Vegan Mac & Cheese Soup

This vegan mac & cheese soup is creamy, comforting and packed with flavor! 

How do you make your favorite comfort food even more comforting? Turn it into soup!

Soup is pretty much always super cozy and comforting, and a surprising number of dishes can be turned into soup (without being gross). I did this with cabbage rolls, enchiladas, lasagna, and even cheeseburgers. All turned out delicious!

So when I saw mac & cheese soup on the menu of a local lunch place, I knew right away that I had to create a vegan version.

Vegan Mac & Cheese

But wait. Regular old vegan mac & cheese in and of itself sounds like a challenge to create.

It's really not though. I have two go-to methods for making vegan mac & cheese. Method number 1 involves making dairy-free cheese out of cashews, like I did with here.

Method number 2 involves making a roux out of coconut milk and seasoning it up to taste cheesy, like in this recipe.

The coconut milk option seemed to make a lot more sense for a vegan mac & cheese soup, so that's what I went with.

How to Make Vegan Mac & Cheese Soup

Cook your pasta before getting started, so that it's ready to be added to the soup when you need it.

Now heat up up a bit of oil in a pot. Add some onion and cook it for a few minutes to soften it up. Now add some garlic and cook it for about a minute, until it becomes very fragrant.

Stir in some flour to form a thick paste with the oil. Continue stirring and cooking for about a minute. Now it's time to add that coconut milk. You'll want to slowly whisk it in to prevent the flour from forming any big clumps. Once you've added the coconut milk, you can add some more non-dairy milk (anything unflavored and unsweetened), along with some seasonings: bouillon, nutritional yeast, and hot sauce.

Let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes. It should thicken up during this time.

I like to add some broccoli during the last few minutes of simmering.

The pasta goes in last.

Take the soup off of the burner and season it with some salt, if needed.

Grab a bowl and dig in!

Vegan Mac & Cheese Soup Tips & FAQ

• I recommend serving your vegan mac & cheese soup right away. The pasta will absorb the sauce as it sits, and before long it will cease to be soup, and will just be vegan mac & cheese.
• Is this soup spicy? The Cholula gives it a slight kick. It also adds a lot of flavor (and even makes the soup taste cheesy), so I don't recommend skipping it. If you must omit it or cut back, consider adding a splash of vinegar or lemon juice to balance the flavor.
• Does this soup taste like coconut? Not to me! However, if you are super sensitive to the taste of coconut, you might be able to taste it. You can substitute a different non-dairy milk if needed, but the soup probably won't be as rich and creamy (since coconut milk is pretty high in fat).
• Not into broccoli? Feel free to skip it or substitute your favorite veggies. Cauliflower or peas would work nicely.

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4.75 from 4 votes

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Vegan Mac & Cheese Soup

This vegan mac & cheese soup is creamy, comforting and packed with flavor! 

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 4

Calories 554 kcal

Author Alissa Saenz

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups dry elbow macaroni
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or high-heat oil of choice), plus a dash for the pasta
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 (14 ounce of 400 ml) can full-fat coconut milk
• 3 cups unflavored and unsweetened soy or almond milk, plus more as needed
• 3 vegetable bouillon cubes (enough to make 3 cups of broth), crushed
• ⅓ cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 2 tablespoons Cholula hot sauce (or a similar vinegar-based hot sauce)
• 1 ½ cups fresh broccoli florets
• Salt, to taste
• Fresh chives, for serving

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

2. Add the macaroni and cook it according to the package directions.

3. Drain the pasta into a colander and return it to the pot. Toss it with a dash of oil to prevent sticking.

4. Coat the bottom of a large pot with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and place it over medium heat.

5. When the oil is hot, add the onion. Cook the onion for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent.

6. Add the garlic and cook it for about 1 minute, until very fragrant.

7. Add the flour and stir to form a paste that coats the onion. Cook the mixture, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes.

8. Begin adding the coconut milk, a bit at a time, whisking between each addition to eliminate any lumps from the flour. Stir in the soy or almond milk, bouillon, nutritional yeast, and Cholula.

9. Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Lower the heat and let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes, until it thickens up a bit. Feel free to thin the soup with additional non-dairy milk if it gets too thick for your liking.

10. Stir in the broccoli and continue simmering for about 4 minutes, until the broccoli is tender and bright green.

11. Remove the pot from heat and stir in the pasta. Season the soup with salt to taste.

12. Ladle into bowls and optionally top with chives. Serve.

Nutrition Facts

Vegan Mac & Cheese Soup

Amount Per Serving (1.5 cups)

Calories 554 Calories from Fat 325

% Daily Value*

Fat 36.1g56%

Saturated Fat 23.8g119%

Sodium 781mg33%

Potassium 858mg25%

Carbohydrates 48.1g16%

Fiber 8.8g35%

Sugar 6.1g7%

Protein 15.6g31%

Calcium 31mg3%

Iron 36mg200%

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