If someone tried to coax me a year ago with a “vegan mac and cheese” recipe, I would have politely said, “no, thank you.” First of all, I actually don’t really like mac and cheese. Not the boxed kind and not even the homemade kind. Weird, I know. And sad for my husband who looooooves it. I used to have to make him the famous “Ronald Reagan’s favorite mac and cheese” recipe all the time when we first got married. Tons of butter, cheddar cheese, milk, stomach ache for me. Just not my thing. It’s now the 21st century, and we’re both eating differently and I am open minded to alternative recipes.
Although open minded or not, I’ve always felt if I’m not going to like the real deal, why would I like something pretending to be the real deal? And most vegan mac and cheese recipes call for fake processed cheese or nutritional yeast and they’re just not that tasty, in my opinion. Are you with me? Well, according to myself and according to Mr. Picky who still doesn’t like cheese except Pecorino Romano in some soups and on pizza crust, this mac and cheese is the bomb. I think it’s better than mac and cheese and he likes it because he has watched me make it and is confident there is not a morsel of cheese, real or fake, anywhere in this dish.
The only trick with this recipe is that you have to follow it exactly! No eyeballing measurements. No leaving things out. Anytime I have guesstimated an amount with this recipe, it hasn’t worked quite as well, especially with ingredients like cayenne, lemon juice (you can leave this out, but just don’t add more than indicated) and garlic. Some of the images on this post were taken of light spelt macaroni and some of whole spelt macaroni. My family much prefers the light spelt pasta with this sauce, but you should use whatever suits you. I have also tried this with brown rice pasta and a corn-quinoa pasta — both super! Once I threw some small cauliflower florets into the pasta pot two minutes before the pasta was done and made a cauliflower mac and cheese. (See above.) I’m sure broccoli and kale would be great, too! Can you see how much fun we are going to have with this??!!
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Vegan Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 ounce package elbow macaroni pasta, I like spelt.
- 2 slices bread, torn into large pieces (whole grain works!)
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, not vegan or organic Earth Balance (vegan), divided
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 2 Tablespoons chopped shallots
- 1 cup about 7 ounces chopped Yukon gold potatoes (you can leave the peel on)
- ¼ cup chopped carrots, about 1 small carrot
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup raw cashews, soaked for 1-5 hours and drained if you your blender is weak
- 2 teaspoons sea salt, use 1 ¾ teaspoons if using Earth Balance
- ¼ teaspoon garlic, minced (about 1 medium clove)
- ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, optional
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- pinch of cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, add the shallots, potatoes, carrots, onion and water and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook, covered, for 15 minutes, or until vegetables are very soft. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Cook the pasta in salted water until al dente, drain and put back into the pot.
- Put the bread pieces, 1 Tablespoon of butter and paprika in a food processor fitted with a metal blade and process until combined to a medium-fine texture, set aside.
- Place the cashews, salt, garlic, 5 Tablespoons butter, mustard, lemon juice, black pepper, and cayenne in a blender or food processor. Add the softened vegetables and cooking water to the blender or food processor and process until perfectly smooth.
- Pour the “cheese” sauce over the cooked pasta and combine until completely coated. Spread the mixture into an un-greased 11 x 8 casserole dish, sprinkle with prepared breadcrumb mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and the top is golden brown. If you add veggies (such as 1 or 2 cups of blanched cauliflower or broccoli) to the macaroni, cook in a 13 x 9 dish.
Notes
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
Could this be made without butter or Earth Balance?
I don’t think it will be as creamy.
I don’t see how much paprika to add – did I miss it?
I forgot it in the ingredients! Darn. Thanks for catching that. It’s actually just to add some color to the breadcrumbs, so you could leave it out if necessary. Just a 1/4 teaspoon.
I tried this recipe and it was so delicious. It tastes just like box mac and cheese, which I love. I will be using this for nachos too!!!
Yay!
This recipe is amazing and well worth the effort. Next experiment: can it be frozen in smaller portions?
I’m so glad you liked it! I have not frozen the casserole, but I did try freezing the cheese sauce and it did NOT freeze well.
I know you said to follow the recipe exactly but I am hoping to avoid a trip to the store and I really want to make this. What do you think about subbing onion for the shallot? What about using russet potatoes or red? Or should I just go to the store?
I haven’t tried that, but I imagine it would still turn out well. When I said “exactly,” the ingredients you need to be careful about measuring are lemon juice, cayenne, mustard and garlic. Red potatoes are fine, just make sure to peel them. Let me know how it turns out!
This is the same as Allison Rivers Sampson’s recipe http://www.allisonsgourmet.com/skin/frontend/default/blank/images/recipes/VegNewsMagFeb08.gif that I have been making for years, and it truly IS amazing! The potatoes give it that oozy, gooey texture of melted cheese. My dairy-loving sister-in-law actually told me she PREFERS it to “the real thing”!
It must be the same! The link I provided above is from a VegNews recipe roundup list. I’m sorry the actual author’s name wasn’t provided in that. But, I completely agree with your sister-in-law — I actually prefer this to “real” mac and cheese!
This is one of the first vegan mac n cheese recipies I ever made and still remains a favorite. I have even experimented with cutting down on the earth balance to reduce calories. Better than any non vegan mac and cheese ive ever had!
Thanks, Laura! I totally agree!
Thanks so much for such a great recipe. I am dairy-free, don’t like “fake” cheese, but miss mac & cheese. Can’t wait to try this.
Hope you love it!
Can’t wait to try it! I love all of your other recipes. Where do you buy spelt pasta- can you find it at the grocery or do you order it online?
Thanks, Kristin! I buy it at Whole Foods, but you can find it on amazon.com as well.
For some reason, my “print recipe” function isn’t working. I apologize for the inconvenience, but until I figure this out, I suggest copying and pasting the recipe into a word doc. Thank you for your patience!