This easy vegan pumpkin mac and cheese comes together in 30 minutes and is an absolute hit! A simple and easy way to add pumpkin flavor to a savory dish.
Pumpkin season is here and oh my goodness if you don’t make anything else with pumpkin, yall! Make this vegan pumpkin mac and cheese.
It is so creamy, so delicious and oh so easy to make.
We all know that there are people that love pumpkin everything and others who grumble their way through fall at the thought of anything pumpkin.
If you are here reading this, you are probably in the first group; however, if you happen to be in the second group or even somewhere in the middle, we hope that we can convince you to try this.
Often times, you hear pumpkin being used in sweet dishes and yes, we have quite a few of them ourselves. But when you add pumpkin to savory dishes, you get something super incredible too.
This recipe is an absolute must try!
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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 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.
Also make sure that you pick a shredded dairy free cheese that is safe for your allergies.
Hopefully that helps you create the perfect vegan pumpkin macaroni and cheese that is suitable for your allergies.
CAN I PREP THIS VEGAN MAC AND CHEESE AHEAD OF TIME?
Yes, you have two options.
One, you can make the cheese sauce ahead and leave in the fridge up to 7 days in advance. And then make the pasta and finish the recipe.
Or two, you can make the entire recipe and then just reheat when ready. You may need to add a splash or two of milk if doing it this way.
Can I make this with other squash?
Pumpkin is the go to in the fall; however, it’s not the only member of the squash family that you could use for this recipe.
Feel free to swap out the pumpkin for another pureed squash like butternut squash or acorn squash.
Does it matter what type of pasta that I use?
Mac and cheese traditionally made with macaroni; however, you don’t only have to use that in this recipe.
It does do well with tubular shaped pasta, like penne, and even ones like rotini or shells that can pick up and hold onto all the sauce.
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Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups macaroni noodles, uncooked (Use gluten free if needed)
- 1 15oz can pureed pumpkin , about 2 cups (*see notes)
- 1 cup dairy free milk (we like oat for this)
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/4 cup vegan butter
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/2 cup vegan parmesan cheese (we use Violife for this recipe)
- 2 cups vegan shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large 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 pureed squash, dairy free milk, nutritional yeast, butter, lemon juice, salt, pepper, paprika and parmesan cheese to a high powdered blender.
- Blend this until very well combined about 3-5 minutes. Set aside.*If using a high powdered blender, this will be warm already.
- Once noodles are cooked and drained, return to pan, pour the cheese over the noodles and add in the vegan cheddar cheese over medium low heat.
- Stir together often until all the vegan cheese shreds have melted and heated through.
- Remove from heat. Adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Notes
★★★★★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a 5-star rating below!
Share a photo of our recipe you made! Tag us @makeitdairyfree and use #MakeItDairyFree on Social so we can feature you!
Any suggestions for gluten free pasta?
Which cheddar did you use??
the new Daiya. It may also be helpful to take a look at our vegan shredded cheese review: https://makeitdairyfree.com/vegan-shredded-cheese-taste-test/
Hello, I am grateful for the work you do to create these recipes. I love the photo of you both, it looks like you love each other dearly, and that you’re having fun with one another too. Awesome!
I just read through your recipe on the pumpkin mac and cheese…I think it has promise, but I would ask that you take a look at it and perhaps maybe tweak it a bit? Thanks.
I’m an experienced cook/baker (home) so I can probably figure out what you are meaning with the recipe, but the directions as written are not really all that clear…you mention a baking pan in the equipment, it’s not used in the recipe. The directions don’t mention where and when to add the pumpkin sauce or how to heat it, with or without the pasta?
I would say that you mean that the pumpkin sauce needs to be heated through and mixed with the cooked pasta, then poured into the baking dish and topped with the vegan cheese…maybe some gluten free bread or cracker crumbs topping that and baked until bubbly, Otherwise, melt the vegan cheese into the pumpkin sauce and poured over the cooked pasta and served immediately…my take on what you might mean…forgive if I have it wrong.
Hi De, thanks for reaching out and we do apologize for any confusion. The casserole dish was not supposed to be listed on this recipe. We clarified another step in the recipe, but step 5 did say to pour the cheese sauce over the cooked noodles. Hopefully the recipe reads more clearly.
We really enjoyed this Mac n cheese recipe.
So glad you enjoyed. Thanks for taking time to leave a review, we appreciate it so much! Have a great week.
I made this for lunch today. It’s delicious! Really happy to have found a fast recipe that doesn’t require nuts. I didn’t even need to blend the sauce and just stirred all the ingredients in a pot over medium heat ’til melted and smooth! Seriously, thank you for this recipe! It shall become one of my regulars since it’s so fast and tasty. Perfect for autumn, too.
We’re so excited that you loved the recipe! Thanks for taking time to leave a comment, we appreciate that so much!