Vegan Baked Mac n Cheese
A vegan take on the classic baked mac n cheese. Perfect to bring to the next family party!
Ingredients
For the noodles:
- 1 16 oz box uncooked cellentani pasta*
For the cheese sauce:
- 1/4 cup vegan butter
- 1/4 cup white flour
- 3 cups plain, unsweetened rice milk**
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 1/4 tsp salt add more or less to taste
- 2 cups vegan shredded cheddar cheese or use a combo of your favorites
- ~1 cup cashew cream see notes***
For the topping:
- 1 cup french fried onions
- 1/2 cup vegan Italian breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp parsley
Instructions
Prepare oven and cook the noodles:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cook pasta according to package instructions for al dente noodles. Strain and set aside (you may want to toss them in a bit of oil to keep from sticking together).
Make the cheese sauce:
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low-medium heat. Whisk in the flour to make a roux.
- Slowly add in the rice milk while continuously whisking. Turn the heat up to medium-high and simmer until thick and bubbly, continuously whisking to ensure there are no remaining lumps.
- Whisk in the nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and salt until combined.
- Stir in the cheese and cashew cream*** and cook until the cheese has melted and the sauce is creamy.
Make the topping:
- Blend the french fried onions, breadcrumbs, garlic salt, and parsley in a food processor or blender.
Assemble and bake:
- Pour the cheese sauce into the noodles and mix until combined. Pour into an 9"×13" glass pan.
- Sprinkle the topping evenly over the top. Cover the pan tightly with foil.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes and then take the foil off. Bake for another 5 minutes uncovered, until the topping is golden-brown.
Notes
*If you use another type of noodles in this recipe, you may end up with extra cheese sauce which you can save for later.
**We do not recommend subbing this for another nondairy milk.
***Follow this recipe for cashew cream and use the entire amount that yields from the recipe. You can also substitute this with 1/2 cup vegan cream cheese, if preferred (vegan cream cheese is heavier, so we don't recommend using a 1:1 substitution).