Amazing Vegan Mac and Cheese
This vegan mac and cheese recipe is incredibly creamy and remarkably cheese-like! You won't believe how delicious dairy-free mac and cheese can be.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on May 22, 2024
Did you know that this seven-year-old vegetarian food blog did not have a macaroni and cheese recipe until today? It’s true. I’ve failed you on the mac and cheese front, but I’m making it up to you with this vegan (I repeat: dairy free) mac and cheese recipe.
From one cheese lover to another, I’m here to tell you that this mac and “cheese” is remarkably cheese-like and absolutely delicious.
I’ve been slowly working on this mac and cheese since I published my vegan queso recipe two months ago. The first time, I tried to use pasta cooking water instead of my queso’s secret ingredient (grated potato), and it was just ok.
Then, I added the potato back, and the potato starch makes this cashew-based queso super silky and creamy. It’s remarkable!
The Best Vegan Mac and Cheese
Nutritional yeast is key, in addition to the grated potato. It offers some cheesy flavor and color. Frontier Co-Op just started offering it in smaller bottles, and after using it in this recipe, I really believe their product is superior. It has less funk than the regular store-bought brand, so if you haven’t enjoyed nutritional yeast in the past, please give it a shot.
I kept tweaking the amounts and spices until we had just the right amount of sauce for one-half pound of pasta. I’ve finally nailed it. Don’t be intimidated by the ingredients list—it’s all basic pantry ingredients!
I couldn’t help but incorporate some broccoli for some extra flavor, color and health benefits. Keep it or leave it out—I’ve included guidance for either option in the recipe below.
Vegans, dairy-free friends, and cheese lovers who crave a more redeeming mac and cheese recipe, this recipe is for you. (And for those who also appreciate traditional, cheesy mac and cheese recipes, you don’t want to miss my new stovetop mac and cheese recipe.)
Please let me know how you like this recipe in the comments! If you’re transitioning to vegan or dairy-free recipes, don’t miss my vegan sour cream and vegan Parmesan.
Watch How to Make Vegan Mac and Cheese
Amazing Vegan Mac and Cheese
This vegan mac and cheese recipe is incredibly creamy and remarkably cheese-like! You won’t believe how delicious dairy-free mac and cheese can be. Recipe yields 2 large or 4 modest servings.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces whole-grain macaroni elbows
- 1 head of broccoli, florets cut into small bites (about 1 ½ to 2 cups), optional*
- 1 ½ tablespoons avocado oil or extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped (about 1 ½ cups)
- 1 cup peeled and grated russet potato (4 ounces, about 1 small or ½ medium potato), preferably organic
- 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, more to taste
- Small pinch of red pepper flakes
- ⅔ cup raw cashews**
- 1 cup water, more as necessary
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 2 to 3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar, to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. Cook according to package directions. If using broccoli, stir it into the pot when just 2 to 3 more minutes remain. Drain, and transfer the contents to a large serving bowl.
- Meanwhile, in a medium-to-large saucepan, warm the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring often, until the onion is tender and turning translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the grated potato, garlic, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder, salt and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine, and cook, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute to enhance their flavors.
- Add the cashews and water, and stir to combine. Let the mixture come to a simmer. Continue simmering, stirring frequently and reducing heat as necessary to avoid a rapid boil, until the potatoes are completely tender and cooked through, about 5 to 8 minutes.
- Carefully pour the mixture into a blender. Add the nutritional yeast and 2 teaspoons vinegar. Blend until the mixture is completely smooth, about 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides if necessary. If the mixture won’t blend easily or if you would prefer a thinner consistency, add water in ¼ cup increments, blending after each one.
- Taste, and blend in additional salt until the sauce is utterly irresistible (I typically add at least another ½ teaspoon). If it needs a little more zip, add the remaining teaspoon of vinegar. Blend again.
- Pour the sauce into the bowl of pasta. Stir until well combined, and serve immediately. Leftovers keep well, chilled and covered, for 3 to 4 days. Gentle reheat, adding a tiny splash of water if necessary to loosen up the sauce.
Notes
Recipe adapted from my vegan queso.
Make it gluten free: Simply use your favorite gluten-free noodles.
*On broccoli: You can omit the broccoli altogether, or replace it with finely chopped kale or peas (about 1 ½ cups). If you omit it, you might not need to use all of the sauce.
**Raw cashew notes: Most recipes like this suggest soaking the cashews for 4 hours in advance to make them easier to blend and to digest. I honestly never soak mine since I have a powerful Vitamix that blends them right up. The cashews in this recipe are cooked in hot liquid, so they’re softer and even easier to blend. However, if you don’t have a great blender or if you’re concerned about the digestibility factor, go ahead and soak them in advance.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This post was created in partnership with Frontier Co-op and I received compensation for my participation. Opinions are my own, always. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who support C+K!
Holy buckets this is good! I decided recently to incorporate more vegetarian/vegan recipes in my repertoire, and your blog came up near the top of a google search for “vegan dishes”. The fact that mac and cheese was first on the list of 29 vegan recipes definitely caught my attention; but it was Cookie posing with a broccoli stem that sealed the deal :)
If someone handed me a bowl of this and said nothing about it I would have thought it was an awesome white cheddar mac and cheese. I’ll definitely be making this again. Thanks!
Love to hear that, Shane! Thanks for taking time to comment and review.
Small amounts of Asafoetida give a comforting onion-garlic flavour, which is especially good in stews, curries and vegetarian dishes. A ½ teaspoon of the powder can be substituted for 2-minced garlic gloves, or 2/3 of a cup of minced onion.
Thanks for sharing, Cindy!
I don’t typically leave reviews but I had to. I have been SEARCHING for the perfect Vegan Mac and Cheese recipe for over a year. THIS IS PERFECT. It’s soooo good! THANK YOU!!!!
I’m so glad you did too! Thanks for the review and trying this recipe.
What a nice, easy comfort food! I made mine with 16 oz of butternut squash pasta and both the broccoli and peas. For the sauce I just added a little extra of everything and it made the perfect amount. I should have used more vinegar for the larger quantity, but was too hungry to bother any more. Instead of salt, I used about a tablespoon of miso paste (healthier alternative). This dish came out great, and we sprinkled a pinch of chili and lime seasoning on top.
Thanks for sharing, Audrey! I appreciate the review.
Hi! Super excited to try this! The nutritional yeast links to hemp hearts-is this right? Just wanna make sure before getting it!
Thanks!
Thanks for bringing that to my attention! Nutritional yeast is correct; I’ve just fixed the link.
This recipe did not work out for me. The sauce was clumpy, but that may have been the result of my blender. I also think using less noodles would have been better. Did add a vegan “meat” crumble to the dish and that was helpful.
I’m sorry this didn’t turn out perfect fo you! Thank you for your feedback, Stacey.
I read your comment policy, and was relieved that you review/edit comments before they’re posted. You probably won’t want to publish this comment, but I wanted to share it and possibly get your feedback. I really wanted to make this recipe, as I am seriously thinking about becoming a vegan, and my love for cheese is the only reason that’s stopping me. I started by using your link to the Frontier Co-op nutritional yeast, and it all stopped there. The most recent product review was terrible, as are many others. Apparently there have been one or more bad batches that smelled of chemicals. Do you know if the company has explained or apologized for the problem? I realize that life (industry) isn’t perfect, but to build any kind of trust, it’s important that something like this be at least acknowledged for those of us who are committed to healthy eating. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please feel free to write back to me directly at my email below. (Fellow dog lover)
Delicious! Didn’t have dry mustard so replaced with Dijon.
Sprinkled lemon pepper seasoning on top and that brought it to a whole new level!
Would make again :).
Thanks for letting me know you liked it with Dijon! I appreciate the review, Jordan.
Just made this and it tastes great!! Best vegan cheese sauce I’ve tried so far :)
I didn’t have mustard powder, but I added some black pepper and a little extra nutritional yeast at the end. Would definitely recommend this recipe!
Thank you, Irene!
OMG! I have been on the hunt for a good vegan mac and cheese recipe for awhile and have made many of them that were just okay. I cannot stop eating this – seriously addicting! Your recipes are always so on point and I’ve gotta say, out of all the vegan recipe books/websites I own and follow, yours are 100% my favorite. Your recipes are SO. DAMN. GOOD.
Thank you for this!
Hooray! I’m so happy to hear you loved this and are enjoying the recipes, Erin.
What can i use to replace the cashews? My daughter is allergic
I’m sorry to hear she is allergic! This one really needs the cashews to get the creaminess factor to resemble cheese.
I was skeptical before I made this and was completely amazed at the results!! My vegetarian daughter recently went dairy-free and homemade mac and cheese was a staple at our house. I made it this afternoon for her and my husband to have for dinner. I had to stop myself going back for more when I made it so there was enough left for their meal! They both loved it!! I did soak the cashews since I don’t have a blender. I also doubled the recipe and forgot to double the apple cider vinegar so will correct that next time!
I’m glad you made it anyway and loved ti! Thanks for your review, Darlene.
I was skeptical before I made this and was completely amazed at the results!! My vegetarian daughter recently went dairy-free and homemade mac and cheese was a staple at our house. I made it this afternoon for her and my husband to have for dinner. I had to stop myself going back for more when I made it so there was enough left for their meal! They both loved it!! I did soak the cashews since I don’t have a blender. I also doubled the recipe and forgot to double the apple cider vinegar so will correct that next time!
I’m glad it’s a favorite! I agree it is hard to stop going back for seconds. Thanks for your review, Darlene!
Hi. I’m excited to try your mac and cheese! I am allergic to potatoes though. I see that you originally just used the pasta liquid. What if I added some tapioca starch? Do you think that would replace the potato?
Hi Mary! You could definitely try that. I would use a very small amount, maybe 1/4 teaspoon.
Thank you soooo much for this recipe. I made this with my boyfriend and it was amazing!! Definitely a new favorite
Fantastic, Bobbie! Thank you for your review.
Thank you for this fine recipe. I made it last night, and it is almost gone–between two of us! It is SO good. I can’t wait to try another of your ideas tonight!
Wonderful to hear, Pepper! Thank you for your review.
This is really, really good. I tried a vegan pizza recipe and the cheese on it wasn’t great, but this cheese sauce was INCREDIBLE, so flavorful and creamy.
I used an immersion blender so I wasn’t able to get all of the chunks out of the cashews, next time I’d crush them up before putting them in the pan. I also added about 3/4 cups of water and a bit more nutritional yeast. All in all, this was incredible and will definitely eb makgin ti agian!
Thank you for sharing, Meghan!
Wow! Just made this for my family (most of them normal meat eaters) and my husband of almost 25 years told me it was the best flavor of any meal I’ve EVER made!
Great, Amy!
This is sooooooo delicious!!!
I’ve only been vegan for about six weeks and feel like I’ve been starving the whole time. My family and I are foodies from the Bay Area, so I’m a bit snobby and particular about what I eat. I thought the picture looked good, but so far, I don’t like vegan cheese substitutes, so figured I was going to tolerate this recipe at best. But my hunger inspired me to try it. Wow!! I can honestly say this is some of the best Mac and “cheese” I’ve ever had, with a gourmet flare that was so divine!! Also, it was as creamy, if not more so, than the real thing! No gritty bits that make me feel like I’m eating ground up vitamins!
Nice work Kate!!!
I’m so glad you tried it! Thank you for your review, Kaylah!
Wonderful, fed about 2 but could probably stretch to 3 if you aren’t greedy like me, I definitely put too much salt in, but will fix that next time! It’s so creamy and super adaptable, (how thick you like the sauce) would 100% recommend!
Thank you for recommending it, Cath!
Delicious but when I made it it came out very creamy like an Alfredo sauce as opposed to a Mac ‘n’ Cheese sauce — I can’t wait to try it on linguine!
Thanks for your review, Sean!
I made this today and it’s the best vegan mac and cheese I’ve found! I added the broccoli and some green chick peas just because I had some. It was very very good!
Hooray! Thanks for stopping to comment and review, Donna.
Delicious!
Thank you, Orla!
I made this recipe tonight for my wife and daughter and they LOVED it! Easy to make and cheesy AF.
Great! Thanks, Bill.
Why would anyone make Mac and cheese with real dairy when this deliciousness exists??? It takes like the real thing, I would not believe it didn’t contain dairy if I had not made it myself. Mind. Blown. My vegan boyfriend loves it. We doubled the recipe, added a 1/4 c more nutritional yeast, added fresh peas and topped it with a crunchy panko bread crumb topping toasted with olive oil. Seriously leave the cholesterol behind and try this recipe. Thank you thank you thank you for this recipe!
Glad you love this version, Grace! Thanks so much for your feedback and review.
I am shifting towards veganism and this was really good! We mixed some leftover bean chili in the leftover mac for yummy chili “cheese” mac, which was also great!
I did not get the smooth texture I was hoping for It was still slightly grainy. Maybe I just need to keep it blending for a little longer? (I followed the recipe exactly, except I did not soak the cashews).
Thanks for all your efforts on these recipes! I am really enjoying your site! :)
It could be that you needed to blend longer, especially if you don’t have a high powered blender. It may help to soak the cashews next time, if you blended long enough.
I made this it was yummy, I think next time I will add a little more vinegar to add a bit more sharpness. Over all very satisfied will make again
Thank you for your feedback, Julie!
I followed this recipe to the letter and I have no idea where I went wrong, but it did not turn out the way the recipe says. It looks like puree food from a nursing home and tastes extremely bland to me. I’m sure the recipe itself is fine, I just have no idea where I messed it up.
I’m sorry to hear that, Camry! Did you allow the ingredients to simmer together?
In ammendment to my previous comment pondering what I had done wrong, I simply did not mix it with the noodles at that point so it looked off to me, but once I added the noodles it truly was the best vegan mac and cheese. My roomate didn’t even realize it was vegan!!
Ok good! I’m happy it ended up workin out well.
Hola Kathryne, I am slowly embarking on my vegan journey and I wanted to take a moment to thank you so much for this recipe. I made the vegan Mac and Cheese last night and it was absolute perfection! I loved how rich, flavorful, and creamy the sauce was!You are amazing, I can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Muchas Gracias!
I’m excited you liked this one! Good luck on your new journey.
Can you freeze this and then reheat? Making this as a meal for someone who is moving and just wondering if it reheats well after being frozen.
I haven’t tried it, but typically dishes like this don’t reheat well. Sorry! I would recommend one of my soups or I have heard enchiladas freeze well.
This is trash. Absolute trash. I followed this recipe to the T. And it tastes soo bad. Like if you could transform the smell of your city disposal to taste this is how the recipe would taste. I don’t know how this recipe got such highly rated reviews.
Hi Jonathan, I’m sorry you didn’t love this recipe.
I made this recipe for my partner and I. The flavors were good but the texture was not my favourite. It could be that I do not have a high-powered blender but I did soak the cashews for about 5 hours before blending. I would recommend you have a high-power blender if you would like to try this recipe.
Hi Chantelle! I’m sorry the sauce wasn’t as creamy for you. I appreciate your review.
I just cannot believe how good this was! I’m new to plant based eating, and I needed something to get my kids on board. They actually ate it! This is a new regular in our house!
Great to hear, Nikki!
Unbelievable! I was so impressed at how delicious and cheese-like this dish was. I’m looking forward to trying your vegan queso recipe and the various recipes in your cookbook. I began eliminating animal products from my diet the last few weeks and felt like most of my dishes were boring. Your recipes excite me because they’re so creative and I like how you have the various substitutes at the bottom of each recipe in your book. Thank you for showing me that being vegan doesn’t have to be boring!!
I’m happy to hear you think so, Christine!
I love my old non-vegan baked Mac and cheese. Do you think this would hold up fine to dishing in a casserole dish, topping with breadcrumbs and broiling?
It would be worth trying! Let me know what you think, Hayley.
This was AMAZING! Even the non vegan 13 year old loved it!
Hooray! I’m happy to hear that.
I made the recipe, but I will use less nutritional yeast, as the yeast taste was overpowering, and I’ll add some vegan butter to my recipe. Otherwise, it was great.
Thank you for your feedback, Vee! It can have a very distinctive taste sometimes.
Just wondering, can I use non sweetened cashew milk instead if water? Wouldn’t that make it creamier? I’m new to vegan cooking but I’m trying this recipe tonight.
Thanks!
Wonderful tasting “cheese” sauce. My son, the Vegan, loved it!!! Can’t wait to try your other recipes!!
This recipe is tricky. I would stick to the instructions for this one.
Oh my goodness this was soooo good! I bought sweet potatoes by mistake but it turned out OK. Thanks Kate (and Cookie)!
Oh no! I’m happy you still liked the end result.
I love the flavor of this recipe, but I couldn’t get the sauce smooth and creamy. It remained kind of grainy. I blended it in a food processor, not sure if that made a difference. I thought about cooking the potato before grating. Any advice?
It could be your food processor couldn’t get it quite as smooth. Did you find there wasn’t enough volume in the food processor to help it blend?
Surprisingly delicious… To be perfectly honest I had low expectations when preparing this, as usually vegan cheeses etc. tend to disappoint, but this dish is excellent. Of course it’s not ‘identical’ to regular cheese sauce, but whatever this is it’s damn nice.
P.S I added a touch of smoked salt to mine, and I also sprinkled some crispy fried onions on top.. would recommend!
Smoked salt sounds like a nice touch! Thank you for your review, Jacob.
Could the “cheese” sauce be made in advance?
It works best all made at once. I don’t find this one is great to make too far in advance.
I tried this recipe and I’ll warn y’all- it doesn’t taste like normal mac and cheese. It’s very different. I really don’t know how to feel about it.
I’m sorry you just didn’t love this one!
Are the potatoes necessary in this? Wondering how it would taste if I omitted it?
I find they really help with the cheese-like texture and flavor.
I’ve been vegan for almost a month and I’m completely new to cooking. This was my first time trying a vegan mac and cheese recipe and it was shockingly amazing! All the work was worth it! I was a little nervous on how these ingredients would come to together but it came out perfect! 10/10 recommend, and shall do it again!
Wonderful to hear, Isis! I’m glad you loved it. I appreciate your comment and review.
This looks really good but I was curious if I could leave out the potato or use a sweet potato instead? Right now I’m off “white” food. Lol.
The potato stated here really helps with the cheese-like flavor and texture. I don’t know if you will get the same with a sweet potato. But, let me know if you try it!
Aha! Well, I did try it and I think it worked, although it did lend a note of sweetness, perhaps too sweet for cheesy mac and cheese! Otherwise, I thought it was great!
bloody delicious mate
Thank you, Jonathon!
What would you suggest for making this recipe nightshade free? ♀️
Lol it didn’t post my emojis.
This recipe is unique due to the grated potatoes. They give the sauce a thick and creamy texture. ACV isn’t tangy enough for my taste palate, so I added the juice of a lemon in addition to the ACV and added a bit more nooch than the recipe called for and it was yummy.
Thanks for sharing your variation, Sarah!