This vegan mac and cheese is made with no cashews and is completely oil free. It’s a great, healthier alternative to a typical mac and cheese recipe.
I am a huge fan of mac and cheese. When I was a kid, I loved Kraft Dinner.
When I switched to a plant-based diet, I needed to find a new way to satisfy my love of mac and cheese. I discovered nutritional yeast and now I use it all the time to add some cheesy flavour to various dishes!
Ingredients in this vegan mac and cheese (no cashews)
Nutritional yeast is the key ingredient in this recipe to make it taste somewhat cheesy. To thicken the sauce, most vegan cheese sauces use cashews that are soaked and then blended. That is a great way to thicken a vegan sauce, but this recipe uses some other ingredients instead. Potato and coconut milk help to thick this sauce, but no worries, it won’t taste like coconut!
Here is a list of all the ingredients used to make the cheese sauce:
- Russet potato
- Carrot
- Yellow onion
- Coconut milk
- Vegetable broth
- Nutritional yeast
- Lemon juice
- Dijon mustard
- Garlic powder
Tips for making this recipe
This recipe is super easy and straigtforward, but here are a few tips to make sure it turns out perfectly for you:
- This recipe makes approximately 1.5 cups of mac and cheese sauce. If you want a good ratio of sauce to macaroni, use approximately 100 grams of dry macaroni. When cooked, this should give you the right amount in order to get a full coating of sauce.
- Ensure that you use full fat coconut milk in order to add enough thickness to the sauce.
- If you want this recipe to be oil-free, make sure that the vegetable broth you use does not contain oil. Check the ingredients!
- To keep this recipe as healthy as possible, I recommend that you use fresh lemon juice. You will need to squeeze the juice from approximately one quarter of a lemon to yield 1 tablespoon.
- If desired, you can mix in some vegetables, such as peas or broccoli.
Check out these other plant-based pasta recipes:
Vegan Mac and Cheese (No Cashews, Oil Free)
Equipment
- Food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 100 grams dry macaroni gluten free if necessary
- 1 cup chopped russet potato
- ½ cup chopped carrot
- ¼ cup diced yellow onion
- ½ cup coconut milk full fat
- ¼ cup vegetable broth
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Begin cooking your macaroni according to instructions on the package.
- To start the sauce, add the potato, carrot, and onion to a pot. Add 3 cups of water and boil on the stove until the vegetables are soft (approximately 10-15 minutes).
- Drain the water, then add the cooked potato, carrot, and onion to a food processor or high-power blender.
- Add all other sauce ingredients and blend until smooth, pausing to scrape down sides as needed.
- Mix the sauce with the cooked macaroni and enjoy! Heat in the microwave if needed.
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