Vegan sauces are EVERYTHING when it comes to making delicious plant-based dishes. Veggies need flavor and a ton of great sauce. Serve up these 3 essential vegan sauces by vegan chef, Rachel Carr, to your guests over the Holiday season, and no one will need or want to look at a piece of meat! Why? Because they’re going to get an explosion of flavor, which will satisfy their taste buds 100%.
Oh – and Rachel has thrown in an insane Avocado Pesto too:)
Avocado Pesto
2 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and diced
2 cups (packed) fresh basil leaves
⅓ cup walnuts
⅓ cup pecans
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
Water as needed
Salt and pepper to taste
Puree everything in the food processor or blender till creamy, adding the basil little by little.
Roasted Bell Pepper and Tomato Sauce
4 red bell peppers
4 beefsteak tomatoes
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
¼ teaspoon chipotle (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Roast the peppers over an open flame (like your gas range) or grill until the skins turn black. Remove from the flames and allow to cool. When cool enough to touch, remove the skins, stem and seeds and rinse with cool water. Set aside.
Pre-heat the oven to 375 F.
Bring a sauce pan of water to a boil. Score the skin of the tomatoes with a knife in an X on the bottom of each tomato. Blanche in the boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until you start to see the skin splitting on the tomatoes.
Transfer to a sieve and allow the tomatoes to cool. Rinse with cool water and slip off the skins.
Place the skinned tomatoes on a lightly oiled roasting dish, season liberally with salt and pepper and put in the oven and roast uncovered for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Put the peeled peppers and roasted tomatoes in a blender and add the paprika and a little salt and pepper and puree. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. Add cayenne or chipotle if you would it spicier.
Kabocha Cheese Sauce (aka nacho cheese)
1 small kabocha squash, peeled and seeded
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon chipotle powder
½ cup water
½ cup soaked cashews
juice of 1 lime wedge
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut squash in half lengthwise and spoon out the seeds.
Roast for 30-45 minutes face down on a roasting tray until fork tender.
When the squash are done allow to cool 10-15 minutes.
Scrape out the flesh of the roasted squash from the skin and discard the skin.
Add the squash flesh to a high powered blender with the rest of the sauce ingredients.
Blend everything until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Cider Gravy
¼ cup brown rice flour
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 cup cider
1 cup veg stock
1 teaspoon sage, chopped finely
Tamari, salt and pepper to taste
Add the brown rice flour and nutritional yeast to a dry sauce pan and toast gently over medium heat till it turn slightly golden and you smell a nice roasted aroma.
Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized saucepan. Cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until gravy boils and thickens. Check seasonings and add more as needed. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. If it’s too thick, add additional broth..
