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.
I’m was very particular about my mac & cheese during my pre-vegan life and pretty much would only eat it if my Mom made it . After we went vegan, my hubby tried a vegan mac recipe one time and it tasted like disappointment so I pretty much gave up on having it again. But this recipe definitely piqued my interest and I decided to give it a try for Christmas. Well this recipe did not disappoint! I loved that it involved making a roux which brought back many memories of watching my Mom make it. I loved how creamy and gooey it turned out! It was really good! This will definitely be my go to recipe whenever I’m craving mac and cheese! Thanks for sharing another wonderful recipe!
We are so happy to hear that and so glad it brought back found memories. Merry Christmas!
Loved this recipe, very inclusive to my belly so it’s much appreciated. I subbed in some things like using gluten free 1 to 1 baking flour instead of chickpea flour, daiya block gouda cheese that I shredded instead of parmesan, and chickpeas instead of lima beans.
So happy to hear you enjoyed it and love hearing what you substituted. We really appreciate you taking the time to leave a review! Have a great day!
AMAZING! I made this for christmas. my family loved it! this is the first ever vegan mac & cheese recipe that actually tastes like mac and cheese!!!! <3
We are so happy to hear that! Thanks so much for leaving a review. We’re so glad you liked it.
This mac and cheese is next level!! Since becoming vegan in January, I have tried so many mac and cheese recipes – with cashews, butternut squash, etc. – and none of them were great. The texture was usually wrong. Well, your recipe was absolutely perfect! So creamy and flavorful. I had to go to 5 stores on my tiny island to find vegan parmesan, but it was worth the effort! My non-vegan friend even asked for the recipe because it was so good. Thank you for saving our Thanksgiving with this recipe!
We are so happy to hear this! You totally just made our day!
Thank you! I can’t wait to try. Which vegan cheddar cheese did you use? That’s the only thing I can’t find on the page.
Daiya Cutting Board Blend. But we’ve also made with Violife and Follow Your Heart.
Didn’t know what to expect with Lima Beans in the cheese, but this was incredible. Amazing recipe.
So happy that you loved it! Thanks for taking time out to leave a review. We appreciate that so much!
Hands down, best mac n cheese! I am recommending this recipe to everyone – vegans and non-vegans! I appreciate y’all for sharing such a wonderful and easy to follow recipe! This is the best Mac n cheese I’ve had and that includes Mac n cheese at amazing vegan restaurants in my city!
We’re so happy to hear it was enjoyable! Thanks for taking time out of your day to write a review, it’s much appreciated!
I found you guys by searching for vegan mac and cheese for thanksgiving. My entire family enjoyed this recipe! Deliciously creamy. Great vegan alternative. Thank you!
We’re so happy to hear it was enjoyable! Thanks for taking time out of your day to write a review, it’s much appreciated!
My go-to Mac and cheese recipe. Made it today for Thanksgiving as well! So cheesy and delicious!
We love to hear that! Thanks for taking time out of your day to write a review, it’s much appreciated!