Easy Vegan Queso

Kaity Farrell

Fare Isle

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Instagram: @fareisle | fareisle.com

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INGREDIENTS

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

½ cup carrot

1 cup unsweetened soy milk*

½ cup full-fat coconut milk

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp kosher salt

½ tsp annatto powder**

½ tsp paprika powder

½ tsp red pepper flakes

2 tbsp pickled jalapeño peppers, chopped

2 tbsp pico de gallo (salsa)

METHOD

• Peel, trim ends and roughly chop 1 medium carrot, and simmer in water or steam until fork tender, about 5 minutes, to yield about ½ cup cooked carrot.

• Add cooked carrot, soy milk, coconut milk, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt and spices to a high-speed blender and puree everything together until smooth.

• Whisk olive oil and flour together constantly in a saucepan over medium/low heat until it reaches a dark golden hue, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat immediately. Still whisking, pour the blended mixture into the saucepan and return to medium heat. Continue whisking constantly until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Switch to a rubber spatula to continue stirring sauce until it becomes the consistency of nacho cheese sauce, about 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in chopped pickled jalapeños and pico de gallo. (A skin may form on the sauce as it cools; this is normal and can be whisked smooth. But I found adding the pickled jalapeños and salsa to the queso helps to avoid a skin from forming.)

• Serve right away with chips or cover in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Enjoy!

Notes: I haven’t tried this with gluten-free flour, but the interwebs say sweet rice flour makes a velvety roux, so subbing it for the all-purpose flour looks like it could work. If you try it, let me know. *Any unsweetened non-dairy milk can be used instead of soy milk.

**If you don’t have annatto in your pantry already, you can substitute it with more paprika.