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This vegan Yumm Sauce is my take on the popular Café Yumm Sauce. It’s ultra-creamy, full of flavor, and packed with protein (we’re talking 10 grams in just 2 tablespoons!). With dozens of 5-star reviews, it’s guaranteed to become your new go-to for bowls, sandwiches, and everything in between.
save this recipe!If you’ve ever been to Café Yumm! in Portland, you know their original Yumm Sauce is next-level delicious. If not, prepare to have your taste buds blown away with this vegan Yumm Sauce recipe (trust me, it’s every bit as mouthwatering and addicting as the real deal!).
With a surprisingly simple mix of ingredients—chickpeas, tofu, nutritional yeast, and the like—the result is the creamiest, richest sauce that pairs perfectly with roasted veggie glow bowls, sandwiches, wraps, and pretty much anything else you can think of.
Reader rating
“Oh my goodness! I moved from Oregon over 2 years ago and I missed my Yumm bowl so much! I am NOT a cook by any means and this sauce was really easy to make… and so delicious! 100% recommend!!” —Kelsey
Save The Chickpea Juice: It’s a good idea to reserve a little extra chickpea juice/brine. This way, you can adjust the thickness if needed, especially if the sauce thickens after chilling in the fridge.
Experiment With Flavors: To give your sauce even more oomph, add extra seasonings like paprika, cayenne, curry powder, onion powder, or even Sriracha.
Get Toasty: For a richer, nuttier flavor, you can try lightly toasting the slivered almonds in a dry skillet for a few minutes before blending.
Pairing Ideas
When a sauce is this good, the rest of the meal simply becomes the vehicle. Here are some delicious “vehicles” that pair well with vegan Yumm Sauce!
- Buddha Bowl: Your favorite Buddha bowl isn’t complete without the creamiest, dreamiest sauce around!
- Veggie Loaded Wraps: Swap the hummus in the wrap recipe for this yumm sauce!
Homemade Yumm Sauce (Copycat Cafe Yumm Recipe)
Ingredients
- ½ cup canned chickpeas, 100 g, keep juice from the can
- ½ cup nutritional yeast, 50 g
- ½ cup silken tofu, 100 g
- ¼ cup slivered almonds, 40 g
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 30 mL
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp curry powder
- 2 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup chickpea juice, 60 mL
Instructions
- Add all ingredients except chickpea juice to a blender.
- Blitz until smooth, slowly adding chickpea juice until you reach a thick, pourable consistency.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
I replaced the almonds with raw cashews soaked for ten minutes in hot water and it worked great. This recipe is fabulous and so much less oily than the one I’ve purchased at cafe yumm.
Such a great idea, thanks for letting us know how it went with the cashews! 😀
I was told not to eat raw cashews with out toasting them.
Hi I am a breast cancer survivor so I am not allowed to have any tofu. Can you suggest a substitute?
Thanks,
Diana
Hi Diana! I would probably do 1/2 cup of coconut milk (though an avocado may also work – haven’t tried it though). Would love to hear how it works out for you! 😀
Diana,
There is a lot of false info about soy and breast cancer. Japanese women who eat soy products and a traditional Japanese diet regularly have much less breast cancer than women in the US. Listen to Dr. Michael Greger at nutrition facts.org or read the “Breast Owner’s Manual” book by Kristy Funk, MD. There is an overwhelming amount of data on the benefits of soy intake to decrease the chance of recurrence and metastasis. Good luck!
Hi. I would like to try this Yum Sauce but can’t have soy. What would you consider using in place of the tofu? Thank you!
Hi Jackie! I would probably just substitute it for more chickpeas and coconut milk (an extra 1/4 cup of each). I haven’t tried this, but the tofu doesn’t add much to the flavor so you should be fine without it!
Wowza this is delicious! I like the use of the silken tofu since it adds an extra layer of protein and richness to the sauce. The nutritional yeast gives it that slightly cheesy flavor without actual cheese, which is always fun. This is going to be a sauce I end up keeping around the house because the possibilities with it are endless. Salads, roasted veggies, tofu bites, burgers, so many tasty combos.
Yesss I love it on all of those things! Enjoy!!
The flavor is quite good. This recipe has a tad too much curry in and to be more originalYUM! the recipes does need to add liquid. I notice that there is no oil in this recipe, yet one of the first ingredients in the original YUM! sauce is canola oil (personally, I do not recommend canola or rapeseed oil). I added a chug of olive oil and liked it better. Thanks for ciphering the recipe.
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment, Chloe! 😀
Hey there, I would love to make this but my husband can’t really have nuts, is there anything you sub out the almonds for?
You could just omit the almonds here, or substitute them for a seed (like pumpkin or sunflower seeds).
This is my new favorite sauce! I make it with cashews and sub apple cider vinegar for the lemon juice (because I am too lazy to squeeze lemons!) and it is so good! I use it on salads, as a dip and even on pasta (with sautéed mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, chopped cucumbers, etc)! I live it and anticipate making this a lot!
Aw yay! So happy to hear it! I’ll have to try it with apple cider vin, that sounds delish 😀
Can this sauce be stored frozen?
I haven’t tried it so I couldn’t say for sure. I’m leaning towards no – I think the texture will be impacted by the freezing due to the fat.
I’m confused because…the original Yumm sauce is already vegan. Its also sugar free. A lot of these ingredients are the same? I just don’t understand the point of this recipe. Yumm sauce is 5$ a jar.
The point is so you can make it at home 😀 Many people do not have access to the store bought stuff.
I think $5 a jar says it all 🤣
I just made it 100% organic, tripled recipe – about 4x the yumm jar volume,
I always soak dry beans… I’d be surprised if it cost max $4-5 for 4x the amount. $1 a jar!
I can’t get Yumm sauce on the east coast, shipping something from PNW to hot South Carolina was going to cost $80 in shipping a cold item overnight.
I can’t wait to try this.
I live in Eugene, OR and can’t find Yumm! Sauce anywhere for less than $7/jar now. And those little jars only last 3-4 meals if I’m being stingy with it, which I’m usually not. I love it and can just eat it out of the jar with a spoon, so I’m eager to try this recipe. And bonus for not having oil as the first ingredient, like the original.
Excellent base! I added more lemon juice for more of a bite (that you would have with Cafe Yumm). Turned out a little salty because of the salt in the can of chick peas as well as the added salt in the recipe. I would either cut the added salt or get no salt chick peas next time!
Thanks for your thoughtful review! Enjoy! 😀