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.
I’ve tweaked the recipe after making it a few times (more noodles, less nutritional yeast, more shredded cheese, added 4 oz vegan cream cheese, topped with GF bread crumbs & bake at 350 for 20 min.), but overall this is the best vegan mac & cheese recipe! Definitely hits the mark for those of us who haven’t had “real” homemade mac & cheese for a long time! P.S. Ancient Harvest brand pasta has been the best GF pasta we’ve found in terms of taste & holding up when cooking.
Thanks so much for sharing what GF pasta you love
Doesn’t really taste like actual mac and cheese but I liked it enough. I did add some onion, chili and garlic powder because the original of mine tasted a bit bland (I didn’t have any cheddar on hand so I used vegan gouda cheese). You do taste the undertone of the butter beans quite a bit, so I understand why some wouldn’t like it.
I would encourage you to try it with cheddar
I made this tonight and sadly no one would eat it 🙁 my husband said it was okay and ate more than the kids did. Just kinda bummed because this wasn’t a cheap recipe as I didn’t have most ingredients on hand. I think the Pastabilities Vegan Box Mac is better. Both my kids and my husband would eat that one at least.
We’re sorry to hear that your family didn’t enjoy it. We’d love more feedback on why they didn’t like it if you have any, more than just the ingredients were expensive, which we understand.
Thanks for caring so much, but the initial taste was just bad, I tried to get as many brands the same as you use ( tried to pause the day trip video and source the same brands. But they did not have Violife Parm at my local grocery store. I am also not sure how much of a difference the brand of nutritional yeast matters. The dish was creamy and the consistency was great, it just didn’t taste very good. I am trying to find a good dairy free mac and cheese recipe as I have a son with a very bad dairy allergy so we are used to using milk and butter subs but I have yet to find a cheese that I would consider “good” some are passible but not the best. Love your content and I still look forward to trying more recipes this just wasn’t a winner for us. But a big part of that could just be we really haven’t found a non dairy cheese that we care for yet.
Easy and fantastic recipe! I couldn’t believe how good it was. After eating boxed mac n cheese, I assumed it had always been bland, but then when I tried this, I knew I wasn’t going back to the boxed stuff. In the same amount of time, you have creamy, delicious macaroni and cheese. Can’t wait to try your other recipes!
So happy to hear that you love it!
I love, love, love this cheese sauce. I bought a new high-performance blender (CleanBlend) just to make this sauce! And it didn’t disappoint. I was making a sauce like a bechamel sauce with flour, vegan butter, shredded plant-based cheese. And it was very good but had that sticky texture I don’t like. Your recipe tastes just like the mac and cheese I used to make when I was eating regular cheese. Probably better! And no stickiness. Like one person mentioned above, it makes way more than the 2 cups (uncooked), then cooked and drained, macaroni. I have enough to make 4 cups more (uncooked). Will try and freeze it sometime and see if it freezes well. BTW, I just love your website, have spent many hours perusing the recipes and taste tests. Keep up the good work! Thanks so much.
So glad that you enjoy the recipe!
Hello, when do you add the cheddar cheese? 🙂
Step 3
Quick, easy and delicious
Glad you enjoyed it!
Amazing nice and creamy
So happy to hear that