The carrot/potato cheese phenomenon seems to be taking the vegan world by storm – and for good reason – it’s healthy, it’s creamy, and it taste like cheese!
But there’s another vegetable that is already a potato, with the same color as a carrot.
Yep – the Sweet Potato.
And these babies make a pretty mean cheese sauce too.
Sweet Potato Nacho Cheese
So why sweet potatoes you ask?
Well besides the fact they’re naturally orange like cheese, there’s also this little thing called nutrition – as in they are one of the most nutritious foods on the planet.
Sweet Potatoes are packed with calcium, potassium, magnesium, and Vitamins A, B6, C, and even Vitamin D. Plus as an added bonus, they also contain iron and have fewer calories than the regular potato.
So eat up. Sweet potatoes are good for you.
And when you add a few spices to make them taste like cheese – I almost feel like I’m cheating as I can have the best of both worlds – nutrition AND cheese.
Nacho Cheese Dip
Back in my crappy western diet days, I had spent many a Super Bowl Sunday eating the infamous Rotel Tomato / Velveeta Cheese Dip.
If you’ve never heard of it, it’s a cheesy concoction made in a crock pot where you basically add a whole tub of velveeta cheese, a can of Rotel tomatoes, and sausage, and cook it until it becomes all melted and gooey.
Pretty yummy stuff but let’s not even get started on the health risks, the indigestion, the bloating, or the gas
Yet somehow I wanted to capture some of that zing in this Sweet Potato Nacho Cheese Dip, so I added a can of Rotel Tomatoes once everything was blended. Naturally, if you want less zing in your dip, you can easily leave them out and substitute some Sriracha or Tabasco, but I really like the green chile flavor the Rotel adds.
This recipe is pretty basic – peel and chop up a sweet potato (yep – I used just one), toss it in a pan of cold water and boil it until it’s soft – about 20 minutes. Then transfer it to a blender with some liquid and spices, and press the button.
Within a minute or so – right before your eyes – cheesy magic happens.
Mmmmmmmmm.
Use this a sauce for nachos, a spread for those BBQ veggie burgers, or even as a baked potato topper.
The possibilities are endless.
Happy cheesing.
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 25 mins
Serves: 2 cups
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
- ¼ cup almond milk
- 3 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons of reserved potato water (if needed)
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce, low sodium
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon tumeric
- 1 can Ro*Tel Tomatoes with green chiles
- Boil sweet potato in enough water to cover for 20 min
- Spoon sweet potato into blender
- Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth
