Vegan Mac & Cheese

I love Mac & Cheese and it is a staple and a center piece on our Thanksgiving table. The cheese sauce recipe I am about to share with you is delicious! But I must admit, that in recent years, I have been cutting corners and buying Nomad Eats Vegan Mac & Cheese Sauce. If you live in the San Diego area, this is an amazing option if you are looking to save time. If you are not local to San Diego or you want to make your own vegan cheese sauce, here if the recipe!

Ingredients:

• 2 16 ounce bags of gluten free-brown rice elbow pasta (I like Tinkyada the best. Jovial is also very good too). You can of course use a regular elbow pasta but I cook mostly gluten free and you honestly can’t tell the difference here. 

Cheese Sauce Recipe:

I usually double the quantity of the recipe because if you make this ahead of time, you might want to add a little more cheese on top before baking and I like my mac & cheese to be extra cheesy.  I highly recommend making a double batch. If you have any left over, this sauce is great for nachos too. 

• 1/2 cup (3 ounces) raw cashews
• 1/4 Cup of water
• 2cups diced peeled Yukon gold potatoes 
• 1 cup canned full-fat coconut milk
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 tsp tumeric
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ cup of carrots – chopped
• ½ cup onion – chopped
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 clove of garlic minced
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil

To make the cheese sauce:

1. Soak the raw cashews in 2 cups of water overnight (if you don’t have time to soak overnight – 2 hours is adequate). Drain and throw away the water. Transfer to blender.
2. Steam the potatoes in either water or the Imagine Brand No Chicken Broth for a little more flavor. You want to just cover the potatoes by an inch or two. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and cook until tender. Add to the blender
3. Sauté the onions and carrots in 1tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat until soft. Add in the garlic and cook for another minute or two and then add to the blender
4. Add all remaining ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth. 
5. Adjust flavor by adding more sea salt if necessary.

Boil your pasta in a large pot and cook until el dente. Drain and then put the pasta back into the pot and mix with the following.

• ¼ Cup Miyoko’s Butter
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast

Then add in the cheese sauce to the pasta… mixing in more until you reach the desired amount of cheesiness. 

Pour the cheesy pasta into a buttered casserole dish and top with bread crumbs if you like (see below). Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

If you like to top your mac and cheese with bread crumbs, you can either make your own bread crumbs or buy plain or gluten free bread crumbs at the store (I like Edward & Son’s Organic bread crumbs). Melt ¼ cup of vegan butter and add to ½ cup of bread crumbs and then top the mac and cheese with the buttered crumbs. The mac and cheese is good with or without the crumbs – it’s just a personal preference. I think it looks pretty and I like the crunchiness the bread crumbs create when baked.