Vegan Baked Mac & Cheese
Mac & Cheese: the ultimate comfort food. This one features sweet potato for an added sweet component and a crunchy bread crumb topping for an extra layer of deliciousness.
What noodles can you eat cold?
I’ve found that basically all noodles are fine to eat cold, provided that they’ve been kept at the correct temperature in the fridge if they’re leftovers. You can get a specific Asian noodle, like a ramen, pad thai, brown rice, etc. or you can go with normal wheat pasta.
What plant-based milk is best for mac ‘n’ cheese?
Of course don’t use any vanilla or sweetened milk, but I’ve honestly found that all milks work for this recipe. You’ll want to stick to a plain, unsweetened plant milk but the options are endless: soy, oat, almond, coconut, cashew, etc.
Why doesn’t this recipe just use vegan cheese?
While there are plenty of vegan cheese substitutes that may resemble a more classic mac ‘n’ cheese, I chose to use a cream cheese for the creaminess and a sweet potato for most of the flavor to try to avoid the confusion when it comes to vegan cheese. They are not all made equal, the taste, melt factor, and texture are different across all vegan cheeses, and it’s difficult to base an entire recipe off of one ingredient that we may all use different brands for (basically if we didn’t use the same brand of vegan cheese — or didn’t even like the same brand of vegan cheese — yours wouldn’t turn out anywhere near the same as mine if it relied on vegan cheese as the main ingredient).
Vegan Baked Mac & Cheese
Ingredients
- 1.52 lb pasta
- 1 stick butter
- 4 cups chopped sweet potato (approx.1 large or2 medium sweet potatoes), leave skin on
- 4 cups chopped cauliflower (approx1/2 large head)
- 4 cups plant milk
- 1 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 tbsp miso paste
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1/2-3/4 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- optional: smoked paprika
- oil spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Boil sweet potato and cauliflower (veggies) for 12-15 minutes or until soft. Drain and set aside.
- Cook pasta according to package directions, undercooking by 1-2 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water until there is no steam, and set aside.
- While pasta and veggies are cooking, melt butter in a large pot over low heat.
- In a high-speed blender, add 2 cups of veggies, 1 cup of milk, and all seasonings (nutritional yeast, tomato paste, miso, salt, garlic powder, white pepper, and cayenne). Blend until completely creamy and smooth. Add to the pot with the melted butter.
- To the same blender (don't rinse out), add 2 cups of veggies and 1 cup of milk. Blend until completely creamy and smooth and add to the pot with the sauce. Repeat 3x.
- Add cooked pasta to sauce and stir. This will look very creamy, but that is okay because pasta dishes dry out in the oven. Pour pasta into a 9x15 baking dish. Top with bread crumbs, optional smoked paprika, and spray or drizzle with oil.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Then broil for 2-5 minutes (keep a close eye on it so it doesn't burn). Remove from oven and serve while hot. Enjoy!