
Vegan Mac & 'Cheese'
45 min
Meal
Servings
Total
45 minPrep
15 minCook
30 minContains
Free from
Ingredients
Mac & "cheese"
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4 cups (256 g)dry shell pasta
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3medium potatoes, peeled, cubed
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2medium sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed
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2 Tbsp (30 mL)olive oil
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3cloves garlic, minced
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¼ cup (34 g)all-purpose flour
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3 cups (720 mL)unsweetened soy milk†
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½ cup (65 g)raw cashews, soaked overnight†
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1lemon
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1 Tbsp (3 g)dried rosemary
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2 tsp (10 mL)dijon mustard
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1 tsp (6 g)salt
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1 pinchground black pepper
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1medium broccoli, cut into florets
Speedy garlic bread crumbs
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½ cup (54 g)breadcrumbs
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2 tsp (10 mL)olive oil
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2cloves garlic, crushed
Optional toppings
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fresh parsley
Directions
- Cook pasta in salted boiling water according to package directions until al dente. Drain and set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, use a steamer basket to steam the potatoes until soft, about 15 minutes.
- To make the optional breadcrumbs: heat the oil in a small pan on medium heat, and add the garlic. Cook for 1 - 2 minutes, until golden, and then add the bread crumbs. Stir constantly for another 1 - 2 minutes, or until the bread crumbs are toasted and crunchy.
- Add the olive oil and garlic to a large pot on medium heat until lightly golden, about 1 minute.
- Then add the flour, and stir continuously for 1 minute, or until lightly golden. Then in a slow and steady stream, add the milk, stirring constantly.
- Add the steamed potatoes, drained cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, soy sauce, rosemary, mustard, salt, and pepper. Mix.
- Using an immersion blender, blend until it achieves a creamy consistency; or transfer to a standing blender and blend, then return to the pot.
- Add this point, add in the broccoli florets and cook in the sauce for 2 - 3 minutes.
- Add the macaroni to the sauce, and mix to coat. Sprinkle with the toasted breadcrumbs, and enjoy!
Notes
- †Nutrition tip: aim to use plant-based milk that is fortified with calcium.
- †Speed-it-up: if you forgot to soak the cashews overnight, let them soak in boiled water for 10 minutes, then drain.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Let us know what you think
Plate method
The Plate Method is a visual tool that helps us ensure our dietary needs are on track. Touch the image below to see how this recipe measures up.
Grains & Starches 65%
• dry shell pasta
• medium potato
• medium sweet potato
• all-purpose flour
• breadcrumbs
Proteins 19%
• unsweetened soy milk
• raw cashews
• nutritional yeast flakes
Fruits & Veggies 16%
• clove garlic
• lemon
• medium broccoli
• clove garlic
Calcium
• unsweetened soy milk
Fat
• olive oil
• raw cashews
• olive oil
Nutrition info
We believe that focusing on numbers can harm our relationship with food. Instead, our philosophy is to Nourish the Cells & the Soul. If you require specific nutrition information due to a medical condition, please consult with a dietitian or physician. The nutritional information provided is composed with the utmost care. However, we cannot guarantee the correctness of the displayed values, see also our disclaimer.
Watch it step-by-step!




Discussion & Rating
I made this recipe three times now. I've never had mac'n'cheese before going vegan so I can't compare flavors. However, there's something about the taste of this dish that makes me come back to it every now and then. And it's so healthy witj the broccoli and two kinds of potatoes!
I echo what Sandra and Pardis said in their 1-star reviews down below. I followed the recipe exactly as written so I wouldn’t leave any room for error, but unfortunately, all my family could taste were the potatoes and dried rosemary. We REALLY enjoyed the texture and creaminess of this dish, but the taste was little to be desired. It got tastier once we all decided to just think of it as just potatoes – funny how the mind works that way! 🤣
Hopefully, the Pick Up Limes team reads this because they got everything right about emulating the FEELING of eating Mac & Cheese. Now, it just needs to taste like it! 😁
PS: I should point out that I’ve loved almost all the Pick Up Limes recipes I’ve tried thus far, just not this one! 😅
I was a little hesitant to try this recipe based on some of the reviews, but I gave it a shot... IT'S DELICIOUS! Plus, it really is a vegan and WFPB comfort food. The sauce is super "cheesy," and its texture is definitely ooey-gooey. It gave me all the same comfort-food feelings as the super cheesy and Beschamel-y, ham-studded mac and cheese my mom made for us growing up!
And it's just so yummy! I did switch the ratio of potato to sweet potato (so I put in more sweet potato than potato). And I added more salt than is called for in the recipe and heavily salted my pasta water, too, which I also ladled into the sauce as I mixed in the cooked pasta. Adding the pasta water amped up the flavor and helped with creaminess too, I think. :)
Thank you! Love your videos and recipes!
I think Sadia should do a retake of this one. We love your recipes, this one looks great but unfortunately we didn’t love it. Maybe the way we cook it?
That must be the only Pick up limes recipe I didn't enjoy. I found it tasted like just pasta with potatoes on top of it... Weird.
Hello Sadia! Hope all is well.
I tried your vegan mac and cheese recipe today and want to share my thoughts and experience. First of all I skipped the cashews, since I didn't have them at home. So I tried it without it and used more potatoes instead. The sauce still looked like yours in the video and smelled really good but it didn't taste as intensely as it smelled. I'm wondering if it has to do with the fact that I used more potatoes, instead of the cashews.
I think I'm going to try it again, since the combination of the spices smelled really good.
Thanks for sharing.
Love all your recipes! This one is just as great as the others! Thank you!
The vegan cheese sauce wasn't enjoyable for my family. I may try this again with carrots instead of sweet potato. To be fair I've tried a fair amount of vegan cheese sauces and they never seem to be quite right. I'm not expecting it to look or even taste like real cheese, I just want it to taste good.
I tried this recipe today it comes out great
My family are not Vegan but I love the PUL videos and recipes. Over the years we have tried a few Vegan macaroni cheese recipes and they have all been rejected by the family. This one was an absolute hit. So much so that my daughter said “yum, this is just so cheesy”. I then shared proudly that there was no cheese. A total success. We used peas instead of the broccoli and it worked perfectly.
I am excited to try this for my (Canadian) vegan Thanksgiving, which is tomorrow!! =)
Hello 👋 I tried your Mac and cheese recipe and it was really good and my parents loved it 😊 and making it , was really easy for me so thank you for sharing this recipe.
It was VERY delicious, cheesy/gooey texture. I added more than double the garlic and cooked the broccoli separately in a pan with garlic. It would have been difficult to cook the broccoli in the sauce because it’s so thick, it had a hard time boiling without sticking to the pan. I also added some of the pasta water to thin it out a bit. Add at least two medium broccoli heads. Will be making this again for sure !!!
I live in Melbourne and somehow the potatoes here take a long time to soften up! So I separately cooked the potatoes and sweet potatoes in a pressure cooker. Once cooked, I then blended them with the soaked cashew nuts. I then added the blended mix to the butter, flour and soy milk. I cooked onions and broccoli with garlic separately and added it to the final mix with the boiled pasta. I also added some more condiments for flavouring (the original recipe is a bit too bland for my taste) and some extra chilli too! The overall result was yum, and I am not even vegan!
Delightful dish! Easy to make and was enjoyed by the non-vegan members of my family as well! For all my gluten-free friends: I used King Arthur GF All- Purpose Flour (the one without xanthan gum) as a 1-for-1 substitute for the flour and it worked perfectly.
Maybe I have done something wrong. This recipe didn't convince me. I am not a full time vegan and honestly, I prefer the non-vegan version in this case. Sorry.
This recipe is e-very-thing! I had not even used all the ingredients for the recipe but how many times did not make it; I love it, my friends love it, and I believe my other beloved ones will love it! One thing that I still struggle with it not getting a slimy texture from the potatoes; maybe me adding the yeast would have contributed to break down the molecules responsible for that... but my love for this dish is unconditional! Just looking at it makes me crave it...
The plate method and nutritional info are fantastic, however got this idea is a genius!
Great for making for non vegans, first time I tried this made it 3 nights in a row :)
I like this recipe for about two days!