Get ready for a creamy vegan macaroni and cheese that is low in fat and quick and easy to make!
It’s a funny thing, but the recipe I’m asked for most often is the one I’m most reluctant to give out. Every time I mention that macaroni and “cheese” is one of E’s favorite dishes, parents wanting to wean their kids off the dairy stuff and onto something more healthy ask me for the recipe. For a long time, I had to tell them the hard, cold truth: The “cheese” that E loved above all others came from a package, and though I tried recipe after recipe, she wouldn’t eat any other mac and cheeze.
And then one day I decided I’d had enough. I was having to mail-order Road’s End Cheddar Style Chreese in bulk once every couple of months to keep E supplied with her quickest comfort food. (Her other favorite comfort food, lasagna, doesn’t fit into the make-it-on-the-fly category.) Each time I made it, I would look at the short list of ingredients and think that there had to be a way to recreate it at home and I just hadn’t hit the right formula yet.
So in the interest of eating more local and fewer packaged foods, I started experimenting. I took the sauce from the one cheezy recipe that she had liked, Scalloped Potatoes, and tried that on macaroni. No dice. What worked on potatoes didn’t work for her on pasta. So I tinkered with it and then tinkered some more. Finally, sometime last spring I hit on a formula that worked, and we’ve been Chreese-free ever since.
But I was still reluctant to share the recipe because vegans are notoriously picky about their mac and cheese. Look at any vegan bulletin board and you’ll see someone praising a m&c recipe and someone else declaring that the same recipe tastes like $#!+. What works for my family won’t necessarily work for everyone else, and I would hate for anyone to spend the time to make this recipe and then be disappointed. Plus I’m just sensitive enough not to want to read online that my recipe tastes like someone’s backside.
But enough people want this recipe that I’m issuing it with a disclaimer: If you are used to nutritional yeast sauces AND you like Road’s End Chreese, then this might be the recipe for you.
Notice that it’s not baked in a casserole dish with bread crumbs or anything fancy (if you want that, check out this recipe). It’s macaroni and sauce, period, though sometimes we do add frozen green peas to make it Macaroni and Peas. But it’s quick to throw together on a week night, and I have to admit that our whole family finds it addictive.
Easy Vegan Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 pound pasta regular or gluten-free, cooked according to package directions
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 cup plain fat-free soymilk may use other non-dairy milk
- 3/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch or potato starch
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt or more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- pinch cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons tahini or raw cashews optional, but lends creaminess and flavor
- 1 teaspoon mellow white miso or additional salt
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put the pasta on to boil, according to package directions. While it’s cooking, blend water and all remaining ingredients together in a blender. When the pasta is al dente, drain it, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking water, and return the pasta to pan. Add the sauce mixture and cook, stirring, until mixture boils and thickens. Add a little of the pasta water if more moistness is needed.
- If the sauce is not as flavorful as you’d like, add a little more mustard and onion powder.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
Serving Suggestions: We like to have this with a bean dish, such as barbecued beans, and with steamed vegetables, most often a blend of broccoli and cauliflower.
Additional Uses: Heat the sauce alone until it thickens and use it to pour over baked potatoes or top pizzas. Or stir in some salsa and it makes a yummy dip for tortilla chips.
If you don’t love this recipe, maybe one of these will tingle your tastebuds:New Farm Mac and Cheese adapted by Jess of Get Sconed!
Tofu Mom gives us Vegan Cheese Sauce
Re-Vamped Mac N Cheese by Sarchan
Lauren’s Vegan Mac and Cheese by Lindyloo
Please pin and share!
NewVegan8
July 24, 2010 at 10:53 amHi! I am missing the tahini, has anyone tried it without? Is it a crucial flavor in the recipe? Also, I was wondering what would happen if I threw in some firm tofu in the blender? Thanks for the recipe! I miss cheese!!
SusanV
July 24, 2010 at 10:55 amTahini adds a little richness and flavor but it’s not essential. Don’t throw in too much tofu or it’ll dilute the seasoning. Plus, I’m afraid that firm (rather than silken) tofu would give it a grainy texture.
Nancy
July 29, 2010 at 5:17 pmI am a little confused! Did you use the Road’s End Cheddar….I didn’t see it listed in the ingredients.
Thanks!
SusanV
July 29, 2010 at 5:19 pmNo, this recipe is meant to be used as a replacement for Road’s End.
Nancy
August 2, 2010 at 2:08 pmAdd vegan ground “chicken,” ground rosemary and “bacon” bits – yum!
Anonymous
August 14, 2010 at 11:57 amThank you so much for this! I’ve been lactose intolerant my whole life, but recently found out i’m allergic to eggs too, but I’ve been craving mac and cheese like crazy! I like that this doesn’t really require anything too strange; that I have most of it in my cabinet. I can’t wait to give this a try and not have to worry about the stomach ache that follows!
Emma
August 18, 2010 at 4:16 amMacaroni and cheese was always one of my favourites when I was a kid. So ever since I’ve been vegan I’ve been trying to find a good recipe. This one was fantastic! It was exactly what I wanted. It even managed to taste like what my grandad used to make…though that could be my imagination ;). I added some mushrooms, used fresh onion and garlic, and added some thin slices of vegan sausage. I also baked it in the oven, because that’s what grandad used to do. I could eat this all day.
Thanks you so much for your recipes and this wonderful blog!
AJ
August 18, 2010 at 6:29 pmMy son was so excited when I told him I was making mac and cheese tonight, so I was hoping he would love this. Mine definitely tasted more mustard-y than anything else, but it was still very good. I warned my son that it wasn’t like the mac and cheese he was used to (I’m very new to the no animal products thing) but he loved it too. He tasted it and said “Mmm, this is so good.” My one year old also loved it, he ate every bit, which is rare for him! Thanks for giving us a new recipe to add to our stockpile, the ones that I can write “Boys loved it!” on are especially valuable!
Paul
September 15, 2010 at 1:55 pmI cannot help myself! Every time I make this I want to log on and leave another comment about how much I love it! Since I make it a lot, it’s a good thing I resist the urge about 99% of the time. lol You really should give this recipe a try!
Marsha
October 4, 2010 at 10:20 pmI was skeptical about this mac and cheeze recipe, having being disappointed before. But I am so glad that I tried this recipe! Yum!
Gayathri
October 8, 2010 at 3:52 pmI made this last night .. was SO good. Best cheeze sauce ever! Thank you for the recipe. I did find the need for more flavor – so added more paprika, garlic pwdr, onion pwdr and mustard. The consistency around the macaroni was just perfect to my liking! Thank you so much for this easy and kinda healthy “cheese” sauce! 🙂
Kelsey Bisset
October 20, 2010 at 8:27 pmThis was amazing! I’m not officially vegan yet but I’m vegetarian and allergic to dairy so I try to cut way down on it. I love macaroni and cheese almost as much as I love ice cream so that’s hard to do but thanks to some amazing vegan bloggers it’s getting easier. This was sooooo good! My omni hubby didn’t think the texture was right but I loved it. I cut the tahini in half because I don’t like too much tahini flavor and I used regular yellow mustard instead of dry because I didn’t have any. It was awesome– thank you for an amazing mac and cheese that doesn’t give me migraines– and one that is good to animals!
Mary
November 2, 2010 at 9:12 amMade the “cheeze” component which came out really tasty. I put it in a sealed container to use in recipes this week. Planning to try it on a vegan burger too! Any idea how long this should last in the fridge?
SusanV
November 2, 2010 at 9:16 amI would guess about a week. There’s nothing in it that should go bad very quickly but no preservatives either. Hope you enjoy it!
Jenn
November 13, 2010 at 4:20 pmI’m making this tonight – a mix of 2 of your recipes actually – this and Chili Mac. We’ve made this recipe before and loved it – and I wanted to try chili mac but with a creamier sauce. Probably won’t add the corn or kale.
Love your recipes – thanks for saving supper as always 🙂
Carol Lewis
November 17, 2010 at 5:46 pmTried this recipe today as I had a “hankering” for one of my favorite comfort foods from earlier years. I did use the green peas as well but left out the tomatoes (out of season) and cottage cheese (dairy). I have used a vegan “cheese’ sauce for several years since beginning the vegan journey and have tried many but they have all been somewhat unsatisfactory in some way or another. This is very close to my “go to” except for the absence of fat and thus it is likely to take over top billing. I used plain rice milk which was not fat-free, did not have the smoked paprika so used the sweet that I did have but I left out the tumeric, cayenne pepper and tahini and miso–I also added 2 oz. roasted red pepper. If I ever come close to those other seasonings I will try it your way just to judge the flavor difference. I am lazy about cleaning up so I love the idea of just putting the sauce back in with the pasta rather than thickening it in another pan–it worked well. Definitely a “do again”.
Michele
November 30, 2010 at 4:39 pmJust made this recipe for the first time – not the first vegan Mac & Cheeze recipe I’ve tried, but definitely the BEST! My concern is getting it past my newly-vegetarian, non-vegan husband who is very picky. I didn’t have tahini, but I use a vitaMix and I had sesame seeds, so I added 2 Tbs of sesame seeds and a drop of olive oil instead. I added some xantham gum to thicken it up. I LOVE it, but I think my husband will notice a lack of the ‘buttery’ taste of the old Kraft Mac n’ Cheese sauce. Going to try it again and substitute Willow Run Margarine for the tahini and regular paprika for the smoked paprika.
Jennifer Savran Kelly
January 10, 2011 at 9:55 amThis sounds very nice, and I plan to try it. Thank you for sharing it! In the meantime, I wanted to share a recipe that I make for my toddler son in lieu of mac and cheese or mac and fake cheese: mac and almond butter sauce.
You just mix equal parts of almond butter with un-sweetened almond milk, and add Bragg’s liquid aminos or soy sauce to taste. Pour it over your pasta, and voila! It’s rich and creamy, satisfying like mac and cheese, but without any substitute flavors. It doesn’t sound appealing, but it’s tasty and fast. We like to pour it over gluten-free pasta in fun shapes. But it works over any pasta.
Cat B.
January 10, 2011 at 6:24 pmSusan, I’m sitting here groaning over my too-full tummy because of this awesome recipe. This is better than Road’s End–definitely more flavorful. I used raw cashews instead of tahini and served it with some vegan chili (my own recipe). Thank you so much.
Cat B.
January 31, 2011 at 4:42 pmMe again. I just made this for the third time is as many weeks. I found this fun new pasta shape at Food Lion called Ronzoni Quick Cook Macaroni: http://pasta-products-ronzoni.newworldpasta.com/Quick-Cook-Macaroni-ZX007130001013ZX25 It looks a lot like the stuff in the blue box.
Jacki
October 16, 2011 at 9:15 amoh,this is great! I was considering buying the box kind and just substituting the sauce. My 4 y/o is suspicious of pasta shape changes…weird, I know.
Alexia
January 14, 2011 at 10:42 pmthis is SO GOOD! i love it! and it passed the true taste test – my boyfriend (not a veg) also really loves it!
Nikki
January 18, 2011 at 12:33 amI just made this tonight, and it it excellent! And yes, very addicting…At least it’s healthy! I’ll be having this for lunch the next few days. Thanks for sharing (I even think that my non-vegan family will love this too)!
Paul
January 18, 2011 at 11:51 amOh, this is the recipe that caused me to start following you! I LOVE this recipe. If a few don’t care for it remember, you can’t please all of the people all of the time. This is a great recipe!! 🙂
Kelly
January 22, 2011 at 12:54 amSo delicious!! I have been craving Mac and cheese since I became a vegan a year ago and have never found something this yummy! I mixed in broccoli with mine – thank you for posting!
Bert
January 23, 2011 at 3:49 pmI tried this recipe yesterday and it was really tasty. I’m having a hard time giving up cheese and would have liked this to taste a bit cheesier. Do you have any suggestions to add a little bit more of this cheesy tast? Like I said, the flavor was really good, but I feel like it’s missing something.
-Bert
SusanV
January 23, 2011 at 4:03 pmSometimes more nutritional yeast and mustard powder can give it more cheesiness. Also, if you’re not committed to fat-free eating, adding margarine can fool the tastebuds into thinking it’s cheesier.
Bert
January 23, 2011 at 7:21 pmThank you so much Susan. I really appreciate all of your time and advice!
Rita
January 25, 2011 at 10:14 pmThanks Susan for all your hard work fine-tuning this recipe. I made it last week for my husband and we both loved it. He surprised me tonight by having it almost ready when I came home from grocery shopping! He likes how easy it is to put together. We use unsweetened soy milk (but not fat-free), and instead of heating the sauce and noodles together, this time we baked it for 20 minutes with some bread crumbs on top. Then served it with a fresh salad. Perfect!!! We are very grateful that you have this wonderful blog.
Hannah
February 1, 2011 at 6:33 amI just tried this for the first time, having tried a few other ‘cheese’ sauces, and this was my far the best. It was easy and quick to make, and I used it for mac and cheese, and then the left-overs for a dip. I had to eyeball it a little because I was cutting down the amounts, but it worked fine.
Kaitlyn
February 1, 2011 at 6:37 pmMy husband absolutely loved this! I on the other hand did not! 🙁 I think it was the tumeric that I didn’t care for. But I love that it has so much nutritional yeast with all those b vitamins!
Mrsflex
February 2, 2011 at 7:15 pmThis recipe was awesome! I used half whole grain elbows and half steamed, chopped cauliflower and added a cup of shelled edamame. I sprinkled the top with crushed Trader Joe’s multigrain corn tortilla crackers. The turmeric I used has a very orange color so the final dish was sort of neon in color. Might cut the turmeric down next time. My husband (not vegan or vegetarian) was extremely skepticle when I told him what I was making. All I had to say was the recipe was from Susan’s fatfreevegan blog and he said “Oh, okay, then I’ll try it. Everything you’ve made off that blog is delicious.” I always look forward to making and sampling your recipes.
Plissken
February 18, 2011 at 12:01 amWow, this is almost the exact recipe i created on my own like 2 years ago. I put it up on the Vegan Freaks forum. I remember being proud of it as it was one of the few Vegan Mac an Cheese recipes that was actually fat free. Could i have had a part in this. Who knows! 🙂
SusanV
February 18, 2011 at 12:47 amWell, I’d say it’s more likely that I had a part in your recipe, seeing that this one was posted 4 years ago. 😉
Plissken
April 7, 2011 at 8:57 amHmm, In my haste I was mistaken, I actually posted my recipe closer to 5 years ago. Time flies, wow but I definitely didn’t get my recipe from you. In fact I don’t even own a cookbook. I just like to tinker with ingredients in the kitchen and wanted a fat free Mac an Cheese. It’s cool we both had the same idea though. Great minds think alike. 🙂 One of the main differences in our recipes though is that I add a lot of nutritional yeast to mine. I feel it makes the whole dish seem cheesier. Anyways sorry for the delayed reply. Have a great summer and I promise to try some of your other delicious recipes, they look amazing!
laura
February 19, 2011 at 4:07 pmI have to say- I wasnt impressed with this recipe unfortunately!!! I followed the recipe exactly, then added a little more of the spices bc it was kindof tasteless. Did I miss something? so bummed 🙁
Get Skinny, Go Vegan.
March 12, 2011 at 6:26 pmThink I know what we are having tonight! I have grown to love the nutritional yeast so much.
Sara
March 13, 2011 at 6:42 pmI thought it was really good. I added some vegan Worcestershire sauce like someone suggested. It was very creamy but the taste was too much like nutrional yeast to me. if you like nutritional yeast, you’ll love it. My daughter would not eat it though. and she loves macaroni and cheese. I added ketchup to hers because she’ll eat mostly anything with ketchup. I added a little to mine and it made it taste a lot better for me personally. I had three bowls! and she ate some.
Nyinpgh
April 4, 2011 at 10:37 amLove this-I was doubtful, but it’s terrific. I’ll be trying it on my 2-yr old-Mac&cheese-obsessed daughter tonight!