Calling all cheese lovers! One taste of this velvety queso and your whole family find it hard to believe that this dip is dairy-free and nut-free. The lively bite of fresh-roasted tomatoes & onions in a smooth, spicy bechamel base makes Taco Tuesday an event, and turns any party into a fiesta.
What you'll need to make it:
Roasted tomatoes & onions
1 lg. White onion- cut into quarters.
4 lg. Roma tomatoes- cut into halves.
Jalapeño Olive Oil- we use an olive oil that's infused with fresh jalapeño from a local olive oil company by us. If you can't find anything like that, roast 1 jalapeño with the tomatoes and onion and drizzle with regular olive oil.
Salt & pepper- this is just a quick sprinkle over the top to help bring out the flavors of the ingredients being roasted.
Dairy-free & nut-free queso ingredients:
vegan butter of choice- we like to use Country Crock Plant butter with Olive Oil. Be careful when selecting your vegan butter, as some of them tend to be on the slightly sweeter tasting side.
Gluten-Free flour of choice- we like to use Trader Joe's Gluten Free Flour Blend, it's been our "go-to" flour ever since we discovered it.
nutritional yeast flakes- we usually stock up from the bulk bins at our local Sprouts Farmers Market.
salt & pepper
granulated garlic- it tends to clump less than garlic powder.
granulated onion- same reason as above.
turmeric powder
paprika
white vinegar
thick or extra creamy oat milk
small can of disced green chilis
Yellow can of El Pato Hot Tomato Sauce
Equipment:
cutting board
baking sheet
tin foil
kitchen knife
oven- I used our toaster oven on its convection setting.
blender
can opener
large sauté pan
whisk
kitchen spoon
measuring cup
measuring spoons
gloves- if using a fresh jalapeño
The Ultimate Dairy-free & Nut-free Queso
Ingredients:
1 lg. white onion- quartered
4 lg. Roma tomatoes- cut into halves
1 can (4oz.) of chopped green chilis-drained
3 cans (7 3/4 oz. each) yellow El Pato Hot Tomato Sauce
2 sticks vegan butter of choice
3/4 c. gluten-free flour of choice
1 1/2 c. nutritional yeast
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp. granulated onion
1 tsp. granulated garlic
1 tsp. turmeric
4 tbsp. white vinegar
1 c. extra creamy oat milk- room temp
jalapeño olive oil- can substitute with regular olive oil and 1 jalapeño
Directions:
Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees and line baking sheet with tin foil.
Cut your onion into quarters and half all of the tomatoes, drizzle with jalapeño olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. If using a fresh jalapeño to roast, leave whole and place on baking sheet with other items. Roast for 45 minutes, then let cool for a few minutes.
While the roasted produce is cooling, you'll start the base of the queso.
In a large sauté pan on medium heat combine vegan butter, gluten-free flour, salt & pepper, paprika, granulated onion, granulated garlic, and turmeric. Whisk continuously while butter is melting.
Slowly stir in the room temp oat milk, making sure to get all the lumps of flour incorporated.
Next stir in one of the cans of El Pato, then add in the nutritional yeast. Whisk until combined.
Whisk in the last two cans of El Pato, and the 4 tbsp. of white vinegar. Turn burner down to low.
Take your cooled down produce and place it all in your blender, oil and all. If using a fresh jalapeño, while wearing gloves cut the top off and deseed, then add it to the blender. Pulse on the "salsa" setting or on low. You want to have a "rough" chop to the produce, but not completely pureed.
lastly, pour your blended produce mix into the queso base on the stove. Using a kitchen spoon, stir all ingredients until well combined. You'll see the pieces of roasted produce in a smooth queso.
Serve hot with your preferred chip.
This will keep in the fridge for up to a week in an air-tight container.
Note:
In the above picture it shows the queso with regular tortillas chips, When I have this queso I fry up my own chips with Casava Flour tortillas as I'm unable to have regular tortilla chips. Thie recipe is also what I call "Accidently vegan" as I didn't set out to make it vegan friendly on purpose. it was just a happy coincidence. I'd also like to give a special shout out to my sister who helped me with some writers block I was having about the into. Also, if you want a thinner queso simply stir in more oat milk a 1/2 c. at a time.
Kim
