Can you guess my favorite food?
Macaroni and cheese.
Okay maybe it’s my second favorite, after chocolate. But seriously, if you served me vegan macaroni and cheese every night for dinner, you’d never hear me complain. Not once. It is my #1 comfort food of choice, and many of my childhood holiday dinners went something like this:
- Christmas Eve: Family eats lobster. Katie eats macaroni and cheese.
- New Year’s Day: Family eats pork. Katie eats macaroni and cheese.
- Easter: Family eats pink ham.
Katie eats…
MACARONI AND CHEESE.
It was probably the single most difficult food to give up when I went vegan, and as a former cheese-lover with very high standards, I’ve tried some pretty lousy vegan macaroni and cheese substitutes over the years.
Such as the mock-n-cheese from The Squeeze Food Truck.
However, I’ve also tried some really good vegan mac and cheese recipes! For example, Soul Vegetarian Café in Washington DC makes a vegan macaroni and cheese so authentic you will swear you’re eating the real thing.
When my friend Dreena sent me a copy of her new cookbook, Let Them Eat Vegan, the healthy macaroni and cheese recipe, entitled “Mac Oh Geez,” was first to catch my eye, and even though it sounded complicated, I knew I’d have to try it.
It was well worth the effort! I’m not going to say this vegan macaroni and cheese recipe tastes exactly like real mac and cheese, but it’s just as good in its own right—creamy, cheesy, and comforting. I’ve now made the vegan mac and cheese three times and was even brave enough to serve it for Thanksgiving. (Remember this picture of my Thanksgiving dinner?)
No tofu, no cheese substitutes!
Vegan Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 3 to 3 1/2 cups dry cut pasta (ex: macaroni, penne) (about 10 oz)
- 3/4 cup raw cashews (see “nutrition facts” link below for a nut-free version)
- 1/2 cup raw brazil nuts
- 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 medium clove garlic
- 2 tsp arrowroot powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp (rounded) dry mustard
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/2 cups milk of choice (preferably: unsweetened almond or soymilk)
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- For breadcrumb topping:
- 3/4 to 1 1/4 cups dry whole-grain breadcrumbs (See “nutritional info” link below, for gluten-free option)
- 1/2 to 1 tbsp olive oil
- Couple pinches sea salt
Instructions
Vegan Macaroni and Cheese Recipe: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Throw pasta into a deep pot of boiling salted water. While pasta is cooking, blend all sauce ingredients (ingredients 2-11) in a blender or in a deep bowl with an immersion blender. Once pasta is almost tender, fully drain (don’t rinse). Mix noodles with sauce, and immediately pour into a lightly oiled 8 x 12” baking dish. (It will look like there is a lot of runny sauce – it will thicken up, trust the pasta!) Mix breadcrumb toppings in a small bowl, then sprinkle over top of casserole. Cover with foil and bake for 17-18 minutes. Then, remove foil cover and bake another 5-7 minutes or until topping is golden brown and crisped. Don’t overbake or sauce will get too thick. Remove from oven and place vegan macaroni and cheese casserole on a hot plate (rather than on top of oven, since residual heat from oven will continue to thicken the sauce). Serve! For troubleshooting, substitutions, and nutrition information, see the following link:
Did you have any favorite childhood comfort foods?
Without a doubt, my grandmother’s macaroni and cheese casserole was my favorite thing to eat when I was younger. But I also loved mashed sweet potatoes, hot chocolate, and basically any kind of spaghetti or pasta. Still do!
Hi Katie!
Do you think i can substitute all nuts in recipe with walnuts? ( i have a looooot of walnuts in my pantry)
So I used to love Mac n cheese also. I’ve had Amy’s gluten free dairy free Mac n cheese and it was fabulous until I realized that the small portion had 27% of (or something around there) of fat in it! I then decided to make my own and the recipe called for a ton of mustard. It tasted like I poured mustard with nutritional yeast on my pasta, lets talk about disgusting. So I will have to try this!
I made this for dinner tonight. It was a huge hit. Normally I hate all fake cheese items, but this tasted amazing, and all my kids had seconds or thirds. I love it because it actually has some good stuff in it. This is a make-again meal. My gluten-free husband is out of town so next time I’ll have to try your GF version!
Oh wow! I love macaroni and cheese too but I have not found a great vegan recipe yet. I am so excited to try this one out. Love,love,love your site!
Hi Katie! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. I make it every time I crave mac n’ cheese… so good!
And here are just a few things I’ve learned from making it that may help some of your other readers:
I can’t always find brazil nuts at my local grocery store (and I’m far too impatient to go on a hunt) so I sometimes use a rounded 1 1/3 c cashews instead.
I also add tons of nutritional yeast to give it more of an authentic cheesy taste. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants it a little more cheesy! (You can taste the sauce after you prepare it, and add a little nutritional yeast at a time, to taste. You can also add it to the breadcrumb topping, too.)
And instead of making it in a big casserole pan I make it in little individual dishes (picture a creme brulee dish or other individual-sized baking pan, for tarts and such), cover in tin foil, and refrigerate until use. I just add a little nutrtional yeast and the breadcrumb topping. That way it’s always fresh out of the oven, and never reheated! And the breadcrumbs never get soggy! And you can also bake it in your toaster oven… I just find it more convenient in a lot of ways, I guess!
Anyway thanks for the recipe, super delicious. These are just my little tricks I use after making it so many times! Love you Katie!
Well, I found Arrowroot and almost peed in Meijer! I’m making this now, but substituted Almonds for Brazil Nuts as we had none here. We’ll see how that goes. It smells yummy so I think I did something right. : )
What makes it orange?
A little turmeric added 🙂
Oh, good thinking! I made this yesterday and was wondering if I did something wrong because mine was more creamy than yellowy-orange. I ended up adding a little nutritional yeast (although I bet it would’ve been fine without it). It was quite yummy!
I made this for dinner tonight! It was so yummy! 😀 I made it gluten free by using quinoa pasta and ground flax seeds for the topping. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe.
I love quinoa! What a great idea! I’m going to try your healthy tips!
Oh my, your love for mac n cheese mirrors mine. I also have to agree, that it’s been hard giving it up! (Especially when I’ve had a bad day and all I want to do is drown my sorrows with it!) But I’m definitely saving this one to try! <3
When I went vegan, I experimented with making Mac n cheese with nutritional yeast which is a great cheese substitute. Still, it was never as good as the real thing. I’ve also eaten store bought vegan Mac n Cheese (also made with nutritional yeast) and never found one that didn’t have a weird taste. Your recipe is the first one for Mac n cheese I’ve seen without nutritional yeast. I definitely want to try yours! It sounds so delish! Thanks so much for posting this recipe.