Welcome Friends!
Sunflower seeds are so nostalgic for me. I grew up playing softball for as long as I can remember and one thing that we always had around was sunflower seeds. You know the kind that come in the shells and you pop them open with your teeth? Yum! I loved the salty flavors and cracking open the seeds to get to the delicious morsels inside.
Turn It Into Cheese!
I came up with this recipe on a random night when I wanted a delicious, savory meal. I was really wanting something so comforting and I’ve been digging sunflower seeds lately. I made a Tahini Cheese Sauce (see my healthy twice baked potato skins post for the recipe) and it was amazing so I felt like this would work well.
And boy did it! I’ve made potato, cashew and tapioca starch cheeses and this sunflower seed cheese might be my favorite. It’s just so easy and accessible. You don’t need anything crazy to whip this one up. I don’t use my tamper so you might even be able to make this in a traditional blender. Of course it will be a little bit more chunky than when made with a high speed blender. Let me know in the comments how it goes if you try it!
Why Sunflower Seeds?
I have been loving sunflower seeds lately. The reason why I’ve been into them is that they are great for seed cycling during the ovulatory phase of a menstrual cycle. I’ve been seeing a lot of positive change by incorporating seed cycling and sunflower seeds have been clutch. I have been loving tahini and sunflower seeds made into delicious sauces or thrown into a smoothie.
Aside from hormonal health, sunflower seeds are just great for you. They are high in B complex vitamins and are a good source of phosphorus, magnesium, iron, potassium and protein. They also contain several trace minerals like zinc and copper that are so good for you.
Are you ready to feast on sunflower seeds yet? Start with this recipe!
The Recipe
I posted a shot of this delicious, creamy sunflower seed cheese sauce on my Instagram feed and you guys went nuts. Well.. not nuts, but seeds!? Nope… moving along.
I said to let me know if you wanted the recipe and it was a unanimous yes! When I whipped up this recipe up on a whim one night I was blown away by how tasty it was. I refined some of the ingredients and have a delicious, creamy sauce to share with you today.
This recipe is also fantastic because it’s nut free, so it’s so great for those with allergies. It’s also dairy free, gluten free, and keto friendly when served with zoodles or low carb noodle substitutes. This sauce also packs a lot of delicious, cheesy flavor. And because sunflower seeds are so affordable it’s a new staple for me.
Let’s get down to the recipe! It’s so simple and requires minimal ingredients that you probably already have. The sauce is incredible with your favorite noodles or it’s amazing if you add some broccoli, peas, zucchini, vegan chicken, or mushroom bacon. Yum
- 1 cup sunflower seeds
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
-
Measure out all of the ingredients and add them to your blender.
-
Blend on high until everything is incorporated and smooth.
-
Add to noodles, vegetables, potatoes or anything you enjoy cheesy sauce over.
Decrease the water to 1 to 1 ¼ cups to make a thick sauce for dipping.


Carlie
May 4, 2020This is amazing and so easy!
Melissa Eaton
May 4, 2020I’m glad you love it! Thank you for sharing.
Heidi Pafford
May 13, 2020Can the sunflower seeds be roasted or do they need to be raw? You did not say in the instructions. This does look delicious. Heidi P.
Melissa Eaton
May 27, 2020I always use raw, unsalted sunflower seeds. Roasted would probably give the dish a nice, nutty flavor but I haven’t personally tried them out.
frolep rotrem
May 21, 2020Howdy very nice website!! Guy .. Excellent .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your blog and take the feeds alsoKI’m glad to search out numerous useful information here within the submit, we need develop more techniques on this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .
Ilene
June 9, 2020You’re so awesome! I don’t think I have read a single thing
like that before. So good to find someone with some original thoughts on this subject matter.
Seriously.. thanks for starting this up. This
web site is something that is needed on the web, someone with a little originality!
Melissa Eaton
June 24, 2020Wow, thank you so much!
Derrick
August 8, 2020I needed to thank you for this excellent read!!
I definitely enjoyed every little bit of it.
I have got you saved as a favorite to check out new stuff you post…
Miquel
September 13, 2020Your mode of describing all in this piece of writing is really good,
all can without difficulty understand it, Thanks a lot.