Daiya shreds? Nah. Tofu? Nope. That “hack” where you boil potatoes, carrots and onions and blend them into a “cheese” sauce? No sweetie, those are vegetables. Cashews? Not this time, actually.
This is another recipe I’ve been working on and perfecting for almost seven years straight. Having lived in the South for three years, I’ve tried my share of vegan mac and cheese recipes. I’m going to put aside any humility I have and be straight with you: this is the best one, and omnivores and vegans alike beg me to make it all the time.
Yield: 12 Servings
- 1lb pasta, regular or gluten-free (for gluten-free, I recommend Rozoni or Banza)
- 1 cup breadcrumbs, regular or gluten-free
Cheese Sauce:
- 1.5 cup unsweetened nondairy milk (almond and soy work best here)
- 1.5 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 cup sweet potato, chopped
- 1 cup canola/refined coconut/grapeseed/vegetable oil*
- 1/3 cup tamari/soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp mustard
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika, optional**
- 1 Tbsp mellow white miso, optional (Or, if you have it, 1-2 Tbsp of juice from a jar of kimchi or saurkraut. Trust me on this.)
Directions:
- Cook the sweet potato until it’s soft and mash-able by boiling or microwaving in water.
- Preheat oven to 375F. Boil about 5 cups of water in a big pot and cook pasta to an al dente texture (not fully soft) according to package directions.
- Add all of the sauce ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth (or use an immersion blender.) Once pasta is cooked, drain and dump it into a 9×13 pan. Pour the sauce over the pasta and mix evenly. Top with breadcrumbs.
- Bake until the top looks golden and crispy, about 25 minutes.
*If you hate the fact that there’s oil in this, I apologize. Mac and cheese has never been known for its health-giving properties. You can try subbing out the oil with cashew cream for a less-processed fat source, you just might need to add a little extra water to the sauce to thin it out.
**If you don’t have smoked paprika, don’t worry about it, but it gives the mac and cheese an incredible bit of smoky depth.
Katya Weiss-Anderson 