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.
BEST VEGAN MAC AND CHEESE EVER!! I’m not kidding y’all! My dad has been reluctant to try ANY vegan food but he ate this not knowing this was vegan. He’s literally considering eating plant based because of all these awesome vegan recipes I’ve been making from you guys. Thank you for creating these awesome, tasty recipes!! Don’t stop! Thank you for making me look good! 😉
That seriously makes our day! So happy he’s enjoying (and you!) We appreciate you taking the time to leave a review. Have a great week.
This was our 4th vegan mac n cheese recipe try and we can now stop looking! Hands down the best vegan mac n cheese recipe and we have tried all the different variations( carrot & potato, cashews, nutritional yeast, etc.). Fed 3 non-vegan friends and they all requested the recipe. THANK YOU!
Well that was just amazing to read today. Seriously thank you for taking the time to leave this, we truly appreciate it.
My meat loving husband always said he would know the difference. He said he would never eat vegan food. Jokes on him because he has eaten this recipe on two separate occasions and LOVE IT and still doesnt know its vegan. So happy i found his website and cant wait to try other recipes
oh man! LOL We appreciate you so much for taking the time to leave a review and so happy to hear that you’re enjoying the recipe.
I was curious to taste this Mac n cheese vegan mixture. I must say this dish was absolutely delicious 😋my family really enjoyed it! This is now a Favorite Dish in my household and I plan to make it for the Thanksgiving Holiday 😊
So happy to hear it was a hit, we appreciate you taking time out of your day to leave a review!
Love that you use butter beans and no cashews!
Thanks so much!
I recently had to give up cheese for the foreseeable future and the hardest part has been losing some of my favorite comfort foods. This was AMAZING!!! Absolutely hit the spot. My whole family loved it, thank you for the awesome recipe!
We are so excited to hear that. Thank you for taking the time to write a review. We appreciate it!
Sometimes you need to look before you speak! I was commenting about your mozzarella tests and asked if you would please taste test cheeses to make mac and cheese. In my mind I knew I should search further on your site to see if you had a recipe for mac and cheese already, but no I just sent in the request! Well not only did I find your recipe, but I have read all of the positive comments and cannot wait to try it. So, when you see my comment asking you to taste test cheeses for mac and cheese, please ignore it! LOL
I do have a question about the mac and cheese. I am a household of one, the recipe serves 16, does it freeze well? I see in your comments in the recipe you suggest serving the baked version right away, does that mean it won’t freeze well or have you ever tried freezing it and are not sure? I know I can attempt to change the ingredient amounts to make a smaller portion, but find this does not always work, there is always something that is left out or maybe should not have been cut in half or to whatever portion I would need to get fewer services, etc. Any suggestions on this would be appreciated. Thank you.
Hi Leslie, I literally laughed out loud reading your message. You can freeze this recipe. Hope that helps -Larisha
Hi Larisha, I am happy I was able to make you laugh, all of us needs to have a good laugh everyday!! Thank you for replying to my question, so often I send in a request and it is never answered. Thanks again.
Now for another question, I L-O-V-E, LOVE, LOVE a good pizza. I have had a hard time trying to find a good vegan mozzarella or Pepperjack cheese that melts and taste like or close to the non-vegan mozzarella cheeses. I was using Go Veggie Pepperjack cheese and loved it, but now cannot find it, not even on the Go Veggie website. Any suggestions?
Hi Leslie, we try out best to answer everyone although we know some slip through the cracks. We would suggest you read our shredded cheese taste test! You can find it here: https://makeitdairyfree.com/vegan-shredded-cheese-taste-test/