Recipe- Nacho mama? Nacho milk!

Happy Monday! Make these wonderful vegan nachos that will both qualify as your weekly “Meatless Monday” meal, and help you forget about those back-to-work Monday blues.

I decided to call these my “Nacho Mama? Nacho milk! Vegan Nachos”

*Note*

I suggest preparing your meatless crumbles and other ingredients before making cheese sauce, as the cheese sauce should be served right away.

I adapted this recipe from one of my favorite cookbook authors, Lindsay Nixon. She is the author of the vegan cookbook line “Happy Herbivore.” She has several books, but my favorite is her original, “The Happy Herbivore.”

You can purchase it here if you are interested!

Vegan nacho cheese sauce:

Recipe makes just over 1 cup of sauce

1 and 1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I prefer almond milk.)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon salt (or more, to taste)

Directions:

Place all ingredients, except salt, in a saucepan. Whisk altogether.

Cook on medium-low heat until sauce starts to thicken. Add salt at the end as sauce is thickening, adding more to taste, if necessary. Remove from heat. Sauce will thicken upon standing, so it is best to remove from heat as soon as the whole mixture has thickened. Be sure to constantly whisk; this only takes a few minutes. If you find your sauce has thickened too much before you have served, add a little bit more almond milk or some vegetable broth to reconstitute and heat again.

Pour over tortilla chips and enjoy immediately!

Nacho Add-Ons

I am not a big fan of meat substitutes, mostly because I don’t really want something that imitates meat; I do not miss it one bit. However, I do think they are great for those transitioning or who do miss the taste of meat. I have come to enjoy a few of them. My favorite brand of meatless crumbles, (like meatless ground beef), is Trader Joe’s beefless ground beef crumbles. They are close enough to meat texture to satisfy those hardcore carnivores, but not too close to turn off those of us who aren’t searching for something too meat-like. One package of them is the equivalent of 1 pound of ground beef. I have also used the frozen Gardein brand of crumbles and they are very good, as well. Any brand of veggie crumbles will work here. Simply cook them and season as you would tacos.

While it is totally ok to use a variety of individual spices to season the crumbles, I do have a favorite seasoning blend, pictured below. It can be found in the spice aisle at Costco!

I put a few splashes of vegetable broth in the pan so the crumbles do not stick and to add a little extra flavor, but water will work, too.

My other favorite nacho toppings include, salsa, (jarred or even better, homemade), lettuce, fresh jalapeno, green onion, avocado slices or guacamole, and sometimes even black beans. If you try this recipe, please post a picture of your nachos below!