Easy Sodium Citrate Cheese Sauce

This sodium citrate cheese sauce recipe can transform your dry vegan cheese into melted goodness like this sodium citrate nacho cheese.

Plant based cheeses are infamous for not melting well. They frequently disrupt the natural and appetizing appearance of dishes they’re employed in. Sure, there are a few brands that you can tough out some respectable results with, it’s just too hard. Vegan kitchen wizards often circumvent this issue by preparing a sodium citrate cheese sauce with their store bought plant based cheeses.

Traditional Plant-Based Cheese Sauce

The traditional method for making a delicious cheese sauce involves creating a béchamel sauce with butter, flour, and plant milk to melt the cheese. However, the flour and natural sweetness of unsweetened plant milk can make the sauce taste funny. I experimented with the classic sodium citrate cheese sauce method to see if it could work with vegan cheese too.

Using Sodium Citrate for Emulsifying a Cheese Sauce

Sodium citrate is a natural plant-based chemical additive that plays a crucial role in creating a smooth cheese sauce by keeping it stable and silky. This ingredient not only reduces the pH of the cheese sauce but also fortifies the emulsion to prevent it from breaking. The result is a delicious cheese sauce that maintains its silky smoothness. It’s the secret behind why processed cheeses like Velvet and Kraft Singles are so melty and soft, and I’ve even seen it work wonders on plant-based vegan cheeses.

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A Substitution For Sodium Citrate

If you don’t have sodium citrate, there’s a way to react two common ingredients that will yield it. Mixing citric acid and baking soda in a small amount of liquid will give us sodium citrate, carbon dioxide, and water. The reaction looks similar to mixing baking soda and vinegar.

There’s a lot of different recipes I found researching for this experiment. The best was this post from The Cheese Wanker. I tried other recipes that were using too much sodium citrate before finding this. It might be that you can use even less with plant based cheeses. I made a thicker sauce with only a quarter teaspoon each of citric acid and baking soda to a bag of cheese shreds.

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Ingredients

• Plant based cheese – Use your preferred brand and type for your recipe
• Water or other liquid – Vegetable stock, beer, or wine are good alternatives
• Sodium citrate or substitute ingredients

The list of flavor and style variations for vegan cheese sauce, including sodium citrate cheese sauce options, that you can add onto, or alter, from the base recipe is endless. If you modify the recipe, aim for a ratio of approximately 7-8 ounces of plant-based cheese to 1 cup of liquid to 1 tsp of sodium citrate.

Instructions

• Dissolve the sodium citrate (or alternative) in your water or other liquid, cautiously, a bit at a time so the foaming reaction doesn’t overflow. Heat and stir in cheese shreds and stir until melted. Mix in any seasoning or other ingredients.

Tips And Variations

Combine the ingredients while the liquid is cool and in a container with tall sides to avoid spilling.

Some white wine and a white cheese, or beer and cheddar makes a great sauce too. You can also make a hot and spicy nacho cheese with your favorite jalapeño peppers and seasoning.

FAQs

Other Vegan Dairy Alternative Recipes You’ll Love:

If you enjoyed this easy cheese sauce recipe, here are more vegan dairy alternatives to try:

• Easy Tofu Ricotta Recipe – Learn how to create the best vegan ricotta cheese! This rich, creamy artisanal vegan cheese is ideal for lasagna and more.
• Low Sodium Ranch Dressing – Make a creamy, delicious low sodium ranch dressing with hemp hearts and simple vegan ingredients—perfect for a heart-healthy diet!
• Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup – This is the richest vegan cream of mushroom soup ever, use this condensed vegan mushroom soup to make your best vegan casserole recipes.
• Easy Alfredo Sauce Recipe – Craving creamy Alfredo pasta without dairy or nuts? This easy vegan alfredo sauce recipe has you covered.