Vegan Baked Mac & Cheese
My mom is well known for her baked mac and cheese recipe. It is probably her most requested dish any time she has a potluck to attend and is always met with rave reviews and requests for her recipe. What I’m trying to say is I grew up eating amazing homemade mac and cheese on the regular, so not only are my standards high, but it was a struggle to give it up when trying to go vegan. I’ve mentioned before that a horrendous mac and cheese recipe made me quit veganism after one day on my first try, and how on my second try I was undone by the allure of one last bowl of Annie’s mac and cheese. Thankfully there are tons of great options out there now for vegans in both boxed varieties and homemade recipes, but my recipe below is my absolute favorite that I’ve had, at least so far.
FAQ:
Is it just like mom’s recipe? No, but it fills that baked mac and cheese shaped hole in my heart.
Will it fool cheese-loving omnivores into going vegan? Eh, probably not, but they tend to like it anyway.
Is it both darn tasty and cruelty-free? You betcha.
This is a classic baked mac and cheese lovingly inspired by the famous VegNews mac & cheese which was not quite cheesy enough for this cheesy girl. I added smoky tempeh and spinach to the dish pictured above.
Recipe below, or pdf here.
Vegan Baked Mac & Cheese
makes 4-6 servings
ingredients:
water
1 cup yellow potatoes
1/4 cup carrots
1/2 cup onion
1/4 cup raw cashews
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper, plus more to taste
a pinch or two of red pepper flakes
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup vegan cheese of choice
3 tbsp vegan butter
8 oz pasta (shells and cavatappi both work well)
~8 Ritz Crackers
method:
Get two pots of water boiling. In the first one, add the potato, onion, carrot, and raw cashews (if your cashews are already soaked, leave them out). Boil for 15 minutes. You’re going to reserve 2 cups of the water so keep that in mind before you drain it.
Cook the pasta according to package instructions in the second pot. Drain and set aside.
While the everything is boiling, add the salt, garlic powder, black pepper, red pepper flakes, nutritional yeast, paprika, mustard, lemon juice, vegan cheese, and vegan butter to a food processor or blender.
When the veggies and cashews are done, drain them but reserve 2 cups of water. Add the veggies and cashews along with 1 cup of the reserved water to the food processor and blend with all of the other sauce ingredients, about 2-3 minutes until very smooth. Add the remaining cup of water as needed, depending on how thick you want the sauce. Taste and season with more salt and pepper as needed.
Mix the pasta and sauce together until evenly coated, then add to an 9x9 baking dish.
Crush the Ritz crackers and sprinkle on top.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, uncovered.
