Vegan Macaroni and Cheese
This vegan macaroni and “cheese” is so creamy and delicious, no one will miss the dairy! You can make this with a few simple pantry staples, no vegan cheese or nutritional yeast required.
Years ago, when I was a vegan, the two foods I never seemed to be able to replace were cheese and yogurt. A lot of the vegan versions have come a long way since then, but I still haven’t been able to find a vegan macaroni and cheese that tasted as creamy as the real thing.
I’ve been wanting to create a vegan macaroni and cheese recipe for years but I was never able to get it quite right. Until now. I’m so excited to share this recipe with you because while it’s vegan, it doesn’t require any weird ingredients or processed “fake” cheese. You don’t have to soak any cashews overnight and you don’t have to buy ingredients you’ll never use again.
How to Make Creamy Vegan Macaroni and Cheese
The trick to this velvety vegan macaroni and cheese? The humble potato. Who would have thought? The starch from a simple russet potato gives the sauce an amazing texture. You’ll swear it contains cream but it’s just vegetables, a handful of cashews and a touch of oil. That’s why russet potatoes are essential for this recipe. Don’t try to substitute sweet potato or red potatoes.
How to Make Vegan Macaroni and Cheese without Nutritional Yeast
Most vegan macaroni and cheese recipes call for nutritional yeast. And while I love the cheesy flavor that it can give your noodles, I know that a lot of people don’t have it in their pantry. And that’s ok! You can still achieve a deliciously cheesy flavor with the other seasonings. Feel free to add a little nutritional yeast if you have it, but this recipe doesn’t require it.
How to Make Gluten-Free Vegan Macaroni and Cheese
The sauce is already gluten-free, so to make this whole recipe gluten-free, just use chickpea noodles! I love Banza because their pasta has extra protein and fiber since it’s made with chickpeas! But you can use any pasta you like.
Tips for a Smooth Vegan Cheese Sauce
- Boil the vegetables until completely soft. The potatoes should practically fall apart when poked with a fork.
- Blend the cashews, oil, mustard, and garlic with the cooking water before adding the vegetables.
- Once you add the vegetables, blend blend blend! You may need to blend for up to 3 minutes to get it completely smooth. This works best with a high powered blender but you should be able to get it creamy with a regular blender.
Vegan Macaroni and Cheese
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 cups 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Vegan
Description
This vegan macaroni and “cheese” is so creamy and delicious, no one will miss the dairy! You can make this with a few simple pantry staples, no vegan cheese or nutritional yeast required.
Ingredients
- 16 oz macaroni (regular or chickpea noodles)
- 1 medium russet potato, peeled and cubed
- 1/3 cup chopped carrots
- 1 small yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 cup cooking water, reserved
- 1/3 cup cashews (raw or roasted is fine)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- 1 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Add the potato, carrots, and onion to a large pot.
- Cover with water and bring to a boil.
- Simmer for 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are fork tender.
- While the vegetables are cooking, prepare the macaroni according to the package directions in a separate pot.
- Once the vegetables are soft, reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, then drain the rest of the water from the pot of vegetables.
- In a blender or food processor, blend the cooking water, cashews, salt, garlic, mustard, and oil.
- Add the vegetables and continue to blend. Since the veggies will be hot, be sure to let steam safely escape through the top of the blender.
- Blend until completely smooth.
- Stir the cooked macaroni with the cheese sauce and serve immediately.
I’m so excited about this recipe. Macaroni and cheese has been one of my favorite comfort foods since childhood. Cracking the code on a good vegan recipe has taken a lot of trial and error, but I really think you’ll enjoy this one!
How to Store Leftover Vegan Macaroni and Cheese
If you have extra cheese sauce, you can freeze it for up to 1 month. Simply reheat in the microwave and stir. If it separates, just re-blend until smooth. If you have leftovers, store in the refrigerator and reheat in the microwave.
If you try this vegan macaroni and cheese, leave a comment below and let me know how you liked it!
I’m planning on making this. I’m glad I read in the comments to soak the cashews. My biggest concern is the size of the potato. I don’t use russet potatoes very often. An approximate weight would be a huge help.
I just made this. Guess size of the potato I chose was good enough. I did add 3 tbsp nutritional yeast after tasting without it. This is quite a white sauce! Can see using for broccoli casserole and even for nachos (with added red pepper flakes for heat). Thank you for creating this and sharing it. I also like the fact that the sauce can be frozen. I visit my daughter who lives out of state and is suffering from post-viral syndrome following 2020 COVID illness. She and I are both GF (not by choice) and she recently became vegan. I cook and freeze food for her. Mac & cheese was one of her all time favs as a kid. This will give her that joy again.
I’m so glad it turned out well, Rosanna!
Can you use non dairy go veggie parmesean in place of nutritional yeast? It has inactive yeast in the ingredients, so I think this shoudl mean something? Any ideas? Refeeding my body after gallbladder made dairy and gluten big no no’s and bile reflux esophagitis to boot. So far. wanted to try a gf alternative pasta with this. Thanks! almost october here and want to get busy in the kitchen like I used to before they removed my gall.
What do I havw to do to freeze this??
Just put the sauce in an airtight container! It should last for at least a month!
Thank you! Thank you for this vegan mac-n-cheese recipe that does not include nutritional yeast. I have horrible reactions to MSG, so nutritional yeast is a big no-no for me, makes me swell up like a freaking balloon. LOL!
Made this for the first time tonight. Don’t have any nutritional yeast on hand, but have been craving “Mac and cheese” lately. Made this pretty much to spec, but added some coconut milk in brother base, and had some soaked cashews already that I used instead of unsoaked. I also added some tumeric powder for color and a little vinegar to give it the right acidity. Served with steamed broccoli and it was a hit with my family.
I’m thinking of making this for a Christmas potluck. I see you wrote “serve immediately”–would it not work to make this a day ahead of time, or a few hours?
Oh you can absolutely keep it in the fridge and reheat!
When u say mustard is it just mustard or mustard powder(same with garlic)
Just mustard and regular garlic!
So so SO good!!! We add 1/4 c of nutritional yeast and everything else exact as written. By far, our favorite Mac & “Cheese” recipe. This is a regular in our house 😊
this recipe low-key slapped. I had to modify a couple things due to the food restrictions my family shares but the texture I gotta say was easily the best part. It looked (and was) super velvety and smooth and was really enjoyed by my family. The sauce was decedent and creamy and was really satisfying and filling (which is crazy cool as there is not a touch of dairy in this at all). The taste is interesting (by that I mean different but not in a bad way) really the only way I can describe it is creamy. Small shells are a great pasta to use for this and id recommend adding roasted brussels sprouts (not in the sauce). I would also recommend adding roasted tomatoes in the sauce (it added a nice touch of acidity + depth of flavor and made the color more intense). DO NOT skip (or replace) the cashews though (unless you really have to) it really makes the sauce base hearty, filling and creamy. overall great recipe, super pumped to try this again 🙂
I just did not like the flavor of this recipe compared to other vegan mac and cheese recipes I have used and neithet did my family.