Seriously creamy and easy vegan baked mac and cheese will give you all those comfort feels and mouth-filling textures. It's made with easy pantry ingredients and is a family favorite. Why You'll Love This Recipe Ingredient Notes And Variations Best Type Of...

Seriously creamy and easy vegan baked mac and cheese will give you all those comfort feels and mouth-filling textures. It's made with easy pantry ingredients and is a family favorite.

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Why You'll Love This Recipe

Even non-vegans will be impressed with this delicious baked vegan meal, it's the ultimate comfort food. The preparation and cooking are very easy, it makes a fabulous side dish or main dish. Each bite is filled with that traditional mac creamy texture, and the flavor is super tasty, similar to the real thing. No cashews are used in this family-favorite recipe. Can be made completely gluten-free - when I cook this for my family, I tend to make the vegan cheese sauce with gluten-free flour and then I split it between wheat pasta and gf pasta. Everyone in my family loves it!

Ingredient Notes And Variations

Notes on some of the ingredients, the full list of ingredients and their measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Best Type Of Pasta For Mac and Cheese

Macaroni pasta is a small short hollow tube and is typically used to make any type of mac and cheese recipe.

However, you can use elbow macaroni, small shell pasta, or any type of mouth-size bite pasta.

If you're avoiding gluten like I am, I tend to use gluten-free pasta spirals. 

Cook the pasta as instructed on the packet. I always make sure the cooked pasta is al dente (firm to the bite), by undercooking it by one minute.

Vegan Cheese Creamy Sauce

Non-dairy milk, almond milk is generally my go-to however you can use soy milk, oat milk or cashew milk just to name a few.

All purpose flour is what makes this vegan cheese sauce creamy and thick when combined with plant milk (think of it as a non-dairy cheesy bechamel sauce).

I tend to make it with gluten free all-purpose flour, which works perfectly too.

Nutritional yeast is a key ingredient in creating the magic cheezy flavor ingredient. It can be found at your local supermarket in the health food section or buy nutritional yeast online (affiliate link). 

Vegan butter (any dair free butter) takes the creamy vegan cheese sauce to the next level. If you prefer to avoid this ingredient, you will love this stovetop plant-based mac and cheese prepared without any oil.

White pepper and paprika help with coloring and flavoring. The white pepper especially emphasizes cheesy flavor, which I love. Do not skip it or change it for black pepper, if possible.

These spices can all be adjusted to suit your liking, the amounts recommended are listed in the below recipe card.

Dijon mustard helps to give this easy-baked vegan macaroni and cheese a little zing and brightness, bringing all the flavors together. 

Buttery Breadcrumbs Topping

Slices of bread will be toasted, and then processed in a food processor before being combined with melted dairy-free butter.

The breadcrumbs will be used to top the cooked macaroni and vegan cheese sauce in a casserole dish before baking until golden brown.

In these photos I used wholemeal brown sliced bread which I made into a chunky crumb (my laziness coming through here), you can use white bread, gluten free bread, or whatever you have on hand.

Alternatively, panko breadcrumbs can be used too.

Storage

Once the vegan mac n cheese cools down to room temperature, transfer it to an airtight container and place it in the fridge for up to five days.

Alternatively, freeze for up to three months and then defrost prior to reheating. 

Reheat the portions that you need.

Serving Suggestions

A simple chopped salad, cabbage salad without mayo or perhaps even an orange and fennel salad on the side is a good way to up your fiber intake. 

Cooked green vegetable pair well with this vegan baked mac and cheese.

Other Vegan Pasta Dishes

People are also loving my delicious vegan pasta bake which requires no prior cooking of the pasta.

An easy vegan cream free mushroom pasta is great for a quick weeknight meal.

For something fun make pasta chips in the air fryer.

Or try this cold pasta salad with banana blossom.

Did you make this? I'd love to know! Leave me a comment below with a ????? rating or tag @plantbasedfolk on social media.

The post Easy Vegan Baked Mac and Cheese appeared first on Plant Based Folk.

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