Vegan Mac 'n Cheese
A creamy, dairy-free "cheese" sauce built from pureed cauliflower, carrots, and cashews — proof that plant-based mac 'n cheese doesn't have to come from a freezer box.
- Prep Time
- 20 min
- Cook Time
- 20 min
- Total Time
- 40 min
- Servings
- 6 servings
I'll admit it — I'm a mac 'n cheese addict. So when I had to switch to a plant-based diet for health reasons, I needed a version that didn't come out of a frozen box from the store. None of those ever impressed me much.
I love pureeing vegetables into sauces for extra nutrition without losing flavor, so cauliflower, carrots, and soaked cashews became the base here. Fair warning from experience: nutritional yeast is powerful stuff. The first time I made this I went way too heavy-handed with it, and it took over the whole dish — a little truly does go a long way.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. uncooked gluten-free pasta
- 10 oz. bag steam-in-bag cauliflower
- 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch rounds
- 1 cup cashews, soaked overnight
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2-3 teaspoons salt, to taste
- 3 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk (oat milk is my favorite)
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed (optional)
Instructions
- 1Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the carrots until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- 2Meanwhile, cook the cauliflower in the microwave according to the package directions.
- 3Drain the soaked cashews and add to a blender with the cooked carrots, non-dairy milk, seasonings, nutritional yeast, and cauliflower. Puree until smooth, about 2 minutes.
- 4Cook the pasta according to package directions for al dente, then drain.
- 5If serving right away, combine the sauce, peas, and pasta and stir together well. Serve hot.
- 6If saving for later, stir the peas into the sauce and store in glass containers separate from the pasta. Cook and drain fresh pasta when ready to serve, then stir together with the reheated sauce.
Tips
- Nutritional yeast has a strong, cheesy flavor — a little goes a long way, so resist the urge to add extra the first time.
