The entire household will love this creamy vegan mac and cheese recipe. We use plant-based milk, dietary yeast, and the proper mix of spices. You may make this as a stovetop or baked mac and cheese!

Our household loves mac and cheese. We’ve shared our conventional dairy-based mac and cheese earlier than, however I’m extremely excited to lastly share our absolute favourite vegan mac and cheese! We went by means of numerous variations, and this recipe is the one which received everybody over. It’s creamy, tacky, and so satisfying you received’t even miss the dairy.
I used to be impressed to create this vegan model as a result of we’re making an attempt to eat extra plant-based meals, and my son loves mac and cheese. And truthfully, it’s turn into a brand new household favourite (as have lots of our vegan recipes)! This recipe has two choices: take pleasure in it as a comforting stovetop mac and cheese, or bake it till bubbly and golden brown. I really like serving it with a easy inexperienced salad or making an attempt it with my lentil-based vegan meatballs.
Key Substances
- Pasta: Use what you like. I all the time go for one thing that may maintain on to the sauce rather well, like shells or elbows!
- Vegan Butter and Flour: The mixture of butter and flour thickens the sauce. Some recipes begin with a base of cashew cream, and whereas we’ve tried that variation, making a roux and constructing our vegan cheese sauce from there was our favourite method to make vegan mac and cheese.
- Plant-Based mostly Milk: I usually use unsweetened soy milk, however non-dairy milk will work. Unsweetened is greatest.
- Dietary Yeast: This makes our mac and cheese style so tacky. Dietary yeast is sort of widespread in vegan recipes. In case you are unfamiliar, it’s filled with nutritional vitamins and minerals and provides a tacky taste to dishes. It’s excellent on this mac and cheese. We additionally use it when making our scrumptious vegan queso.
- Dijon mustard: We additionally use Dijon mustard when making our dairy-based baked mac and cheese. It rounds out the sauce’s taste and makes it style even higher.
- Spices: I really like including onion powder, garlic powder, nutmeg, salt, and pepper to make the sauce style unbelievable.
Tips on how to Make Vegan Mac and Cheese
To make my favourite vegan mac and cheese, you’ll first make the creamy sauce. We begin with a roux created from melted butter (plant-based) and flour.
As soon as the flour and butter scent toasty, you possibly can pour in non-dairy milk. Because it heats up, the milk thickens and turns into the bottom of our cheese sauce. To make it style tacky, we whisk in numerous dietary yeast, mustard, and spices.

When the sauce is easy, you possibly can stir in cooked pasta. Keep in mind select pasta shapes that maintain onto the sauce rather well. I like these medium shells as a result of numerous that tacky sauce will get trapped inside them.


You’ll be able to serve it as a stovetop recipe or pour all of it right into a baking dish, high it with some breadcrumbs, and bake till the sauce is effervescent and the highest will get slightly coloration.


Straightforward Vegan Mac and Cheese
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PREP
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COOK
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TOTAL
My household loves this creamy mac and cheese made with non-dairy milk, dietary yeast, and the proper mix of spices. You may make this as a stovetop or baked mac and cheese! For those who resolve to bake this, add some breadcrumbs on high so that they brown and switch crisp (I like panko or selfmade breadcrumbs).
6 Servings
You Will Want
1 pound (450g) dried pasta like shells, elbows or penne
6 tablespoons (85g) vegan butter
6 tablespoons (48g) all-purpose flour
5 cups (1180ml) unsweetened non-dairy milk, like unsweetened soy milk
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 cup (60g) dietary yeast
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon contemporary floor nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon superb sea salt, plus extra to style
1/2 teaspoon contemporary floor black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or extra to style, elective for some spice
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon floor turmeric, elective for coloration
Instructions
1Convey a big pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta, and observe the bundle instructions, however prepare dinner 1 minute lower than the bundle states. Drain.
2In the meantime, make the vegan cheese sauce. Soften the vegan butter in a big, high-sided pot or Dutch oven over medium warmth. Sprinkle the flour over the melted butter and whisk it collectively and across the pan till it smells toasted and appears mild brown, 2 to three minutes.
3Whereas whisking, slowly pour within the heat, non-dairy milk. Proceed to prepare dinner, continuously whisking till the sauce simmers and thickens. (The sauce solely thickens after it has reached a simmer.)
4Flip the warmth to low, then stir within the dietary yeast, mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, nutmeg, salt, and black pepper. For a little bit of spice, stir within the cayenne pepper. Add the turmeric for some further “tacky” coloration. Each cayenne pepper and turmeric are elective.
5When the sauce is easy and velvety, stir within the cooked pasta. If the sauce seems moist/skinny, don’t fear, the pasta absorbs some further moisture because it cools. Flip the warmth off, after which cowl with a lid. Depart for five minutes, stir as soon as extra, after which serve.
6For baked mac and cheese, after including the pasta to the sauce, spoon into a big baking dish and scatter breadcrumbs (elective) on high. Bake, uncovered, in a 375°F (190°C) oven till it’s effervescent and browned on high, 25 to half-hour.
Adam and Joanne’s Ideas
- Storing: Preserve lined within the fridge for as much as 3 days. To freeze, switch to a freezer-safe container and freeze for as much as 2 months. Then, bake, lined, in a 350°F oven for about an hour. Or, thaw in a single day and reheat on the range (if it appears dry, add a tablespoon or two of additional milk).
- Broccoli mac and cheese: Stir roasted broccoli or steamed broccoli into the pot earlier than serving.
- Garlic mac and cheese: Contemporary garlic and roasted garlic are glorious on this recipe. Add to the vegan butter simply earlier than including the flour. For contemporary, I’d use 2 to three cloves. For roasted garlic, you possibly can improve it to six cloves or extra. Right here’s our roasted garlic recipe for reference.
- The vitamin info offered beneath are estimates.
Vitamin Per Serving
Serving Measurement
1/6 of the recipe
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Energy
482 energy
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Complete Fats
10.2g
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Saturated Fats
1.7g
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Ldl cholesterol
0mg
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Sodium
624.9mg
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Carbohydrate
71.6g
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Dietary Fiber
5.9g
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Complete Sugars
3g
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Protein
22.4g