There are many claims out there being the best vegan version of the beloved cheese so many miss. This isn’t one of those claims. I will never write a post and suggest there’s a replacement for cheese because lets face it, we all like different things and that’s ok! However, if your still here reading then I have something delicious to share with you, my husbands favorite vegan version of Mac and cheese that’s not store bough and a little healthier too.

This Mac and cheese has a thick texture and is a perfect dish to prep ahead for an easy oven ready dinner. There’s no need for a side serving of broccoli because there’s veggies cooked in the sauce! Variations can be made to thin out the sauce, add a store bought cheese before baking (ill provide my suggestion) and of course choose your favorite noodle to use. My husband adds jalapeños to the top for extra spice and I almost always add vegan bacon (I use tempeh).

Time crunch? A fair warning I’m a lazy cook and do believe this takes up a bit a time because you wait for the water to boil and I let the veggies cool before blending. This is not a hard recipe to follow and if you make this on a day off and prep everything in advance, then its an easy to meal to bake when ready! I hope you find time to give it a try.

Vegan Mac and Cheese

Recipe by AlexisCourse: Dinner, Recipe, Tempeh

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

45

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Ingredients

• 2 Potato, peeled and cubed

• 2 Carrot

• 1/2 Cup Unsweetened milk alternative of choice
  (I use oat or almond)

• 4 Tbs olive oil
  
  

• 2 tsp Salt

• 2 tsp lemon juice

• 1/2 Cup Nutritional Yeast

• 2 Tbs Tapioca starch or Arrow root powder

• 1 tsp Onion powder

• 1 tsp Garlic powder

• 1 tsp Ground Mustard

• 1 tsp Paprika

• 1lb or 12oz box Pasta of choice

• Vegan Bacon *see notes

• Optional Jalapeños, bread crumbs, extra cheeze

Directions

• Start a large pot of boiling water
• Cook the cubed Potato and carrot until tender (about 20min)
• If you have an seperate large pot, you can cook the noodles are this time as well. If you don’t, you can cook the noodles before or after the vegetables. I suggest after so the vegetables have time to cook.
• While the vegetables are cooking, start mixing the dry ingredients and set aside
• Once the vegetables are done, strain the water and let them cool a bit before adding the dry and wet ingredients to a blender with the cooked carrot and potato. If the sauce is too thick, add more milk or water. set aside.
• If you haven’t done so, cook the noodles slightly less than package instructions. They should be al dente.
• Once noodles are cooked and strained, pour them into a large baking dish and add a small amount of oil to prevent sticking. Pour your sauce and mix well.
• Add your topping of choice (see notes) and bake uncovered for 400F for 30min. Please see notes about baking different toppings.

Notes

• I use a tempeh bacon because it has a lot of protein. Vegan chicken, Seitan, Nuggets are all good options as well. This recipe is also good on it’s own or as a side dish but it makes a lot so I like to make a meal out of it.
• Adding your own topping? depending on what kind of topping you add, you may want to cover the dish with foil then remove halfway through
• Personal Favorite Toppings; Breadcrumb, oil and garlic mixture. Sliced Jalapeño, tempeh bacon and Miyokos liquid Mozzarella. This liquid cheese is great as a topping but would be far too much for the entire dish so I drizzle a small amount over the top. This cheese reccomends cooking at 500F for ten minutes. If you choose to use this, you can bake the Mac and cheese for 20min on 400 and bump it up to 500f for the last ten minutes.