Vegan Pumpkin Cheese Fondue

I whipped up this recipe for a Halloween get together we hosted for a small group of friends last night, filled with spooky stories, vegan eats and good company. We used to host large scale potlucks at our home regularly before the pandemic hit, and this was our very first time getting back into hosting any sort of party after we’ve become a bit too comfortable with our introvert lifestyle. If you remember our big potlucks from back in the day - do not worry, because they’re comin’ back soon! If you’d like to be included in the next one let us know - we plan to have them open for all of our vegan (and aspiring vegan!) friends 😊

Anyway - this fondue 😋. I first felt inspired by a post I saw on Instagram by the Atomic Vegans - it was an apple cider pumpkin fondue dip they shared by modifying a non-vegan recipe and serving it inside of a pumpkin! (Let’s just say that my attempts to get this into a pumpkin didn’t work out too well) I didn’t stick with the original recipe because it was made up of processed vegan cheese and cream cheese (delicious!) but I wanted to create a version a little more whole food based and healthy, and I didn’t have enough cream cheese on hand. I did some experimenting on my own and this is what I came up with!

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup of raw cashews, soaked in a bowl of water for a few hours

Raw fresh pumpkin - I cut up one small pumpkin and used all the flesh of that, but you can sub it with ½ - 1 whole can of pumpkin purée or fresh butternut squash or any similar squash that you’d like! I didn’t cook it before hand so my cheese fondue was a little chunky, but you could roast it or steam it first for a smoother consistency

⅓ onion

Nutritional yeast - anywhere from around ½ - 1 cup is good! How much I actually used is a mystery.. since I don’t measure. Can’t go wrong though because it’s so delicious!

Apple cider vinegar - nope I didn’t measure this either, but I’d guess I used about ⅓ cup. I like my cheese real sharp like cheddar but if you prefer a more mild cheese, use less or omit the ACV all together. Start with a couple tablespoons and taste test as you go. You can also sub for lemon juice for a less tart sharp flavor! Some acidity is needed though for a true “cheesy” flavor profile.

Miso paste - 2 heaping tablespoons. This gives a rich flavorful and salty taste. You may also add some salt to taste as well if needed

3 garlic cloves

Tapioca starch (optional) - only needed if you want your cheese fondue to have a cheesy, stretchy, ooey and gooey consistency. I used about ¼ cup

Spices to taste - I used a decent dash of chili powder and paprika. Other add ins could include turmeric (for color), cayenne if you like a good kick, cumin, etc.

Soy milk (or any non-dairy milk of choice) - I used just enough of a splash for everything to mix and blend well together.

Optional - add in a ½ bag of shredded vegan cheese only if you want the sauce to be ridiculously cheesy. I had a bag of cheddar shreds from Aldi and used half of that added in!

Directions:

I threw it all (except shredded cheese) into a food processor and blended until smooth. The raw pumpkin makes things a little chunky - using canned or cooked pumpkin would help even it out some more, but I didn’t really mind as this did not at all affect the flavor or taste of the cheese and I was short on time for that extra step of cooking. Once it was relatively smooth I poured it all into a pot on the stove over medium heat and stirred while cooking for about 15 minutes. Just cook and stir until it thickens and is super cheesy. It might bubble and splatter around as it heats up so be cautious. Add more milk (or water) if needed to thin it out or increase the yield. You can taste test and adjust ingredients if needed! Add vinegar or lemon juice for more tart. Add more nutritional yeast for more “cheesy” flavor. Add more spices for more of a kick. Add more blended cashews if it needs to be creamier. The combo I used though made it perfect and everyone REALLY enjoyed it! I added the cheese shreds just a couple minutes before taking off the stove and folded it in as it melted into it for cheesy perfection.

You may add some agar agar if you’d like it to set into a formed cheese overnight, or leave it as is to be more of a thick “sauce”. Enjoy it as is with chunks of sourdough bread, pretzels, crackers, chopped apples, veggies, or whatever you’d like! Would make an excellent nacho cheese/chip dip too. Thin it out with milk/water to use as a pasta sauce. If it thickens up in the fridge you can even use it as a spread. Enjoy with everything this season! If pumpkin or squash is not available you may sub for carrots and potatoes for a similar cheesy sauce. Play around with veggies… even tomatoes and peppers would be delicious blended in! Every time I cook I experiment and make things a little different, so I always encourage that. Enjoy :)