You’ll never miss the cheese with this vegan baked mac and cheese recipe! Ever! It is truly the best and only recipe you’ll need. Not cashew based, so allergy friendly!
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Let’s get straight to the point in this post. We created the best baked vegan mac and cheese. And guess what? It’s super allergy friendly.
I know there’s a ton of vegan mac and cheese recipes on the internet and it may be confusing on which one you should try. Trust me, I get it. With potatoes, with carrots, with cashews, and every variation in between. However, this recipe uses none of that, because it wasn’t the best.
Hopefully I can sway you to try this one, with this info: I love mac and cheese so much that it’s one of the first recipes I tried to recreate when we went vegan almost 10 years ago. And I’ve tried all the ways.
We’ve feed this baked vegan mac and cheese to dozens of people who still consume dairy and they love it!
It’s easy, cheesy, it’s creamy, it’s warm and comforting and everything that you remember baked mac and cheese being on those days you just needed a little something more.
Looking for what to serve with it? Try our vegan kale crunch salad, vegan lemon garlic butter asparagus, or glazed brown sugar carrots.
Jump to:
Why you’ll love this Dairy Free Mac and Cheese
- Impressively Close Tasting – It’s truly the only thing needed for this recipe. You want to know when you pull your vegan mac and cheese casserole dish out of the oven that you’re going to have something that looks, smells, and ultimately tastes just like you remember. That was our goal when we were creating this recipe and we are confident you’ll agree, it’s really close.
- Prep Ahead – We love that you can prep this ahead by 3 days and it still be perfect. This is especially important if you are making it for the holidays. You will love having one less thing to make on your big day.
- Allergen-Friendly – In addition to taste, we really wanted to work to make this allergen-friendly. That’s why we did no nuts as part of this recipe. Just swapping for gluten-free noodles will make sure it’s the best baked allergen friendly mac and cheese recipe out there!
Vegan Mac n Cheese ingredients
- Noodles – Macaroni noodles are clearly the classic winner for “mac” and cheese!
- Substitute: You can also use other types of small sized noodles. We do prefer tubular noodles that can soak in the sauce on the inside.
- Gluten Free: You can use gluten free noodles in this recipe as well. You will want to undercook them by 2-3 minutes, as well as rinse them immediately with cold water to stop cooking after boiling.
- Butter Beans – Butter beans and lima beans are the same thing except they are picked at different times. They provides this creamy texture that melts into the sauce you are left with no taste of beans, but lots of added protein.
- Substitute: Other white beans will work, such as cannellini or Great Northern. Note: We don’t recommend chickpeas because of their different texture.
- Alternate: Try our stovetop butternut squash vegan mac and cheese for a veggie packed version!
- Cheese – We are using a combination of vegan cheddar, parmesan, and nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor. For better results, we recommend using a block of vegan cheddar and parmesan cheese. Shreds have a caking agent added that can affect the meltability of the vegan cheese; however, we have found that’s not the case with blocks. Nutritional yeast is flakes that have a savory, nutty, and umami flavor that works great for a cheesy benefit to foods.
- Substitute: You can sub the nutritional yeast for more vegan cheddar if you won’t have any on hand without any issues to the recipe.
How to serve Vegan Mac and Cheese
We have served this as both a main dish and a side dish. It is an amazing options for either. If you want to serve it as a main dish, try pairing it with our Vegan Arugula Salad or just a simple vegetable side like vegan lemon garlic butter asparagus.
Alternatively, especially for the holidays, this is a great side dish. Pair it with our vegan honey garlic oven fried tofu or vegan glazed ham as main dishes with this side.
Storing Dairy Free Mac and Cheese
You can let this dish cool completely and then cover tightly and place in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. You can reheat in the microwave or oven until heated through. Our recommendation is to add a splash of non-dairy milk if needed.
Additionally, this can be frozen by letting cool and placing in a freezer safe bag or container for up to 3 months. Let thaw before reheating.
Other Must Try Vegan Sides to Try:
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Baked Vegan Mac and Cheese Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound macaroni noodles, uncooked (16oz or 454g) (Use gluten free if needed)
- 15 oz can butter beans, drained and rinsed (439g)
- 2 cups dairy free milk (480g)
- ½ cup vegetable stock (120g)
- ½ cup vegan butter (113g)
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast (27g)
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- 2 cups vegan shredded cheddar cheese, divided (240g)
- 1 cup vegan parmesan cheese (115g)
- ⅓ cup seasoned panko breadcrumbs (20g)
- 2 teaspoon olive oil, optional
Instructions
- Bring a salted pot of water to a boil. Preheat oven to 350˚F/180˚C degrees. Cook 1lb macaroni noodles according to the package. Drain noodles once done and set aside.
- While noodles cook, to a high powdered blender, add 15oz can butter beans, 2 cups dairy free milk, ½ cup stock, ½ cup vegan butter, ⅓ cupnutritional yeast, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper, ¼ teaspoon paprika, 1 cup each non-dairy cheddar shreds and parmesan cheese. Blend this until smooth. Set aside.
- In a lightly greased 9×13 casserole dish, add the drained, cooked noodles. Pour the sauce mixture over the noodles and carefully stir together.
- Top with remaining 1 cup of the cheese shreds. If using the oil, in a small bowl combine the oil with the breadcrumbs and stir to well coated. Sprinkle evenly across the top.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until breadcrumbs have started turning golden brown on top. Remove from oven and let set for 15 minutes before cutting into.
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions:
Yes!
To start, you want to use a gluten free pasta. You will want to undercook them by 2-3 minutes, as well as rinse them immediately with cold water to stop cooking after boiling.
For the vegan butter, cheese and milk, ensure you use soy free and nut free versions.
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.
Also, you can omit the breadcrumb topping or use a vegan, gluten free breadcrumb.
We have to admit that this is best served right out of the oven after cooling; however, we know with holidays and such, you may be wondering about prepping ahead.
You can make the cheese sauce ahead and leave in the fridge up to 5 days in advance.
We recommend if taking this for the holidays you only prep 1 day in advance, but it is still good reheated up to 5 days later.
Whether you don’t have it, can’t use it, or allergic, sometimes people don’t want to use nutritional yeast. While we think the nutritional benefits and taste make it great to use, you can just add more vegan cheese instead.
No! Leaving some of the warm, starchy water adhered to the noodles will help the texture in the end.
Yes! You want about 3-4 cups of cheese total, but we have done ⅓ parm, mozz, and cheddar before and even one time added in some gouda. (all vegan of course!). Just like sometimes traditional mac and cheese plays around with a variety of cheese, we can here as well.
*This recipe was updated slightly on 11/16/2021. Photos updated on 2/23/2022. Post and recipe updated on 11/7/2024 for easier instructions and clarification.
Love this recipe so much!! Best Mac ever !!! Any chance theres instructions on how to make the rue that was in the original recipe !?
Sure thing! Here’s the roux:
In a skillet, over medium low heat, melt vegan butter.
Add in chickpea flour. Whisk together.
Slowly pour in vegan milk. Whisk until a thick consistency happens, like a gravy.
2 cups unsweetened vegan milk (we prefer oat here since it’s creamier)
¼ cup vegan butter
¼ cup chickpea (garbanzo) flour
Great recipe! If you use this version with the roux would it be best to avoid the butter beans and stick to just the chickpea flower?
no you def need the butter beans
I’m tempted by other recipes, but I’m afraid to stray. This one may well be the GOAT.
LOL!!!! If it’s not broken, don’t fix it LOL
HELP! I just made my sauce and it’s very separated(?) my only guess could be that my butter wasnt at room temp. Is there a way to fix this?
Separated and won’t go together at all? Even if you blend again? We’ve made this with cold, softened or mostly melted butter and it’s all worked.
Hello, two questions, is there a certain brand of vegan cheese you prefer for this recipe and would navy beans work? Thank you this looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it!
We typically use Daiya because it’s more easily found where we are and we do like the taste. That being said – you can use your favorite brand. Navy beans will work.
This was the BESTTTT!!!! Thank you for creating this awesomeness 😁😁
So glad you love it!
This is legit the best vegan mac and cheese ever. It’s a hit every time I make it for non-vegans (and vegans of course). Thank you for sharing your delicious recipes with us!
Yay, we love that so much
This was so good that I actually went to bed excited to wake up and eat leftovers! Just an excellent recipe that I will definitely make again.
hahah i love that so much!
Can you freeze the remaining cheese sauce?
Yes