This vegan mac and cheese recipe is incredibly cheesy and flavorful without dairy! It’s made with a luscious tofu sauce, without cashews. Make it in 30 minutes, gluten-free adaptable!
Made with a creamy, vegan cheese sauce that requires no nuts, this comfort food recipe is perfect for those with allergies or looking to avoid dairy and raw cashews. The sauce is created using a blend of silken tofu, nutritional yeast, plant-based milk, and a few flavor-enhancing ingredients that yield a rich, velvety texture. For added protein, try chickpea or lentil pasta! Best of all, it is quick to prepare, making it a convenient weeknight meal that’s plant-based, satisfying and wholesome.
Why You’ll Love This
- Vegan and nut-free. A perfect recipe for those with allergies or dietary preferences.
- Easy weeknight meal! Ready in just 30 minutes.
- Rich flavor and texture. A cheesy, creamy sauce packed with layers of flavor!
Ingredients
- Dry small pasta: Ditalini or elbow macaroni are perfect for this recipe! Sub a gluten-free pasta if needed, or try high-protein chickpea pasta or lentil pasta.
- Silken tofu: This gives the sauce its rich, creamy and velvety texture. Do not try a different type of tofu—only use silken tofu!
- Soy milk: Or use coconut milk, hemp milk, almond milk, or whatever dairy-free milk you like best. Or you can simply use pasta water.
- Nutritional yeast flakes: Essential for giving the sauce its deliciously cheesy flavor, plus it’s high in Vitamin B12.
- Avocado oil: You can also use olive oil or melted vegan butter.
- Flavor enhancers: Onion powder (or garlic powder) for aromatic depth, dijon mustard for a tangy, sharp taste, turmeric for color (optional), apple cider vinegar for acidity (or lemon juice), and cayenne for a hint of heat. Plus salt and pepper!
- Panko: Or dry bread crumbs. To give the mac and cheese a crispy, crumbly topping.
How to Make the Best Vegan Mac and Cheese
Step 1: Cook pasta. Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot. Cook pasta according to package directions, then drain without rinsing.
Step 2: Blend the tofu mac and cheese sauce. In a food processor or blender, add silken tofu, milk (or pasta water), yeast flakes, salt, pepper, olive oil, onion powder, dijon mustard, turmeric, vinegar, and cayenne. Blend until the mixture is silky smooth.
Step 3: Combine. Return the noodles to the pot and add the cheese sauce. Gently warm over low heat until just heated through.
Step 4: Taste and adjust. If needed, add salt or a splash of vinegar. Transfer to an oiled 9×13 baking pan.
Step 5: Make the toasty crumb topping. In a small bowl, combine panko and olive oil with a fork. Spread breadcrumbs evenly over the mac and cheese.
Step 6: Broil. Place baking dish in the oven under the broiler for 3-5 minutes until golden brown. Turn the pan as needed. Serve immediately!
Try topping this with our Vegan Cheesy Sprinkle and minced parsley!
Expert Tips
- For perfectly creamy sauce: Use a food processor or a high-powered blender (like a Vitamix) to achieve velvety smooth texture.
- Make it extra cheesy! Sprinkle vegan cheddar cheese on top of the mac and cheese before adding the breadcrumbs.
- Add veggies! When transferring to a baking pan, tuck in roasted or steamed veggies like broccoli, peas, asparagus, or mushrooms.
- Top with vegan bacon: Sprinkle Crispy Coconut Bacon over top!
FAQs
Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast packed with vitamins and minerals, commonly used in vegan cooking to add a cheesy, umami flavor.
Nope! You can simply toss the noodles with the sauce for an even quicker meal.
Freezing the sauce and noodles together can result in a very thick and mushy meal. If you plan to freeze this, it’s best to freeze the sauce separately and cook the noodles when ready to serve. Thaw the sauce in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
The creamy tofu sauce will have thickened, and it tends to dry out if heated too long. When reheating, bake in the oven with a little plant milk and cover with foil.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this creamy vegan mac and cheese with a leafy green salad like our vegan Caesar salad, or lemony kale slaw or veggies like lemony steamed broccoli, green beans almondine, or Sauteed Asparagus.
Hope you enjoy this Vegan Mac and Cheese! Let us know what you think in the comments. 🙂
xoxo
More Vegan pastas You May Like
Vegan Mac and Cheese
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4-6
- Category: vegan, main. pasta
- Method: stovetop + Broil
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This healthy vegan mac and cheese recipe is incredibly flavorful! It’s made with a luscious, creamy tofu sauce, without cashews. It’s fast and easy, high in protein and gluten-free adaptable! (Adapted from Alison Collins, from Boots Bakery.)
Ingredients
- 3 cups (12 ounces) dry small pasta like ditalini or elbow macaroni (or sub-gluten-free pasta, or chickpea or lentil pasta for high protein)
- 1 pkg (12 ounces) Silken Tofu (firm, or extra firm)
- 1/4 cup soy milk, coconut milk or hemp milk (whatever plant milk you like)
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, adjust to taste
- 1/4 –1/2 teaspoon black pepper, adjust to taste
- 3 tablespoons avocado oil or olive oil (or melted vegan butter)
- 1 teaspoon onion powder, or garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric (optional for color)
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (sub lemon juice)
- 1/16th teaspoon cayenne (for less spicy use 1/4 teaspoon paprika)
Bread Crumb Topping
Instructions
- Bring salted pasta water to a boil. Cook pasta according to directions, drain cooked pasta without rinsing.
- In a food processor or blender, add silken tofu, milk (or pasta water), yeast flakes, salt, pepper, olive oil, onion powder, dijon mustard, turmeric, vinegar, and cayenne blend until silky smooth.
- Place noodles back in the same pot they boiled in and pour in the cheese sauce, gently warming over low heat just until heated through.
- Toss and taste, adjusting with salt or a splash of vinegar. Place in an oiled 9 x 13 baking pan.
- For the bread crumb topping stir together with a fork panko and olive oil. Spread breadcrumbs evenly over the mac and cheese. Place in the oven, under the broiler for 3-5 minutes until golden brown, turning the pan as needed. Serve immediately.
- Feel free to top with this Vegan Cheesy Sprinkle and minced parsley.
Notes
Top with vegan cheddar cheese if desired. Add on top of the noodles then top with bread crumbs.
Leftovers will keep in a sealed airtight container for 4 days in the fridge.
The creamy tofu sauce tends to dry out if heated too long. When reheating in the oven add a little plant milk and cover with foil.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 scoop
- Calories: 346
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 834.5 mg
- Fat: 15.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 6.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 50.1 g
- Fiber: 3.3 g
- Protein: 14.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
This was great! Didn’t have that “cheesy” taste I remember from before I was vegan. But it was still yummy, especially with the toasted breadcrumb topping. Will definitely make again!
Glad you enjoyed this Tracy!
Hi there, Did this recipe change? I have it bookmarked from a few years ago and it looks different from the one I used to make with mushrooms and spinach.
Hi Ginger, we updated the photographs and changed the recipe a bit. 😉
This did not turn out for me at all unfortunately. I usually find great success with Feasting At Home recipes but this was a miss.
Oh dear, sorry about this Brooke. Did you change anything in the recipe? Was it the flavor or texture?
I swear my dog thinks this is actual cheese! He’s been so curiously sniffing it since I made it yesterday 😂 will definitely make this one again!! 🐶😂❤️🌸😍
Oh my goodness- so cute!
This is so salty! I’ve eaten at Boot’s and had their mac and cheese before. My gut told me not to use 2 tsp of salt (and a tablespoon of garlic powder?!) but I did it anyway. We’ll still eat it but doubt I will make this again.
I will have to retest this recipe- it has been so long, sorry about that Chris.
Very tasty. Not massive fan of traditional mac ‘n’cheese but this version was much lighter and tasty. I used pasta twists and spinach simply as I had them to hand.
Perfect Clare!
Love this recipe! Soooo good. We use penne pasta and just sautéed spinach instead of mushrooms and kale. Thanks so much!
Perfect Shannon
Can’t wait to try this recipe..
Silken tofu come in 12 oz package and the recipe calls for 1lb 3 oz ? Is the 12 oz package enough ?
Thank you for all your great recipes, i tell everyone about your site, it is sooooo versatile.. have a great day…
Hi Helen- I think there was a typo! I think it is one 12 ounce package. 🙂
This is not mac and cheese but rather healthy pasta with kale and mushrooms. I didn’t hate it, It’s jut not what I was expecting. If you do make this, take the advise and add more salt than you think you should. The flavor is not outstanding without a lot of additions. I’ve loved everthing on the site so far but not this.
Hey there! The stores around me have been out of silken tofu, I’ve got firm and extra firm. Is there anything I can do to make this recipe work? Please let me know. Love your recipes!
I just don’t think you’ll get the creaminess you want for this from regular tofu. Totally different texture. I’m sorry Elijah. ;(
It’s okay, I will totally wait until I have the right ingredients! Thank you so much!!!
Looks delicious, does it reheat well?
Great question and I’m not sure!Has anyone else tried reheating?
My family LOVED this dish. It was easy to make and delicious! I couldn’t find silken tofu (shopping during Covid) so we used firm tofu and added oat milk to get the right consistency. We also added one half white onion to the veggies. I’m definitely making this again!! Thank you so much.
Easy for someone new to tofu and almost as yummy as real cheese! Will make again for friends this weekend.
Awesome! Glad you liked this! 🙌
Easy and almost as yummy as cheese for a new tofu cook. Thanks!
by silken tofu did you mean soft rather than firm?
Silken Tofu is different than soft tofu- not refrigerated typically.
Please format your recipes to print so that they can be read. The print is so tiny and when I try to enlarge then it goes to multiple pages (like 14-15). Like the recipes but really can’t use them
Hummm, something is not right. You are using the print button? Check your settings on your printer that it is printing at 100%.
the same thing happens to me, the print is super small but we are still having blast making these recipes…
So Delicious!! I added a panko topping to this dish but seriously did not need it and I think would have been better without it. I shouldn’t mess with perfection. Thanks again for sharing another wonderful recipe. You’re the best!!!