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Vegan Baked Mac n Cheese

3.50 from 159 votes
A vegan take on the classic baked mac n cheese. Perfect to bring to the next family party!
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: dinner
Ingredients Method Notes

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

Method
 

Prepare oven and cook the noodles:
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. 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:
  1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low-medium heat. Whisk in the flour to make a roux.
  2. 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.
  3. Whisk in the nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and salt until combined.
  4. Stir in the cheese and cashew cream*** and cook until the cheese has melted and the sauce is creamy.
Make the topping:
  1. Blend the french fried onions, breadcrumbs, garlic salt, and parsley in a food processor or blender.
Assemble and bake:
  1. Pour the cheese sauce into the noodles and mix until combined. Pour into an 9"×13" glass pan.
  2. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the top. Cover the pan tightly with foil.
  3. 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).