This quick stovetop 15 minute easy vegan mac and cheese is so quick to make and will satisfy all your vegan mac and cheese cravings.
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Hold the front door. Are we really going to show you how to make a delicious vegan mac and cheese in just 15 minutes? Is that really what you read? Absolutely! You are going to love this 15 Minute Easy Vegan Mac and Cheese recipe.
And guess what? It’s super allergy friendly.
Listen, we’ve tried all the boxed vegan mac and cheese brands (well, almost. we know there’s a few out there we haven’t tried, but we’ve tried 10!)
We know that there’s some decent ones out there, but truth be told, if we weren’t overly impressed and we knew we could make a better tasting recipes in the same amount of time. And guess what, we succeed.
Note – this is a stove top version. If you want a baked vegan mac and cheese, click and follow that link!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can I make this Top 8 Allergen Friendly Mac and Cheese?
Yes!
One of our main goals for this besides making just a delicious and easy vegan macaroni and cheese was to make it allergy friendly as well.
There are a few ingredients that we need to look out for in how our recipe is written, but let’s get to it.
To start, you want to use a gluten free pasta. There are so many choices available now, so just use the one that you like the best.
For the vegan butter, ensure that it is soy free. We prefer earth balance soy free when it comes to this. It comes in a red tub.
Then, we have dairy free milk. We actually prefer oat milk for this because it’s creamier. Most dairy free oat milks are certified gluten free, so just double check your labels.
And then we have the vegan parmesan cheese. We are use Violife in this recipe, which does contain coconut oil, but no other allergens. If you have a coconut allergen, you can use Follow Your Heart parmesan.
We also have a vegan parmesan on our site that you can make with sunflower seeds; however, it doesn’t melt well which is why we recommend using one of the store bought brands.
Lastly, make sure you pick a shredded dairy free cheese that is safe for your allergies.
Can I prep this 15 minute easy vegan mac and cheese ahead of time?
Yes! You can make this 3-5 days ahead of time and store in an air tight container in the fridge. Heat up on the stove or in the microwave when ready to eat. You may need to add an additional splash of milk when reheating.
IS VEGAN CHEESE HEALTHY?
Depending on your health goals, different foods are good for different reasons. This dish is based off beans and nutritional yeast in itself is very healthy.
We do use some processed packaged cheese and a vegan butter substitute that could be seen as not as healthy. You could try the sauce without these to see if you like it.
If health is a concern for you, then we encourage you to speak to a nutritionist.
CAN I MAKE THIS IF I DON’T HAVE A HIGH POWDERED BLENDER?
Yes! If you don’t have a high powered blender like a Vitamix or Blendtec, then we recommend that you put all the ingredients except the cheese shreds into a normal blender or food processor and blend until creamy.
Afterwards, move the sauce to a sauce pot on the stove over medium heat and add the vegan cheese shreds. Stir until your vegan cheese has melted and you have a smooth, uniform vegan cheese sauce.
WHAT ARE THE BEST BRANDS TO MAKE A VEGAN CHEESE SAUCE?
When you make something like a vegan cheese sauce recipe you likely want to know exactly how we made it in order to get the best test.
We have not found a major difference in what brand of butter beans you use, so no worries there.
As far as dairy free milk, we typically go with Target’s Good & Gather Oat or Almond milk depending on what we have on hand. However you can use whatever your favorite is. We do recommend unflavored, unsweetened dairy free milk.
We usually use the Now Food’s brand of nutritional yeast.
As far as vegan butter, this again is one that we think you use your favorite, but we have used country crock plant based sticks and Earth Balance with a lot of sucess.
For vegan parmesan – we use the Violife wedge as our go to but if you can’t find any you can also make your own vegan parmesan cheese
Lastly, for vegan cheese, you can use a block or shreds. We have particularly really loved the Violife Epic Cheddar block and shred it ourselves inside, however we had had success with other brands like Violife and Dairy cutting board blend.
WHAT CAN I SUB FOR BUTTER BEANS?
Some people can find butter beans and others can’t. Depending on where you live, maybe it’s not easy for you either.
Butter beans provide a creamy and smooth consistency so that’s why we recommend those; however, other white beans can also be used like cannellini or great northern.
We do not recommend using chickpeas in this dish.
What are other vegan side dishes to try?
There are endless possibilities, but here are some of our favorite vegan side dishes that we think everyone will like:
- Vegan Cornbread
- One Pot 30 Minute Vegan Mashed Potatoes
- Vegan Green Bean Casserole
- Italian Vegan Pasta Salad
- Vegan Potato Salad
- Vegan Green Bean Salad
- The Best Vegan Baked Beans
- Vegan Glazed Carrots
- Vegan Scalloped Potatoes
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15 minute easy vegan mac and cheese
Ingredients
- 2 cups macaroni noodles, uncooked (Use gluten free if needed)
- 1 15oz can butter beans, drained
- ½ cup vegetable stock
- 1 cup dairy free milk (we like oat for this)
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ½ cup vegan parmesan cheese (we use Violife for this recipe)
- 1 cup vegan shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Bring a salted pot of water to a boil.
- Cook macaroni noodles according to the package. Drain noodles once done and set aside.
- While noodles cook, add all remaining ingredients to a high powdered blender.
- Blend this until very well combined (about 3-4 minutes). Set aside.
- When noodles are drain, drain then thoroughly and return to pot.
- Pour sauce in and stir well to combine. Cook just until heated through.
- Remove from heat. Adjust salt and pepper. Serve.
Delicious!! Loved how quick and simple this “cheese” was without having to think ahead about boiling cashews. Thank you!
So glad that you enjoyed it!
This vegan mac and cheese recipe is honestly so good. I’m usually turned off by recipes that have loads of nutritional yeast/boiled potatoes/tons of unnecessary butter/no actual shredded cheese and etc but this one is the perfect one! I swapped butter beans for cannellini beans since I couldn’t find butter beans anywhere and it worked perfectly! It’s one of those recipes i’m always gonna keep on hand, having that extra protein and fiber from the beans just makes you feel better overall!
So glad that it surprised you and that you enjoyed it! Happy it’s a keeper!
I found this recipe posted on the VegNews account and saved it. I finally made it, and it is the absolute best!! I can’t believe how easy it was to make, and it turned out so creamy, cheesy, and delicious. My older kiddo helped me make it, and both kids loved it! Thank you so much for this!
We are so happy you loved it! Thanks so much for taking time out of your day to leave a review, we really appreciate it!
This cheese sauce is really good, but it makes way too much for the 2 cups of pasta the recipe calls for. My pasta was swimming in cheese sauce and I have told to cook about 4 more cups of pasta.
Did you do 2 cups of uncooked pasta or 2 cups of cooked pasta?
I made this, and will surely keep it in my recipes! It was very creamy, and I agree about 2 cups of pasta not being enough (I measured it dry) no problem though, I just cooked more! My boyfriend loved it as well….and he’s not even vegan 😊 Also, I did put mine in the oven for a few minutes….excellent!!!
So glad that you loved it!
Absolutely the best vegan mac I have made. The butter beans make all the difference, I think, texturally and otherwise! The kids loved it and so did I! Can’t wait to make it again for my vegan Dad and more recipes from Make It Dairy Free!
o happy to hear it was a hit! Thanks for sharing how much everyone loved it!
This was the absolute best vegan mac and cheese that I have ever tasted! I have made several recipes over the years but this surpasses all of them and it was super easy to make. The butter beans made this dish rich, creamy and so cheesy. Thank you so much for your top tier recipes. I served it with stir fried broccoli and cauliflower along with Gardein Crispy Tenders.
Sounds like the perfect meal! We are so glad you enjoyed the recipe so much
Has anyone tried freezing this sauce? I would like to make some up for a busy mom that she can freeze and use as needed.
We’ve been told before it freezes well, but we have not personally tried
Looks good but it took a long time to make and did not hit the spot for Mac n cheese for me personally.
We’d love more feedback if you want to share – why did it take long? It’s only supposed to take 15 minutes. And what about the recipe could have been improved?