A vegan mac & cheese recipe that's totally nut free! Coconut milk is the magic ingredient. Bonus: this creamy mac is super easy to whip up and requires no blending!
My vegan mac and cheese is one of my absolute favorite comfort food dinners! I've heard from a lot of readers who love it as much as I do, too. But, seeing as my vegan mac and cheese recipe uses a cashew-based sauce, I've also gotten many, many requests for alternatives. There are lots of nut allergies out there! I do my best to give suggestions, but I finally decided it was time to come up with a totally nut-free mac, which I'm sharing today: my vegan coconut milk mac and cheese!
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This mac and cheese is not only vegan (and therefore suitable for people with dairy allergies too!) but it's also nut free. It's super allergy friendly.
And bonus: it's easy. You don't even have to bust out the food processor. It's incredibly delicious as well!
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Dried pasta. I decided to switch things up and use small shells for this one, but you can go traditional and use elbow macaroni if you'd like, or substitute your favorite small pasta shape.
- Broccoli. I love broccoli with my mac and cheese, so I included it here. Feel free to skip it and increase the amount of pasta by an ounce or two, if broccoli isn't your thing.
- Vegetable oil. Any neutral high-heat oil will work, such as corn oil, avocado oil, canola oil, or even olive oil.
- Flour. We're using basic all purpose wheat flour here, also known as white flour.
- Coconut milk. Make sure to use full-fat coconut milk for maximum creaminess, and make sure it's culinary coconut milk, from a can, and not the type intended for drinking, often sold in cartons.
- Non-dairy milk. You can use just about any type of unsweetened and unflavored non-dairy milk here, such as soy, almond, oat, or cashew milk. Read my guide to dairy-free milk if you can't decide which type is right for you!
- Nutritional yeast flakes. Don't confuse these with baker's yeast! Nutritional yeast in inactive form of yeast, and it's great for adding cheesy flavor to vegan dishes like this one. Most stores carry it in the natural foods section.
- Soy sauce. Liquid aminos or tamari can be substituted, if needed.
- Hot sauce. Believe it or not, this will make your sauce taste cheesier! I like making this recipe with Cholula and Valentina hot sauces.
- Red wine vinegar. Another vinegar, such as white wine, or even plain white vinegar can be substituted if that's what you have on hand.
- Spices. You'll need a bit of onion and garlic powders.
- Salt.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Cook your pasta. Set the timer to boil it until it reaches the al dente stage, but add your broccoli when there's two minutes left to go. Drain the pasta and broccoli together, into a colander.
Step 2: Heat your oil in a large pot, then whisk in your flour. Cook the mixture for a few minutes, until it smells nutty. This is called a roux, and it's the thickener for our vegan coconut mac and cheese sauce.
Step 3: Start whisking in your milks, each a little bit at a time, making sure to get the mixture nice and smooth (no lumps!).
Step 4: Raise the heat and bring the sauce to a simmer. Let it cook for a few minutes, until it thickens a bit.
Step 5: Once the sauce has thickened, whisk in the seasonings: nutritional yeast, soy sauce, hot sauce, red wine vinegar, onion and garlic powders, and salt.
Step 6: Stir in the cooked pasta and broccoli. Cook everything for a minute more, to reheat the pasta and broccoli.
Step 7: Your vegan coconut milk mac and cheese is ready to enjoy! Take the pot off of heat, dish it up, and dig in!
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover coconut mac will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about three days. If the sauce thickens up too much during storage, just add some water or non-dairy milk when you reheat it.
Variations
- Use different veggies. Cauliflower, green beans, and leafy greens like kale can be directly substituted for the broccoli. You could also stir in some thawed frozen veggies like peas when you add the pasta to the sauce.
- Smoky mac and cheese. Add a half to full teaspoon of smoked paprika to the sauce.
- Baked mac and cheese. Transfer your mac to a baking dish. Sprinkle some panko breadcrumbs and perhaps vegan Parmesan cheese on top (keeping in mind that it won't be nut free if you use the Parm), then place it under a preheated broiler for a few minutes to brown the topping.
Tip: If you like this recipe, give my vegan mac and cheese soup a try! It's made using a similar method, but with LOTS of sauce to transform it into a soup.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can certainly use gluten-free pasta. For the sauce, I think an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend would work, though I haven't tried. You'll also need to replace the soy sauce with gluten-free tamari.
You can, although it does add a lot of flavor to the sauce. You can also stick with a very mild hot sauce and/or reduce the amount. Valentina brand is SUPER mild, so consider giving it a try.
I find the coconut flavor to be subtle. You may not taste it at all! Having said that, if you hate the taste of coconut, this may not be the recipe for you. You can try swapping it out with another non-dairy milk or heavy cream substitute if you'd like, though I can't guarantee results with either of these alternatives.
More Vegan Comfort Foods
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Creamy Coconut Mac & Cheese with Broccoli
Ingredients
- 10 ounces dried small pasta shells (or your favorite small pasta shape)
- 3 cups chopped fresh broccoli
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup full-fat coconut milk (from a can)
- 1 cup unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy milk of choice
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast flakes
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons vinegar-based hot sauce, such as Cholula or Valentina
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Set the timer according to the package directions for cooking the pasta until al dente. When the timer gets down to 2 minutes, add the broccoli to the pot and give it a stir. When the timer goes off, drain the pasta and broccoli into a colander and return them to the pot. Toss with a dash of oil to prevent sticking.
- Coat the bottom of a large pot with 1 tablespoon of oil and place it over medium heat. When the oil is hot, whisk in the flour to form a thick paste. Cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until the mixture darkens a bit and begins to smell nutty, about two minutes.
- Begin whisking in the coconut milk, a bit at a time, followed by the non-dairy milk. Keep whisking the mixture until there are no lumps.
- Raise the heat to high and bring the liquid to a boil. Lower the heat and allow the mixture to simmer, whisking frequently, for about five minutes, until it thickens up a bit.
- Whisk in the nutritional yeast, soy sauce, hot sauce, vinegar, onion and garlic powders, and salt. Taste-test the sauce and season it with salt to taste. Adjust any other seasonings to your liking.
- Add the pasta and broccoli to the pot with the coconut mixture. Stir everything up to distribute the ingredients. Allow the mixture to cook for about one minute, just until the pasta is perfectly tender. The sauce should thicken up a bit more during this time.
- Remove the pot from heat and serve.
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I made this back in 2019 and my kids ask for it pretty much once a week. I've probably made it over 50 times at this point. What's wild to me is how these flavors just work together to make a cohesive sauce, and it's so simple too! I'll admit if I'm feeling especially lazy, I just skip the flour step. One thing I usually add to thicken it up is tahini or veganaise. I pretty much just throw whatever sounds good at the time in there, but this is my go to food for weeknights and right now I'm getting ready to make it for a family get-together.
This sauce was delish! I didn't have hot sauce on hand but I did have a jar of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce so I added some of that sauce. Magic! Great texture and flavor and super easy to make.
Would like be ok without the hot sauce??im looking for dairy free options for her and she loves Mac and cheese she is only 1 1/2 years old so I don’t want it to be too spicy.thanks
The recipe will work without the hot sauce - I'd recommend adding a little extra vinegar if you try it. Enjoy!!
Delicious! I will be making this again and again.
It was one of my most amazing vegan taste experiences ever, my wife was impressed haha, the only thing I changed was that I used Gemelli instead of Macaroni, the sauce was deliciously devine, I'm on a vegan voyage inspired by my son who became vegan 4 years ago, I've been following you for a while but shortly I've started digging deeper into your recipe's, you inspire me, I hope that one day I can meet you live, warm greetings from Westerlo Belgium, if you are ever in Belgium you are more then welcome:)))
That's wonderful! I'm so happy you enjoyed this and are enjoying the recipes! I've never been to Belgium but I hope to visit one day. Thanks so much Frank!
Hi Love the look of this. Can it be frozen once made
I'm afraid I'm not sure! I'll try freezing some of my next batch. :)
Our family just made the switch to dairy and peanut free because our 16 month old son is allergic. So cooking dairy free was a little different for me but this was so delicious, I used veggie broth for the 1 cup of milk (because I only had fresh almond milk that I Sweetened with dates and vanilla paste) but thank goodness had exactly 1 cup canned coconut milk left from another recipe. I used franks original red hot sauce and some different shape noodles because that’s what I had. I do think it has “heat” to it lol I got warm eating it but it was scrumptious and my son liked it too. Thanks for a great recipe, this will be a regular now.
I'm so glad you both enjoyed it! You can try cutting back on the hot sauce or even using a different brand if you find the heat is too much. Thanks Brandi!
How would you adjust the measurements (if at all) if you omitted the broccoli?
I wouldn't make any adjustments. Your dish might be a little extra saucy, but I think that's a nice thing!
Haha, I was scrolling through looking for some dinner inspiration and thought yeah, mac and cheese! But I'm allergic to coconut (well, I'm not allowed to eat it for immune-related reasons).... There definitely is not one recipe to rule them all!
Agreed! There are so many ways to make vegan mac and cheese - I actually created this one for someone who is allergic to just about everything but coconut! Here's a coconut-free one for you to check out: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/vegan-mac-and-cheese/ :)
My sauce never thickened. It is still the consistency of water at the end. What did I do wrong?
Oh no! Did you use canned coconut milk? With that it should actually be thicker than water from the start. The only other things I can think of are not using enough flour, or not whisking it in completely. I hope that helps!
This is just such a flippin’ gem of a recipe, loved it! Saved a bit of pasta water for extra thickness but honestly it probably didn’t need it. So so delish!
I'm so glad you like it! Thanks Autumn!
Just made this and it was fantastic! I needed a dairy and nut free recipe using coconut milk. This recipe is exactly what I was looking for! I had to sub a few things, white wine vinegar for the red, and veggie broth for the 2nd cup of milk, as I only had canned coconut milk. The funny part is all I had for hot sauce was a bottle from the farmers market called Calypso... ahem... I should not have used the full amount specified. I definitely do not have a kid friendly recipe! lol My vegan daughter just came home from work and had 2 bowls! I had a bowl full with ketchup, cause you have to have ketchup with mac and cheese, right!! Anyway, I was blown away with how much it reminded me of the real thing, aside from the fact that my eyes were watering and my nose was running...lol Can't wait to make this again with the ingredients you used including a milder hot sauce! Thanks so much!!
Oh wow! I haven't tried this with a really hot sauce, but I bet I'd love it! If you use Cholula or Franks it's not hot at all. I'm so glad you and your daughter enjoyed it. Thanks Tonnae!
Definitely the best vegan homemade mac n cheese!! Thank you so much for the recipe. So delicious!! 😋
Awesome!! I'm glad you like it!
OH MY GOSH!!! Hands down my favorite vegan mac n cheese recipe ever and I have tried a million recipes. I love the use of hot sauce. And all 4 of my kids are gobbling it up.
Woo-hoo!! I'm so glad it's a hit!
Looks just like my (formerly) beloved Velveeta! Can't wait to make this.
The sauce is a lot like Velveeta! I hope you enjoy it!
This was spectacular! Thank you for the vegan and nut free recipe! This was so good. Your directions were on point, so precise and clear, cooking made easy. My only change was I added 1 tbs siracha (all I had) and slightly more red wine vinegar to make up for the lack of vinegar in my hot sauce, and 1 tsp. Mustard because it somehow adds more cheese flavor in my humble opinion. My husband has a new favorite dish, and luckily, so do I.
Oh interesting! I never add mustard to my cheesy recipes but now I'm definitely trying it! I'm so glad you enjoyed this! Thanks Caitlinn!
Do you think the sauce would hold up to being made ahead of time and reheated later?
I do! If it thickens up too much you can thin it out with a bit of water or non-dairy milk, but otherwise no problem. :)
Hi Alissa, made the Creamy Coconut Mac & Cheese with Broccoli for dinner tonight. I was a bit skeptical if I'd like the sauce made with the coconut milk, but it was delicious. And it came together pretty easily too. I served it to my 87 year old mother who is a big "real" mac & cheese fan. She loved it too!
Thanks!
That's awesome!! I'm so glad you both enjoyed it! Thanks so much Kelly!
This doesnt even come ckose to the taste of a cheese sauce. Tired of these vegan cheese recipes that taste nothing like a cheese sauce. This was too tangy with both vinegar based hot sauce and red wine vinegar.
Any suggestions on how to cut down on the sodium/potassium in this recipe?
Try cutting back on the amount of soy sauce/liquid aminos.