Over the years I’ve collected a downright bounty of top-notch vegan recipes on this site, and until now never a vegan macaroni and cheese recipe to be found. Not a one because quite frankly I never tasted one I liked.
Most are too glomey, too much nutritional yeast, just plain gross or bearing absolutely no resemblance to the real deal other that the shape of the pasta.
But this one is different, it is a keeper. It's an amazing concoction that I still don’t really understand how it tastes like mac and cheese. How do they do it?!
I started with a recipe from VegNews and made a few modifications of my own. So this is it, a vegan mac and cheese recipe worthy of your time and energy. You will not be disappointed!
A few suggestions: I highly recommend setting aside some of this sauce for a something else — baked potatoes, nachos, bavarian pretzels, or steamed broccoli.
Also, this recipe suggests you do the whole breadcrumb and bake bit. It’s every bit as good skipping those two steps if you’re short on time or feeling a bit lazy, maybe even a little better as I’ve found the baking can kinda dry it out a bit.
And if you have some extra cashew cream on hand (I keep small ¼ c. tupperwares in the freezer), just use that. Works perfectly.
This recipes doubles well, just switch up your baking pan size to a 9x13. If you’re not keen on spice, skip the cayenne entirely. It’s packs a lot of heat.
Want to get more veggies in there? Try our Spiralized Broccoli Mac & Cheese.
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Vegan Macaroni and Cheese
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: dinner
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: american
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This is it — a vegan mac and cheese recipe worthy of your time and energy. You will not be disappointed!
Ingredients
- 8 oz. macaroni
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- ⅓ cup earth balance
- 2 tbsp. shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 c. red or yellow potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
- ¼ c. carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
- ⅓ c. onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 c. water
- ¼ c. raw cashews
- 2 tsp. sea salt
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ tsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- ¼ tsp. paprika
- ⅛ tsp. cayenne, optional
Instructions
- In a large pot, cook macaroni according to package directions, drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
- While pasta is cooking start to work on the sauce.
- Preheat oven to 350° F. In a medium saucepan, add shallots, potatoes, carrots, onion, and water, and bring to a boil. Cover the and simmer for 15 minutes, or until vegetables are very soft.
- Add the cashews, salt, garlic, ⅓ cup Earth Balance, mustard, lemon juice, black pepper, paprika and cayenne to the blender along with the cooked vegetables and cooking water. Blend until smooth and creamy.
- Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta and mix until the pasta is evenly coated. Transfer mixture to a 9 x 9 baking dish, and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbling.
Looking for more creamy vegan pasta recipes? Grab a fork and get ready to dive into some creamy, comforting pasta dishes that just happen to be 100% vegan.
Laurie
The cheese sauce blew me away (made it to use on loaded potatoes). Better than the “real thing”. I didn’t have Earth Balance so used vegan butter. Think it is essentially the same (?). We had leftover sauce so made the Mac and Cheese (didn’t bake) for lunch the next day. So good and so easy.
Katie Koteen
Hi Laurie! I'm so glad you liked it - we love it too! It's good on everything!
Carole
Hi! Thank you for the recipe! Trying to transition our family of 6 into vegan eating can be challenging. Online recipes like yours are helping so much! Wondering if anyone has tried freezing the cheese sauce? Thinking about making a big batch and wondering if it could be portioned, and frozen for later.
Anna
I love this recipe so much!!! I keep trying other cheesy recipes but this one always comes out on top. I don’t think there is a better recipe.
Melissa
Finally! This cheesy sauce was great! This wanna be vegan is so grateful to you for this recipe!
Anna
This is my favorite "cheese" sauce. It is so good!! Thank you so much! I can eat it by the spoonful.
Katie Koteen
So can we 🙂 We've been working on a Broccoli Cheese Soup recipe using this as a base. Stay tuned!
Greer Powell
I repeatedly reviewed the directions, but I did not see any information concerning the preparation of the cashews. Are they soaked over night???
Please comment.
Katie Koteen
If you think of it ahead of time, soak! Otherwise they're fine as is.
Lisa
Hello! This is THE BEST SAUCE ever! Thank you so very much. I've tried other vegan cheese sauces and they were not to my taste at all. But this one--creamy and flavorful, as another commenter said. The color is beautiful. And a huge plus for me: no nooch (I can't stand nutritional yeast). I used much of the sauce on the macaroni, but there was enough that I could also put some on nachos--wow. Didn't think I could have nachos or mac and cheese like that since going vegan. Oh--and it was pretty simple to make, as well. Again, THANK YOU.
BTW having read the comments, I didn't do the baking step, and the mac & cheese was great. I can see how baking might dry it out. Sometime I might crisp up panko in a little butter and put it on top, though. Just for kicks. 🙂
Jennifer
We are allergic to cashews in my family. What could I use in place of the cashews?
Well Vegan
Hi Jennifer! It's a pretty small amount of cashews, so I would say either simmer 1/4 cup (maybe a little extra) cauliflower with the rest of the vegetables or try using thick coconut cream. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Ellen Cornia
What is 1/3 cup Earth Balance? I could only find Earth Balance as a brand name.
Thanks
Ellen
Well Vegan
Just 1/3 cup of any vegan butter works!
Johanna
The sauce does sound delicious and versatile but I really don't keep Earth Balance around these days. What if I left it out or replaced with another fat?
Tina Girton
Great recipe! Entire family LOVED it! I think I will not bake it next time though and I used Panko breadcrumbs instead of making them.
Well Vegan
I agree! I think it's better w/o the baking. I've also had a lot of success making big batches of the sauce and freezing it. Then you just have to cook pasta and heat up the sauce.
Kristi
Wow! Amazingly good! Finally a make again Mac n cheese recipe to pleeze! Made a double batch of sauce, Anyone know how to best store it? Can you freeze it and keep it for future use?
Well Vegan
@Kristi - It's amazing, right?! I freeze it in little tupperwares and it works great. I just the used the sauce to make these Loaded Baked Potatoes last week and it was so good!
Jenny
Just made this tonight for my newly Vegan family. My kids who are true conisuers, LOVED IT! My hubby thought it was a cheat night!:) Seriously thank you, Thank you! I also think I will be using your cheese sauce, as a base for so many other vegan, cheesy creations!! Geniuses!
Well Vegan
@Jenny - AWESOME 🙂 Last night I used some of the leftover cheese sauce, mixed it with a little salsa and had some radical nachos. It was SO GOOD!
Bethany
Has anyone tried this with gluten free pasta and bread? Seems like it would still work...
Well Vegan
@Bethany - Yes! I have tried it and it was perfect. I used the Jovial brand quinoa/rice blend pasta. It was perfect.
Jen
Wondering if I could sub a no nut butter for the cashews? My daughter has a nut allergy and I wanted to try this for her
Well Vegan
@Jen - I would skip the seed butter and add a little extra potato, but please report back and let us know how it goes!
susan
I don’t use Earth Balance, because of the palm oil. I wonder if I can use refined coconut oil, instead.
Well Vegan
@Susan - Yes! Palm oil is a huge issue. I love orangutans as much as the next guy! Thank you so much for bringing that up. I think refined coconut oil would be a good substitute. As an aside though, Earth Balance has committed to sustainable sourcing of palm oil and is working to raise awareness about deforestation and responsible farming. Here's a link to that: Earth Balance Sustainable Palm Oil
Cara
I have made this recipe twice recently, and I absolutely agree- by far the best vegan mac' n cheese and no weirdness in the list of ingredients. The sauce is creamy and flavorful.
I second the idea to make a double batch of the sauce and save some for nacho night. Also agree with no bake / no breadcrumb method. I thought it was better when the macaroni was just tossed in the sauce than after I baked it. I used some white pepper instead of the black and cayenne as I thought it added the right amount of undetectable heat for small mouths.
John
Oh yeah. Mac and cheese. I've been waiting for this one. Vegan "cheese" dishes have generally not been my favorite, so I'm excited to hear about this. Will definitely give it a try.
Wendy
WOW! This is an amazing recipe and super easy! Thanks so much. Even my kiddos begged to have it added to the 'all the time list.'