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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!
Just a note you don’t have to post; the ingredients list does not show up on iOS screen reader view, so possibly this page my not be ADA compliment for folks with vision loss.
Thanks for letting us know, Jenny!
I haven’t yet made this because I’m a bit confused. Your recipe does not call for coconut milk yet you suggest, “increasing the coconut milk” in a couple of your responses to questions. Is there or is there not supposed to be coconut milk in the recipe?
Hi Nancy! I recently modified this recipe to remove the coconut milk. It doesn’t need it (though you can add some in if you want a more liquid consistency). Apologies for the confusion!
I don’t see coconut oil listed anywhere in this recipe? What am I missing?
Nvm. I see it was addressed earlier today!
You’re not missing anything, coconut oil is not an ingredient 😀
Absolutely delicious! I have tried several other yumm sauce recipes and this is the one I am returning to. Thank you.
This recipe was good, but it doesn’t really taste like Yumm Sauce. It doesn’t have much of the nuance of the real stuff. I’ve tried several recipes so far, and this one is middle of the road.
Made this before, excellent!
Today I didn’t have almonds or chickpeas or curry powder… still excellent… here’s how
1. Double the tofu to substitute for missing chickpeas
2. Water as substitute for chickpea juice
3. Had some tahini, used 2T – but it would have worked without this
4. Added 1/4t turmeric and 1/8t each of ground cumin and coriander. All of these optional.
Main flavor profile is from the yeast salt lemon juice. Tofu provides enough thickness for texture. Just adding this so folks can simplify if needed
Nuts and chickpeas definitely adds extra nutrition and fiber. curry & garlic extra yum.
I made this expecting to have a nice sauce to change things up for some vegetables, bowls etc. But WOW, this stuff completely blew all my expectations out of the water. It is AMAZING. It’s healthy but tastes like it should be unhealthy. Super versatile, it tastes good with everything. Super easy and quick to make and tastes unreal.
The only change i made was using a mix of cashews and almonds as I didn’t have enough almonds on hand.
YAY! I’m so happy to hear you had the same reaction I did to this sauce! Enjoy! 😀
Love this, made a few times, it is now a staple!!! (without almonds which I never have). Love that it has no oil yet still tastes fulfilling!
My variations:
1. White beans of any type can substitute for chickpeas (pinto may work too, haven’t tried)
2. I make my own beans (soak & cook)m – so cheap so easy) so I use water rather than bean can juice. Often add a bit more water for a runnier sauce
3. Curry powder is optional. sometimes I add extra turmeric (1/2t) or replace curry with turmeric
4. Add Mexican Salsa Cremosa to taste for a warm latinised version. (Eg Chipotle flavor) makes a great dip too!
5. Add 1T tahini – adds a nice note! (which I keep in stock for hummus)
At its base this recipe can be made with the essentials :
Beans, tofu, yeast, salt, lemon, water.
Those variations all sound AMAZING! Def trying the tahini! 😀
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe- I LOVE Cafe Yumm sauce but am on a low sodium diet. Making this myself, I rinse the chickpeas and use half juice/half water, then substitute 1/2 tsp of rice vinegar instead of salt- all that knocks the sodium way down and tastes amazing. (And I took your suggestion of adding a little paprika. Thanks again!
I LOVE that you did it without the oil – thank you!