recipe is nutrient dense, Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) friendly, lower carb, grain free, nut free, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nightshade free, paleo, primal, Whole30 compliant, keto friendly & has a vegan option!
What Makes this High-Vibing Food?
First and foremost, putting your own love, gratitude, time and energy into making foods at home will automatically raise the vibration of the foods/meal. This will also help to balance your sacral and heart chakras. Putting your love into the food you prepare will literally raise the vibrational frequency as love is the highest vibration out there!
You are what you eat and what your food eats. Using organic, GMO free, free/pasture raised, wild caught, minimally processed ingredients lead to an overall higher vibrational frequency. Basically, eating organic provides us extra energy currency!
This dish is rich in collagen (if using), which is grounding and protective. It also supports the root chakra.
This recipe is full of healthy fats and/or oils, which supports the sacral chakra.
Contains yellow/tan/golden colored foods, which help raise the body’s frequency to that of the solar plexus, helping to balance it.
Contains orange colored foods. Orange vibrates at about the same frequency as the sacral chakra. So, eating orange foods helps to maintain the proper root chakra frequency.
This recipe is loaded with starchy veggies, which is supportive to the solar plexus chakra in small quantities.
This is a sauce/dressing recipe, linking earth and water elements, while also connecting the other chakras together with the throat chakra.
A Short Note on Swaps or Ingredients:
*While I cannot guarantee that using these swaps will yield the same flavors I have create in this recipe, these swaps should generally work well! *
Be sure your collagen peptides are grassfed. If you want to learn more about this amazing protein click HERE to read my article all about it! You can also use agar agar as a vegan alternative for this ingredient.
Nutritional yeast are flakes of yeast that have a very cheesy like taste and is full of B vitamins. It is a great nondairy alternative to add a cheesy taste to any dish!
Equipment Needed to Create this Recipe:
sheet pan
loaf pan
parchment paper
measuring cups/spoons
cutting board
a good knife
silicon spatula
high-powered blender (I use my vitamix)
Nightshade & Dairy-free Nacho "Cheese"
(gluten free, nightshade free, dairy free, & AIP/paleo)
Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 30-40 minutes Yield: 12
Ingredients:
2 lbs. organic butternut squash, cubed and tossed with 1-2 tbsp. avocado oil
1 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup tapioca starch
6-8 tbsp. grassfed gelatin (for a vegan option you can use agar agar)
6 tbsp. avocado oil
1/2 tbsp. garlic granules
1/2 tbsp. onion granules
2-3 tsp. sea salt
How to Create this Recipe:
Peel, de-seed, and cube your butternut squash (or use pre-cut fresh). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and toss in the oil. Then, roast at 400 ° F until slightly browned and soft/tender, about 30-40 minutes. Remove from oven.
Place the cooked squash and all remaining ingredients into a high-powered, professional grade blender (I use my Vitamix). Slowly increase speed up to high and blend on high, using the tamper to work all the ingredients down. You'll want to achieve a thick nacho cheese like texture. Taste your "cheese", and adjust accordingly for your own personal preferences.
You can eat the nacho "cheese" as is as a sauce or dip, or line a loaf pan with parchment paper and chill in the fridge for a few hours or overnight, until it firm up. Then you can slice it up, shred it up, or melt away!
* NOTES:
The more gelatin/agar agar you add, the firmer the "cheese" will become.
NUTRITION
Serving Size: 1 (based off of 12 servings total)
Calories: 162
Fat: 8 g
Carbs: 15 g
Protein: 8 g
*All nutritional information are estimations and will vary.
