Leek in vegan “cheese” sauce

Are you looking for a new delicious but healthy side dish? This leek side dish is vegan, whole30 friendly, creamy and cheesy-delicious but it’s also healthy and fast and easy to make!

I’m always on the lookout for a yummy new side dish! Creamy and cheesy are definitely two important factors but healthy also gets high points on my internal score card. All three together are a definite hit! This dish combines all those things. It’s vegan, whole30 friendly, creamy and cheesy-delicious but it’s also healthy and fast and easy to make!

Leek is oddly not particularly popular in my family. I absolutely love it but don’t use it often because my husband’s onion allergy also includes leek. And since most of the dishes that I cook are for my whole family, the only way to include leek would be to make a side dish just for me. So it has to be something that I can make quickly on the side. This dish is super fast – it is done in about 15 minutes altogether.

The cheesy flavor in this leek side dish does not come from cheese itself but rather from nutritional yeast. I love and use nutritional yeast in a lot of dishes and often add it at the end when cooking a dish for a bit of a cheesy kick. If you’re not familiar with nutritional yeast, it’s grown specifically to be used as a food product. The yeast cells are killed during manufacturing and not alive in the final product. It is used in cooking and has a cheesy, nutty or savory flavor.

I love eating this “cheesy” leek on the side of mashed potatoes for a quick, easy and healthy vegetarian lunch. Or it’s also really good on the side of a meat dish like meatloaf (or a vegan version thereof). I will definitely make it again very soon – I just need to get some more leek first!

Will you make this side dish soon? Or how about my Parmesan Roasted Zucchini Slices?

Print Recipe

Leek in vegan “cheese” sauce

Author: AndreaEpstein Cooking Method: Frying Courses: Side Dishes Recipe Keys: Dairy Free Soy Free Vegan V vegetarian Whole30

Difficulty: Beginner Prep Time 10 mins Cook Time 10 mins Total Time 20 mins

Servings: 2

Ingredients

Servings

• 2 whole leeks
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ¹⁄₈ tsp chili flakes
• ¹⁄₂ cup vegetable broth
• ¹⁄₃ cup coconut milk
• 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
• ¹⁄₈ tsp white pepper

Instructions

1. Clean the leek thoroughly and cut into rings. 

2. Heat up olive oil in a pan. Add chili flakes and leek and fry for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally. 

3. Add vegetable broth, coconut milk, nutritional yeast and pepper. Mix well. 

4. Cook for another 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Enjoy!

Keywords: side dish, vegan, vegan side dish, leek, leek side dish, dinner, vegan leek dish, cheesy leek, nutritional yeast, vegan recipes, healthy side dish, creamy,