This is the vegan mac and cheese of your dreams; the one you didn’t know you needed.
Before you disagree, hear me out for a second. I was skeptical at first too (I’m lying, I love vegan foods), but it was so delicious I didn’t care. I know many of you might share a distaste for vegan food, and I think part of the disappointment people experience when eating plant-based foods that are made to replace your favorite comfort food classics is because the food's not exactly like the original. Well, I hate to break it to you, but that what eating a plant-based diet is—the food is going to be different! But that doesn’t mean it’s not delicious! You’re just gonna have to trust me on this one.
If you’re still having trouble conceptualizing a vegan mac and cheese, just think of it like a creamy, coconut milk, cheese-like pasta sauce that’s baked with a bread-crumb topping. (There! Feel better?) Whatever you need to do to get this in your face right this second, do it. Take it from my father, who is not a big fan of vegan fare. He tried it and said, “I didn’t know what to expect, but that was *freaking* good.” If I still haven’t convinced you to try it, then it’s your loss, because not only is this a tasty meal, you can also get your mac and cheese fix with fewer calories and more nutrition than regular man n cheese. Plus, you might save yourself some money while you’re at it. (That all depends on what kinds of cheeses you buy and where, but overall, yes, vegan mac n cheese is budget-friendly.)
Chloe, on the other hand, loves vegan food; she’s not much of a carnivore. She almost burned herself as I pulled the dish out of the oven trying to get a bite. She gave it a 10/10 and said it’s a perfect comfort food. The paprika makes it smokey, the coconut milk makes it slightly sweet, and the Dijon mustard gives it a nice zip.
I tried to think of a joke for this recipe, but I was worried it would be too cheesy. (Get it! Because it's vegan there's no cheese... Well it's not funny if I have to explain it.)
Notes
Buying the Right Foods:
Getting vegan alternatives is difficult, right? Wrong! Vegan alternatives for dairy and meat are easily found at most major grocery stores now-a-days. The ones you need for this particular recipe are vegan butter (I Can't Believe It’s Not Butter is a personal favorite because of the name and the name alone), canned coconut milk and nutritional yeast (found near the flours and yeasts at most grocery stores) since these are carried at most major grocery stores, there’s no excuse not to use them!
Choosing a Milk:
You can use other plant-based milks for this, but I found that canned coconut milk is the best way to get that thick, creamy consistency mac n cheese is known for.
Choosing a Pasta:
Firstly, if you want this to be authentically vegan, you need to buy pasta that doesn’t have any eggs in it. You might even have some already since most of the dried, boxed pasta found at the supermarkets are usually vegan, although it doesn’t hurt to check. I recommend elbow since it is the most common for mac n cheese, though you can use any small pasta with ridges.
Why Nutritional Yeast:
Nutritional yeast is one of vegan food’s secret weapons. Not only does it have added nutritional value, but it has a characteristic cheesy taste that it gives to any food you season it with. You could make this dish without the nutritional yeast, but it won't taste much like mac and cheese.
Vegan Mac and Cheese
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 9 servings
Ingredients
1 lb elbow macaroni
½ cup vegan butter
6 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 14 oz cans of coconut milk
1 cup vegetable stock
3 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 cup nutritional yeast
3 tsp onion powder
3 tsp garlic powder
1 ½ tsp paprika
1 ½ tsp garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp vegan butter (melted)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and par-cook the macaroni. Drain and cool the macaroni before it reaches al dente—this will be about 2 minutes before you would normally take the pasta out of the water, and because we are going to bake this macaroni, it will finish cooking in the oven.
While you wait for the water to boil and the oven to preheat, add the vegan butter to a pot and let it melt. Then add the flour and whisk vigorously with the butter, cooking for about 1 minute.
Next, add the cans of coconut milk and vegetable stock to the pot. Keep whisking to work out the lumps and continue to whisk while the mixture thickens. Once the mixture has thickened, you can remove it from the heat.
Whisk in the Dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into your sauce until it’s well incorporated.
Transfer your macaroni to a 9X13 baking dish.
Next, melt 2 Tbsp of butter and mix it with the breadcrumbs. Sprinkle that mixture on top of your mac and cheese.
Put your mac and cheese into the oven for 20 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and crispy.
Enjoy!
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