This is comfort food at its best: Vegan Stovetop Mac and Cheese with homemade vegan cheese sauce. Perfect as a main or side dish!
Fall is THE time for comfort food. I think it might actually be my favorite season when it comes to seasonal food: pumpkin, brussels sprouts, chanterelles. I LOVE it all!
Not too long ago, I made this amazing platter of all my favorite fall foods (vegan steak, braised red cabbage, pan-roasted Brussels sprouts, and my favorite: stovetop mac and cheese).
The funny thing is that as a non-American I didn't grow up with mac and cheese. And I've made mac and cheese before (in the oven) but it didn't wow me. I could do without the hard crispy pasta bits and it's always rather on the dry side.
What I learned just now is: I'm not the biggest fan of oven-mac-and-cheese but I LOVE stovetop-mac-and-cheese! It's creamy, and dreamy, and perfect!
So this is my version of mac and cheese with my beloved Nooch Cheese Sauce, so you don't need any fake cheese products! Thanks to nutritional yeast, the Nooch Cheese has its typical cheesy flavor.
How to make Vegan Stovetop Mac and Cheese
The ingredients
The ingredients you’ll need are rather basic. You probably have them at home already!
- elbow pasta or macaroni pasta
- vegan butter
- all-purpose flour
- spices – I used salt, paprika powder, and curry powder (but feel free to experiment with different spices!)
- nutritional yeast flakes – adds the cheesy flavor!
- water
Possible Add-Ins
This is a very basic version of Mac and Cheese, but you could upgrade it by adding in:
- peas
- spinach
- caramelized onions
- crispy tofu/tempeh cubes
- mushrooms
The basic steps
Tip: If you want to prepare the cheesy sauce in advance and not use it immediately, it will thicken up quite a bit. Add a bit more water and whisk again. Then it's good as new!
Serve it with…
- Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts in Soy Sauce
- Braised Red Cabbage
- Vegan Steak with Herb Butter and Roasted Potatoes
Love it? Rate it!
I hope you enjoy this vegan Mac and Cheese as much as I do! Let me know if you give it a try!
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Cheers, Bianca
Vegan Stovetop Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 cups elbow pasta
Ingredients for the vegan Cheese Sauce
- ¼ cup vegan butter e.g. EarthBalance, Alsan,...
- ½ teaspoon salt + more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon curry powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika powder
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 ½ cups pasta water add little by little until perfectly creamy
Instructions
- Boil the pasta. (Save the pasta water)
- For the vegan cheese sauce: Heat the butter in a small pot on medium-high heat.
- Add the salt, paprika powder, and curry powder. Whisk.
- Once the butter is completely melted, add in the flour and whisk again.
- Reduce the heat to low and add nutritional yeast, whisk again until clumpy.
- Add the pasta water (little by little until creamy, I used 1 ½ cups) and whisk on low heat for a few minutes. If it gets too thick you can add a little bit more water and whisk again.
- Pour the vegan cheese sauce over the drained pasta. Give it a good mix and serve!
Hannah says
Mac and cheese is one of my all time favorite foods <3. Yours looks delicious!
Bianca says
Thank you! I love making traditional American meals from time to time. It's a nice change :)
Sarah says
This is awesome!! But I recommend tripling the cheese. The recipe as described barely covers one bag of noodles. Doubling it is better. Tripling it makes it actually cheesy.
My husband was critical of it before I tripled the cheese, but now he can't get enough. I can't, either.
It's very easy, too!
Bianca says
Awesome! I'm glad you like them! More cheese = more better :)
Margaret says
This is the best vegan mac and cheese sauce I've tried yet. The only change I made was to stir in a little lemon juice before serving. BTW, I also love your user-friendly Indian-inspired vegan entrees. You're a wonderful cook. Thank you!
Mare oconnell says
Can I make this gluten free successfully by using another noodle and some gluten free flour? I would love to try it. Looks delicious.