Classic Vegan Mac and Cheese

This creamy vegan mac and cheese is made with pasta smothered in a creamy, flavor-packed but dairy-free sauce. A guaranteed hit with kids and adults alike!

I have a lot of macaroni and cheese recipes on this site, but it just recently occurred to me that just about all of them are spicy! I’ve got jalapeño popper mac, chipotle mac, kimchi mac, and buffalo mac, just to name a few. What is it with me and spicy vegan mac and cheese?

Anyway, I thought maybe it was time for a more traditional mac. I mean, mac and cheese is the ultimate kid food, right? And I don’t know many kids that are down jalapeños or kimchi. And really, even adults aren’t in the mood for super spicy food all the time, right? Well, unless you’re me, but that’s beside the point.

I had planned on holding off on posting this until January, because lately I’ve been sharing so much pasta, and there’s even more to come before Christmas. But then I had a reader on my Facebook page specifically request a super creamy and delicious vegan mac and cheese recipe for Christmas, and that got me thinking.

I ate mac and cheese at lots of Christmas celebrations growing up. I guess it’s a pretty good dish for the holidays. So I decided to share now, despite the already copious amounts of pasta springing forth from this site.

Besides, what’s December for but pasta? It’s much more carb-friendly than January.

I have to be honest: part of my whole hot-sauce-in-the-mac thing stems not so much from my love of spicy, as it does from the fact that hot sauce legitimately makes things taste cheesy. No really, it does! For a while I thought it was just my weird brain that thought that, but then I got a few reader comments on my spicy mac recipes saying how the heat really brought out the flavor.

So this was a little bit of a challenge, but I think I’ve nailed down a few key tricks to creating an amazing vegan mac and cheese.

Make a super creamy base for your vegan mac and cheese.

For this you need a combination of cashews and veggies. Cashews alone tend to create a sauce that’s too thick, while with just veggies it’s too light, and also can taste like veggies, which is not the goal. A potato for body and some cashews for richness is my go-to formula. A carrot or some roasted red peppers adds flavor and color.

Add zip.

You need some acid to make your mac taste cheesy. I went with red wine vinegar here, but you can experiment with lemon juice and different vinegars if you like.

The magic ingredient: miso.

It’s so worth it. Miso is fermented, and so is cheese. So it’s no coincidence that miso adds that savory flavor that’s so hard to pin down but is always right there in dairy cheese.

I always get questions on how to omit the miso, but if it’s in your diet then please go get a tub and use it. If you can’t have soy, try some coconut amios, though you’ll probably need to adjust the amount. Taste test as you add.

And salt.

Cheese is also really salty! The miso will add some of the salt you need, but if the flavor isn’t quite there, just add table salt until it is.

That’s it! Those are the crucial points to making the best vegan mac and cheese, according to me. And of course, here’s my recipe, but feel free to customize it to your liking while sticking within the guidelines mentioned above.

Tips for Making Perfect Vegan Mac & Cheese

• If you aren’t opposed to some heat in your macaroni, please do add some hot sauce! It’ll make it taste extra cheesy. A vinegar-based brand like Crystal or Cholula should work out great.
• Save time the day of making this by prepping the cheese sauce in advance. It’ll keep for about 2 days in the fridge. It may thicken up a bit — just thin it with some water or non-dairy milk if it does.
• Want to make this gluten-free? Just use your favorite gluten-free pasta!
• But wait, I thought cashews needed to be soaked for this sort of recipe. Don’t they? Nope! Boiling them takes the place of soaking them for this one.

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4.67 from 3 votes

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Classic Vegan Mac and Cheese

This creamy vegan mac and cheese is made with pasta smothered in a creamy, flavor-packed but dairy-free sauce. A guaranteed hit with kids and adults alike!

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Keyword vegan cheese, vegan mac and cheese

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 6

Calories 468 kcal

Author Alissa Saenz

Ingredients

• 16 ounces dried macaroni pasta
• 1 medium (12 ounce) russet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 cup raw cashews
• 1 cup unflavored and unsweetened soy or almond milk, plus more as needed
• 1/4 cup white miso paste
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 1/4 cup jarred roasted red peppers
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook it according to the package directions. Drain the pasta into a colander, return it to the pot, and toss it with a dash of oil to prevent sticking.

2. While the pasta cooks, place the potato and cashews into another medium pot and cover with water. Place the pot over high heat and bring the water to a boil. Lower heat and cook until the potato is very tender, about 20 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and drain the water.

3. Transfer the potato and cashews to the bowl of a food processor. Add the milk, miso, nutritional yeast, peppers, vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder and salt. Blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. This can take a few minutes. 

4. Thin the sauce with additional milk if needed, then taste test and season with additional salt if you like. Adjust any other seasonings to your liking.

5. Pour the sauce over the pasta and stir until evenly coated. Divide onto plates or bowls and serve.

Nutrition Facts

Classic Vegan Mac and Cheese

Amount Per Serving

Calories 468 Calories from Fat 131

% Daily Value*

Fat 14.6g22%

Saturated Fat 2.5g13%

Sodium 1172mg49%

Potassium 631mg18%

Carbohydrates 66.3g22%

Fiber 3.1g12%

Sugar 3.3g4%

Protein 19.7g39%

Calcium 40mg4%

Iron 5.9mg33%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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