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Home » Recipes » Recipes

Vegan Stretchy Melty Cheese Nachos (GF)

Modified: Jul 15, 2021 · Published: Jun 8, 2017 by Rhian Williams

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I really hope you'll love these Vegan Stretchy Melty Cheese Nachos as much as I do. They're easy to make, loaded with healthy veggies, and drenched in a genuinely stretchy and melty, but dairy-free cheese. Sounds too good to be true, right?

Vegan Stretchy Melty Cheese Nachos (GF)

Ever since I posted this grilled cheese recipe, I've been thinking hard about different ways I can put my new-found vegan cheese to use...and then someone commented on my grilled cheese recipe saying the cheese could be good for nachos, and I immediately knew I had to try it out. Thanks for the inspiration!

Vegan Stretchy Melty Cheese Nachos (GF)

Let's start with the cheese. This recipe came about as I wanted to create a properly stretchy, melty vegan cheese made from natural ingredients. I happily managed to do this thanks to the magical ingredient that is mochi.

Mochi are Japanese sticky rice cakes, which are made from pounding rice until it becomes sticky and glutinous (don’t worry, despite the name it is still gluten-free).

It is sold in many different forms, one of them being in small, hard blocks. When these blocks of mochi are melted, they become incredibly sticky, stretchy and gooey…like real cheese!

You can buy mochi in Asian supermarkets, some local health stores, or online – just make sure you get the hard, firm type that’s sold in blocks.

One word of caution: melted mochi is extremely sticky, so once you have removed the sauce from the pan, please soak your pan in boiling water immediately - otherwise you'll have a very tricky washing-up situation on your hands!

Vegan Stretchy Melty Cheese Nachos (GF)

Whereas my grilled cheese was made using a mixture of boiled potatoes with the mochi to make the cheese, I was concerned that it was a little carb-heavy. And because I had such a good time making a white bean mac and cheese, I decided to substitute the boiled potatoes with white beans.

And I'm happy that I tried it, because it worked beautifully! White beans have a similarly neutral flavour, but add more protein and fibre, which is always a good thing.

I then added all the same extras - miso for an umami-rich, fermented flavour, nutritional yeast for cheesiness, and vinegar for a little tang. Incidentally, all of the ingredients I used happen to be oil-free and nut-free too!

What's good about this vegan nacho recipe is that although the cheese part is a little more labour-intensive than if you're using shop-bought cheese, you don't need to turn on the oven to melt the cheese over the nachos, as the melting part will happen on the stove.

Vegan Stretchy Melty Cheese Nachos (GF)

You can use regular shop-bought tortilla chips as the base for the nachos, but if you want to be healthier, you could use the trick of cutting up tortillas and baking them in the oven until crisp. I've never done this before, but definitely want to try it out soon!

Vegan Stretchy Melty Cheese Nachos (GF)

Then you just load up the nachos with ALL the toppings - I went for:

  • Mango salsa: crisp cucumbers, sweet tomatoes, juicy mangoes and tangy red onion
  • Guacamole: rich and creamy avocado with hint of zingy lime
  • Thinly sliced sweet red peppers for extra crunchy sweetness
  • Thinly sliced jalapeños or green chilli for a kick of heat
  • More coriander for extra flavour
  • Sour cream - there are loads of vegan sour cream recipes out there, but one of my favourite ways to make it is blending up soaked cashews. This spicy miso mayonnaise is a very similar recipe, you can just leave out the miso and chilli and add some lemon juice or extra vinegar. Or you can use your favourite store-bought type
  • Sweetcorn

...or whatever else you want, the list is endless! If you think of any fun toppings, please let me know in the comments below 🙂

Vegan Stretchy Melty Cheese Nachos (GF)

These Vegan Stretchy Melty Cheese Nachos are such a great crowd-pleaser, so would be perfect if you're hosting guests. However, they also make a delicious lunch or indulgent snack.

Looking for more dairy-free cheese recipes? You might like my:

  • Vegan White Bean Mac and Cheese
  • Vegan Stretchy Melty Grilled Cheese
  • Vegan Stretchy Melty Quesadillas

If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.

Watch how to make the cheese

Vegan Stretchy Melty Cheese Nachos (GF)

Vegan Stretchy Melty Cheese Nachos (GF)

These Vegan Stretchy Melty Cheese Nachos are easy to make, loaded with healthy veggies, and drenched in a genuinely stretchy and melty but dairy-free cheese.
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: dairy-free nachos, vegan mexican food, vegan nachos
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 322kcal

Ingredients

For the cheese:

  • 400 g (14oz) tin of white beans, drained and rinsed (haricot beans, cannellini beans or butter beans)
  • 120 g (4oz) mochi (the hard firm mochi sold in blocks)
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 1 heaped teaspoon miso* (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
  • Salt + pepper, to taste

For the mango salsa:

  • 1 mango, peeled and cut into cubes
  • ½ cucumber, cut into cubes
  • 3 tomatoes, cut into cubes
  • 1 small red onion, very finely diced
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • Salt, to taste

For the guacamole:

  • 1 avocado, peeled and pitted
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • Salt + pepper, to taste

For the nachos:

  • 200 g (7oz) tortilla chips (ensure vegan/gluten-free if necessary)

Instructions

For the cheese:

  • Place the mochi in a pan with 100ml (just under ½ cup) water and cook on a low heat for about 5 minutes or so until mochi has melted and become sticky - until soft enough to stick gently pierce with a fork
  • Add the white beans and continue to cook for a couple of minutes until heated through
  • Turn off heat and add nutritional yeast, miso, vinegar, salt + pepper
  • Use either a blender, food processor or hand-held stick blender (this is the easiest option as you can just do it in the same saucepan) and whizz until completely smooth

For the mango salsa:

  • Place all ingredients together in a bowl and mix well

For the guacamole:

  • Place avocado in a bowl and mash with a fork
  • Add olive oil, lime juice and salt + pepper

For the nachos:

  • Lay out tortilla chips on a large serving plate
  • Reheat cheese just before serving, and pour over tortilla chips
  • Scatter over the mango salsa, add dollops of guacamole, and other toppings of choice
  • Best enjoyed immediately**

Video

Notes

One word of caution: melted mochi is extremely sticky, so once you have removed the sauce from the pan, please soak your pan in boiling water immediately - otherwise you'll have a very tricky washing-up situation on your hands!
*If you have trouble getting hold of miso, you can substitute with soy sauce (or tamari), and add extra nutritional yeast and salt if necessary
**You can prepare the mango salsa and guacamole in advance and keep covered in the fridge. The cheese can also be prepared in advance and kept covered in the fridge - just reheat in the microwave or in a pan on the stove before eating
Other suggested toppings:
  • thinly sliced sweet red peppers
  • thinly sliced jalapeños or green chilli
  • roughly chopped coriander
  • vegan sour cream
  • sweetcorn
 
 
Nutrition Facts
Vegan Stretchy Melty Cheese Nachos (GF)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 322
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Made the recipe?Tag @rhiansrecipes on instagram and use the hashtag #rhiansrecipes!

Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.

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    Recipe Rating




  1. JoAnn M Lakes

    June 10, 2017 at 3:08 pm

    Why can't I just use mochiko flour and water, instead of buying mochi and then melting it back to just mochiko (glutinous sweet rice flour) and water?

    Reply
    • Rhian Williams

      June 10, 2017 at 3:23 pm

      Hey, that's a good question - I did test the recipe using that method, but it didn't work out quite as well unfortunately. You could give it a go though, you might have better luck than me! Let me know how you get on it you do ?

  2. Nayna Kanabar

    June 11, 2017 at 5:15 pm

    I have never heard of Mochi , its sounds like an interesting ingredient. Your nachos look picture perfect and very tempting. I can't believe that's not normal cheese.

    Reply
    • Rhian Williams

      June 11, 2017 at 6:40 pm

      Thank you so much! Mochi is so great - you can buy it in Asian supermarkets, some local health stores and online. Hope you get to try it soon. Thanks Nayna! 🙂

  3. Strength and Sunshine

    June 12, 2017 at 10:46 am

    Perfectly stretchy and cheesy! Such a fantastic recipe!

    Reply
    • Rhian Williams

      June 12, 2017 at 10:55 am

      Thank you so much, so glad you like it! ?

  4. Chris @thinlyspread

    June 12, 2017 at 12:39 pm

    Oooh, lovely, an excuse to visit the Japan Centre again! This looks fabulous, I’ll definitely be giving it a go – stretchy cheese on nachos is one of the few things I miss!

    Reply
    • Rhian Williams

      June 12, 2017 at 1:16 pm

      Thank you so much Chris! It's always nice to visit the Japan Centre ?

  5. Anonymous

    May 01, 2018 at 3:40 pm

    5 stars
    Just what I've been looking for, thank you!!

    Reply
    • Rhian Williams

      May 01, 2018 at 3:56 pm

      Thank you!

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Hi, I’m Rhian! I make easy, undetectably vegan + gluten-free recipes, including healthy comfort food and naturally sweetened desserts using plant-based ingredients.

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