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Vegan Mac & 'Cheese'
55 min
Main
Servings
Total
55 minPrep
15 minCook
40 minContains
tree nut
Swap out
soy
gluten
Free from
peanut
sesame
Ingredients
Vegan 'cheese' sauce
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½ cup (65g)raw cashews
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8.8 oz (250g)medium potatoes, peeled, cubed
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1carrot, peeled, chopped
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1medium onion, chopped
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3garlic cloves, sliced
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1 cup (240ml)unsweetened soy milk†
-
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1 Tbsp (15ml)dijon mustard
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1 tsp (6g)salt
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½ tsponion powder
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1 pinchground black pepper
Assembly
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3¼ cups (395g)dry macaroni pasta
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1medium broccoli, cut into florets
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½ cup (29g)panko breadcrumbs
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1 Tbsp (14g)unsalted vegan butter, melted
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¼ tsp
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (200°C)*. Add the cashews to a bowl and cover with plenty of boiling water. Set aside.
- Chop all the vegetables.
- Add 1 inch (2 cm) of water to a large pot and bring to a simmer. Place the potatoes, carrots, onion, and garlic in a steamer basket, cover, and steam for 10 - 15 minutes until tender. Then drain and add to a blender.
- Add the drained cashews and all of the remaining 'cheese' sauce ingredients to the blender. Blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water following the package instructions. Add the broccoli florets during the last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain once the pasta is al dente.
- Meanwhile, mix the breadcrumbs, melted butter, and smoked paprika powder in a small bowl.
- Add the drained pasta, broccoli, and sauce to a large baking dish. Toss together.
- Top with the breadcrumbs and bake for 20 minutes, until the top is golden and crispy.
- Garnish as desired and enjoy!
Notes
- †Nutrition tip: aim to use plant-based milk that is fortified with calcium.
- * We used top and bottom heating (not fan-assisted/convection).
- ** If you don't have a steamer basket, simply cook in the simmering water.
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 54%
• medium potato
• dry macaroni pasta
• panko breadcrumbs
Proteins 14%
• raw cashews
• unsweetened soy milk
• nutritional yeast flakes
Fruits & Veggies 32%
• carrot
• medium onion
• garlic clove
• medium broccoli
Calcium
• unsweetened soy milk
Fat
• raw cashews
• unsalted vegan butter
Nutrition info
Focusing on numbers can harm our relationship with food. Instead, our philosophy is to Nourish the Cells & the Soul. For specific nutrition needs due to a medical condition, consult a dietitian or physician. While we strive to provide accurate nutritional information, we cannot guarantee its accuracy. See our disclaimer for details.
Frequently asked questions
Can I make the vegan mac and cheese recipe without cashews?
We've heard positive reviews for using soaking sunflower seeds in place of cashews in the recipe. It may also work to use equal parts plant-based creamer, like soy creamer or oat creamer, but we haven't tested this out yet.
Is there a substitute for nutritional yeast?
We don't recommend subbing out the nutritional yeast in this recipe. The nutritional yeast flakes add a creamy and cheesy profile to the dish which is tricky to mimic with another plant-based substitute.
Can I freeze the vegan cheesy sauce?
We haven't personally tried freezing the cheese sauce as sometimes potatoes can develop a grainy or mealy texture when frozen and thawed. Since the potatoes are blended in the sauce the mac and 'cheese' might freeze okay though. If you give freezing the dish a try, we'd love to hear how it goes in the comments below!
Leave a comment
I really liked the texture of the sauce with the breadcrumbs but mine came out a bit bland - I wonder if because I didn't have a steamer basket and boiled the veg of the garlic and onion lost too much of their flavour? Next time maybe I'll give those less time in the pot. Overall, I liked how simple the ingredients were and thought this has good potential!
Great base but needed some more oomph... so I added 1/2 tsp of turmeric (for colour), 1 tsp of smoked paprika, 1 tsp of Italian herbs and 3 more tbsp of nooch. I also doubled up on the breadcrumb topping because I felt it didn't cover enough of the surface. The kids enjoyed it, thank you PUL!
I’ve tried at least 10 different vegan mac and cheese recipes and this is by far my favorite! My husband declared it the best mac and cheese he’s ever had and I agree! The sauce was perfectly creamy and cheezy. So yum—I will definitely be making this again!
Fantastic! Super comforting & cosy! The 'cheese' sauxenos creamy & flavourful & we loved the smokey breadcrumbs. It took me a little longer to make than anticipated but it was absolutely worth it!
I liked it! It definitely wasn’t Mac n cheese, but still good. Definitely satiated the desire for comfort food. I added some ground impossible patty to my husbands to make it more of a casserole and he was a big fan.
sooooo good!
I love this recipe! It’s so good that even my non plant based husband liked it more than the original version.
I didn’t like it personally
Great recipe, I left out the smoked paprika to make it more child friendly, but my kid didn’t try it anyway. :p Oh well it was delicious and I am sure she will try it next time as well. :)
Just delicious and quite easy to make!
Delicious comforting food, children love it as well.
I make this almost weekly. It is such a comfort food but healthy. It's one of the best 'cheese' sauce recipes I've made. Don't forget the Cashews though, I forgot once and you could tell it was lacking.
I dont always have the crumb mix on top and it's still great without it. My meat eating children love it too.
Loved it. It is NOT mac'n cheese but a fantastic alternative. We loved the fact that it's made of whole foods, no processed stuff and the consistency of the sauce does resemble melted cheese. The nice smoky breadcrumbs were a nice added layer if taste.
I wanted to save some for the next day for lunch but my meat eater partner packed it up and took it to his work the next day. Was happy to see that.
Yum yum yum!!! So easy to make and so delicious! Feels so much more nourishing than traditional mac and cheese! I ran out of mustard so left that out and added a little extra salt
This was a hit! The only modification I made is that I used cashew and coconut yogurt for extra creaminess rather than cashews and soy milk.
A truly beautiful taste that is not only healthy but a whole food sauce replicating a familiar taste and also a comforting dish, love it !
Thankyou PUL
Such a comforting meal! And it tastes so much better than vegan cheese alternatives. I love it😍
Amazing! My toddler loved this one, as well as the rest of the family. 🤤
Thank you PUL team for another great recipe! My family enjoyed this one :)
Really like it, especially the structure, but I expected a bit more flavor. Maybe I did not add enough salt.
Also added like 3 times the amount of nutritional yeast. Will definitely make it again, but with some more spices I think.
This is by far the best vegan Mac and Cheese I’ve ever made as well as the most nutritionally well balanced. My 14 month old and I LOVED it, while my husband, who LOVES meat and cheese, really liked it. He commented that it was WAY more filling than normal mac and cheese. When taste testing the sauce he said he liked it but thought adding in some cheddar would make it perfect. However, after we added breadcrumbs and baked it, he loved it just the way it was with some season salt for some extra oomph. We’ve been trying to make eating more plants a priority and I was so impressed with how delicious, easy and satisfying this turned out. If you’ve ever had those “Green Giant, Broccoli and Cheese Sauce” steam packets, the taste of the sauce is more like that than a typical Mac and cheese sauce; but it’s way more delicious with much cleaner and nutritionally dense ingredients. We will absolutely make again.
This is the BEST comfort food - so delicious and flavoury, we loved how the mustard lightly came through in every bite! We used leftover pumpkin instead of the potatoes, worked perfectly!
This was delicious, I didn't think there was going to be enough sauce for all the macaroni when I first saw it, but followed the recipe exactly, and it was of course perfect 🤩 Will be enjoying this regularly now for sure!
This is tasty and comforting.
This is absolutely delicious. It’s so comforting and tasty. I really love using this app and finding super ideas like this one. Thank you!
any substitutes suggested for carrots ? I cant stand cooked carrots ;/
I have cashew issues and have had luck subbing almonds in other vegan macaroni and cheese recipes. It did not work so well on this one. It’s just too sweet - almost amaretto tasting. We made it edible with ketchup and sriracha. Just cautioning others who are curious since cashews are a somewhat common allergen. Use the other PUL suggestions!!! (Not rating since I was gambling with the substitution.)
Delicious, warm, and comforting. I love the bread crumb topping. I did a minute or two of broil at the end to make it extra toasty! Will make again.
I’m confused by some of the reviews talking about the ratio of regular to sweet potatoes. Was the recipe changed at some point?
We made it yesterday and we love it!
Easy and hearty meal. The perfect comfort food we needed for a cool and grey spring Sunday.
I am surprised of how easy are all the recipes I have already made. Exactly what I need.
This dish is amazing and very creamy. For us we found that baking it made it a little dry. When I make this again and I will for sure I think we will just serve it as is directly from the pot.
Also we might add a few Chile flakes before serving.
Didn't work for me, unfortunately. The sauce was too thick. My vegetables might have been too large.
Delicious!! I made this alongside my family having non-vegan mac and cheese. They tried some too and said it was very tasty. The app made it so easy to put together as well. Thank you so much!!
Delicious, soul food, easy to make and yummy!
So delicious!! We absolutely loved it!
This was SO good and surprisingly very easy. Will definitely be making this again. 😋
Germany. Tuesday evening 8 pm. I pack smiling the remains of this incredibly good dinner and look forward to tomorrow at noon as lunch on it.
Afterwards, I grab a spoon and scrape all the wonderful pieces of crust from the edge of the casserole dish. It was just too good! 🤩
My partner loved the recipe. I was a bit disappointed that the sauce was starchy/lumpy/stuck together instead of creamy. I couldn’t figure out whether I needed to sharpen the blades of my blender or change up the proportions of the ingredients. Next time I might try adding olive oil and garlic salt for consistency and extra flavour.
I love this recipe. So delicious and easy to make. Great comfort food and not too much hassle in the kitchen. Also a great meal prep as I, as a single, have food for days. I toss in couple of handful of spinach and peas also for some extra greens.
sooo good! Swapped the potatos for the same amount of firm tofu and it went well! I am so excited about your new app, thanks a lot! best wishes from Germany ♥️
This is hands down the BEST vegan „Mac & Cheese“ I‘ve ever made! I realy disliked other recipes and this one was my last try and a good success!
One of my all time favorite recipes! It is great for meal prep during the week and super hearty and filling. I have not had a chance to try this recipe with the new breadcrumb recipe with the paprika yet but will certainly try it next time.
Amazing. Tried it with sunflower seeds instead of cashews and it was amazing. Kids begged me to leave some sauce to dip chips in!
This looks and sounds delicious! I will definitely be trying this soon. However, is there any way I can leave out the cashews, as my husband is intolerant? Thanks so much in advance!
Honestly could not taste the difference between this and real mac n' cheese! The cheese sauce is incredible!
I’ve never had Mac n cheese before going vegan but I’ve tried a few recipes before and they all tasted really disappointing. Not so with this one! OH MY GOD it’s comfort in a bowl!! I absolutely love it! Next time I might add a little lemon zest for some freshness but I’ll definitely be making this again!
I really enjoyed this dish, I think it was just as comforting as promised 😊 I appreciated the addition of the broccoli and served it with a little side salad for even more freshness. Will surely be making this again 👌
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 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!
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!
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!