Vegan Mac and Cheese

5 from 1 vote

All you need are 10 pantry ingredients to make this delicious homemade Vegan Mac and Cheese. Perfectly cooked macaroni tossed in a cashew "cheese" sauce made with nutritional yeast, you're not even going to notice that it's vegan.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 398kcal

Author: Justin Coit

Equipment

Large pot

Ingredients

8 oz elbow macaroni
1½ tbsp olive oil
½ medium yellow onion approx. 1.5 cups
1 cloves garlic minced
⅔ cup raw cashews
2 tbsp dijon mustard
salt to taste
1 cup water
¼ cup nutritional yeast
½ tsp paprika

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the elbow macaroni and cook according to package instructions. Drain and set aside in a large bowl
In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and sauté until the onion is translucent (approx. 5 min).
Next, addd the garlic, dijon mustard, salt and paprika. Stir for 1 minute.
Add the cashews and water, and stir to combine. Let the mixture come to a simmer for about 5-10 minutes (until you can pierce the cashews easily with a fork)
Pour the mixture into a blender and add the nutritional yeast. Blend until the mixture is completely smooth. Add more water and salt to taste if needed.
Mix the sauce and pasta together and serve immediately.

Video

Notes

Using a high powered blender is best when making the cashew sauce. This will help the cashews break down and turn into a smooth cream.
Vegan bacon would pair wonderfully to this dish.
To make this gluten-free, you can swap for a gluten-free pasta.
To make this pasta a little smokier, you can swap the paprika for smoked paprika.
For an additional nutty flavor, you can add in a pinch of ground nutmeg.

Nutrition