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!
Love this recipe– thanks Katie! Am wondering about partial make-ahead on this dish: Can a make the sauce and pasta ahead (if so how far in advance) and then combine before cooking? Alternatively, can I just assemble whole thing together (if so how far in advance) and then refrigerate until ready to cook? Have you tried either of these options? Which would you recommend? thanks!
You can assemble and then cook later.
This recipe is a slam dunk. I also used this sauce with boiled potatoes to make an au gratin. I like to use blue or purple potatoes as they have more nutrients. Here’s a tip. After squeezing the lemons save the skins. Fill your blender there-quarters full and blend. Let sit for a while and this will get out the smell of the garlic and onion powder, then your Vitamix will be all ready for a breakfast smoothie!
I so wish they had a boxed vegan mac and cheese that tasted just like kraft mac and cheese. Every brand I’ve tried and every recipe I’ve seen has mustard in it, and I DESPISE mustard. I’m highly sensitive to the smell and the taste. *sigh* No mac and cheese for me.
Hi! I was so craving Mac&Cheese today, but I’m a clean eater, so what’s a clean eater to do?! Well, this clean eater, found this recipe and took herself to Whole Foods and bought all the ingredients and made it! Like Katie said, it’s not exactly like mac and cheese, but it is super delicious and it certainly calmed my craving! Btw, I used Quinoa pasta and I added some black pepper and rosemary and it was great! Thanks for sharing!
I also added a little turmeric for color – I need my mac&cheese to be yellow 🙂
Looking for a good macaroni and cheese recipe to take to Thanksgiving dinner. I’ll need to make it the night before. Does this recipe reheat well in the oven??
Yes.
Katie! Thank you for making a vegan mac and cheese that does not require nutritional yeast (my wife and I cannot tolerate the taste, for some reason). Really looking forward to trying this! Happy Holidays 🙂
We tried your vegan mac and cheese today. It was very good for a substitute. One question how did you get yours to be yellow. we followed the recipe exactly except
we used whole wheat pasta. Ours was a creamy white color.
Add a little turmeric 😉
We loved your mac and cheese but we just ran across this recipe just a week or 2 ago.
I just had to share. It is sooooo good!
Queso vegan cheese sauce
2 cups water
2/3 cup nutrtional yeast flakes
1/3 unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1 – 4 ounce jar of pimmentoes
2 Tbs cornstarch
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
red pepper flakes to taste
Place all ingredients in the blender and blend till very smooth
then pour in sauce pan and stir contiually till thick and creamy
. Then pour over your macaroni noodles about 10 -12 ounces uncooked noodles
cooked. Wow I could hardley tell it was vegan. Sunni
Dear Katie,
My name is Alana. My little brother Gabriel is SUPER picky and he hates veggies. He always picks out every little green thing in the food that’s made for him. I was wondering if you had any fun and yummy dinners that he would enjoy.
~Alana B
Try this link. The sloppy joes especially might be good for him! https://lett-trim.today/category/healthy-meal-ideas/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Katie,
Have you tried Punk Rawk Labs nut milk cheeses? I haven’t had a chance to try them, but they are on my wishlist!