Vegan Mac and No Cheese

This is a good recipe, easier to make better. I read the other reviews. My suggestion, after having made it, is to start the sauce by making a roux. This will help to avoid the lumpiness some had mentioned. I started the roux with 2 tsp of Earth Balance "butter", 1/4 C flour, and substited the liquid recommended with 1/2C soy milk +1/2C water. As for the salt, I began with 1/4 tsp and worked it up from there (maybe a scant 1/2 tsp. total). I used only 1/4 C pulverized cashews. Also, I ended up using nearly 3/4 C of the nutritional yeast (more cheesy! :). And the last change, I completely omitted the oil, didn't seem necessary. I subbed diced toms for the peppers. I really believe the key to making this spectacular is to start with a good foundation and that means a roux!

I rated this 5 stars nearly 2 years ago. It is delicious! I am compelled to give a more thorough review though. To those who have tried leaving out the roasted red pepper, this shouldn't be done. It isn't spicy at all and the red pepper is helps the dish have a cheesy flavor as well as that bright orange color children are so fond of. If you leave out the pepper, you are eliminating a key element in the dish's flavor. Also, one reviewer complained about the fat content from the use of cashews. I would like to comment that macaroni and cheese is not a health food. This recipe is certainly healthier than any dairy counterparts because the fat from nuts is more beneficial than animal fat. You will not successfully make a faux cheese sauce using only soy milk. The nuts give the dish a cheesy flavor. I do agree with some reviews that the baking time can be shortened. To keep it creamier, I only bake it for about 30-35 minutes. If I have enough soy milk on hand, I like to replace the water with soy milk just for the added vitamins and calcium. Before making this recipe, cooks should keep in mind that this is a vegan substitute and does not taste just like cheese or a highly processed boxed mac and cheese. Having made many different cheese substitutes in my kitchen, I can attest that this recipe is wonderful. You just have to know what to expect.

I am not a vegan (I aspire to be though), but I AM trying to get off dairy due to daughters food allergy. I have to say, I was so surprised to find this not only edible, but SO YUMMY! I have been experimenting with cheese substitutes and have come to the conclusion that I would rather do without. However, this hit the spot and gave me hope. Thanks for sharing. I also subbed ½ C almond milk for part of the water and added diced tomatoes for the peppers.

This vegan mac and no cheese recipe is one of my favorite. It tastes great and just for your info, I used whole wheat macaroni and doubled the nutritional yeast. Fabulous taste! Easy recipe!

i cannot believe this one! i have been vegetarian for nearly 12 years and just recently went vegan. i was already missing my Mac-N-Cheese after only a week and this recipe blew me away. it really tastes like my favorite cheesy memories. you just have to try it for yourself!

This is the creamiest food I have eaten in more than a year! The texture is perfect, the flavor is full, and I can not believe it! I have made many faux cheeses, and they have all been palatable or even yummy, but none of them have actually replaced an old favorite like this mac and no cheese did! I am going to eat the left-overs before my husband gets to them!

I adore this recipe. It satisfies my mac and cheese craving without the suffering of the animals!! Big thumbs up. Oh I was lazy the second time I made this and just nuked it for 4-5 min instead of putting it in the oven and it turned out great!

I have made this three times in the last two weeks. It is very easy to throw everything in the blender. I like my mac and cheese a little creamier though. So after trying it baked the first time, I decided to now mix the pasta and sauce together on the stove and heat through.

I love this recipe - it is delicious and satisfying. I put a can of drained, diced tomatoes in the casserole dish for extra flavour. I am a long time vegetarian, and vegan more recently. The hardest thing for me to give up was cheese. I don't even miss it in this recipe. This is stick-to-your ribs comfort food at its best!

SUPER yummie! I have been vegetarian for 5 years (recently started to eat chicken :( ) but I am lactose intolerant and considering mac and cheese is my favorite dish EVER, this totally hits the spot. The cashews provide a TON of protine (and fat :( ) and the yeast adds yummie cheese flavor. I added in a teaspoon of chili powder for some more flavor and it was good. I also cook in mushrooms with the onions. YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!

I recently made this for a vegetarian cafe that I run, for "vegan Tuesday". I 8 x the recipe, and it was well received. I followed others' advice and started with a roux, but I made it with olive oil instead of margarine. I 12x the roux/sauce ingredients, so it would be very saucy. I used all soy milk for the sauce, and didn't use all of the cashew/juice/pepper mixture. I used all of the nutritional yeast that I had on hand (probably 7.5 c) I think that it could have used more yeast. I made a crumb topping by whirling baguette chunks, fresh parsley, spices and olive oil in the food prosessor, and put it on top of the panned up pasta. I only baked it enough to brown the crumbs. I was a little disconcerted by the color, it reminded me of those orange colored cheddars, not my favorite look.

I have made this recipe a few times now and I love it. Other casein free mac and cheese recipes do tend to be gritty and this in comparison is very creamy. We find it a good alternative to the real stuff. We have a number of dietary restrictions in our home and this is the best recipe we have found for casein free mac and cheese. I have followed the recipe exactly and I liked it. My son has a texture issue with the onions and he is allergic to garlic. I have made it without the garlic and I don't really notice a difference. I have also heated the sauce on the stove top and left out the chopped onions and the garlic powder. My son loves it this way. We have tried this with quinoa noodles and buckwheat noodles to keep it gluten free and we have enjoyed it both ways. Thanks for the great recipe!

I doubled the nutritional yeast, added paprika and sundried tomatoes. I used Rice milk in place of water and mixed in a little at a time to not make it as runny. I also added some dry, ground mustard and cayenne pepper. My sons LOVED it and would like to have it again!

This was delicious! I am new to being vegan and this was my first attempt at mac and cheese, and I have to say it was better than any mac and cheese i ever made with real cheese! The red peppers give it great flavor, and nutritional yeast is delicious! I look forward to making more things with it. I did add about 5 tablespoons of the yeast, and a dash of cayenne and crushed red peppers for a little kick, but it would have been great without it!

I did what everyone said in terms of alterations to the recipe (a little less lemon, more yeast, replace some of the water with almond milk). Someone said they didn't use the roasted red pepper because they don't like spicy food, but roasted red pepper is not spicy at all, and that is what gives it the cheezy color and some of the flavor. So don't skip it! When you make this dish you have to go into it knowing that it obviously won't taste exactly like mac n cheese. But if you can't eat dairy then this is a nice recipe for a pasta dish that is creamy, has a cheese like flavor, and tastes like comfort food. And if you haven't had mac n cheese for a long time due to an allergy or because you are lactose intolerant than this will surely hit the spot! I will make this again for sure!

um..wow! This was delicious! I've recently wanted to go vegan-ish for awhile to lose some weight and cut down on my cheese and butter intake. This was absolutely fabulous and tastes just like baked mac and cheese! It's more of a "rigotta" type texture but still delicious. I made it just as appeared the only things I changed was that I used penne instead of elbows and added a few crushed saltines to the top for a more "casserole" type feel. I also added alot more garlic powder b/c I love it plus I didn't have onion powder so I figured more garlic powder would make up for it! My husband even liked it! I will definitely make it again! Would make a great lunch for work!

Creamy, no. Sour, gritty, and chewy.

This recipe is pretty good, and I will make it again with a few changes. I will reduce the lemon juice a little bit because it is a bit strong for my liking, and I will add a little extra garlic powder (or maybe a little adobo).

This was my first time trying to make a vegan mac and cheese. This was really great. I doubled the nutritional yeast as another reviewer suggested and added bread crumbs on the top to bake. I would suggest either not backing as long or makign extra cheese sauce to pour over each serving. That would be excellent. Still this had great flavor and my carnivore husband liked it better than real baked mac & cheese.

This was AMAZING! I did not add the peppers or garlic & I used olive oil and doubled the yeast which you must do to give it a stronger cheese taste. I also added a teaspoon of salt (it needs it). Make sure your cashews are raw too. If you make it this way I'm sure you'll love it as much as I & my dairy eating friends do.

I could not believe how easy this recipe was and delicious. My husband and 17 year old daughter went back for seconds (there are not vegans!) This one will definitely be made often! Thanks

Okay, I read every single review and decided to make this recipe. Not even my 1 or 5 year olds would touch it! I added a bit of extra nutritional yeast (as other reviewers recommended). The sauce was RUNNY not creamy in any way. I tried very hard to like it. It was quite expensive to make. :(

This recipe was terrific as is, but could also imagine it tasting great with creative changes... easy and delicious. Crushed red pepper flakes season it nicely if you like a kick.

This is delicious. During treatment for thyroid cancer I had to go on a low-iodine diet which means no dairy and no soy. I couldn't even use rice milks or almond milks because they all contain sea salt. This recipe was the rare treat I could have then, and I still enjoy it.

I sent this recipe to my mom to try because she recently became a vegan. She brought some for me to try, and I thought it was very good, though a little on the bland side for my tastes. The next time she made it, she added roasted garlic and 2 yellow peppers. I added a little bit of cayenne to my own plate...with the extra seasoning, I thought it was terrific. I prefer this to regular mac and cheese--it just tastes healthier. I think people who really love the super creamy, processed mac and cheese will not be happy with this, but that is probably to be expected.

I wanted so much to like this. I was so excited as I was making it, especially when I was blending the nutritional yeast with the red pepper mixture; what a beautiful orange color! Nothing saved this - I even did the "roux" suggestions. I think I'll try to find a suggestion or recipe using "Daiya" brand vegan "cheese". Sorry for being so harsh! Wish I could have rated it better :'(

Great recipe! I've been cooking vegetarian for years, but only recently ventured into Vegan. Mac and Cheese was something I was thinking just couldn't be done, but this is really good and soothing. I made the recipe as written. Next time I will make a bit more cheese sauce, and I want to try sprinkling the top with bread crumbs and more yeast and then just broiling for a few minutes to get the pretty golden crust on top while remaining more cheesy/gooey underneath. Thanks for this! It's definitely a keeper.

I tried leaving the pepper out because I don't like spicy food, and that left this without any flavor.

I guess I'm in the minority here, but my sister and I could only take more than a few bites of this before throwing the lot of it away. I'm not sure how other reviewers describe this dish as "creamy," because after 45 minutes in the oven, every bit of moisture is sucked out of the dish, leaving it clumpy and dry.

It turned out well, although I only used brown rice noodles instead of regular. Use water when reheating. It's not a bad taste! The health benefits are there as well.

Do not eliminate the red peppers...they can be purchased in jars. (Dollar Tree carrys them!) And to make it cheesier, I add more nutritional yeast. Plus, my family loves the sauteed onion flavor, so I add additional onion. Nummmmm!

I followed the recipe . It turned out great. If there was one thing I would change, I would make this creamier somehow. The taste is great.

My BF and I have been vegan for three months now. He had been craving a mac n cheese so I made this recipe and I am so glad I did. It was so full of flavor. I made a double batch and used brown rice pasta to make it gluten free. To those complaining about the texture: Before it bakes in the oven it is very runny, I was skeptical but after baking it for only half the time, it became dense like a baked mac n cheese. I am used to creamier mac n cheese but this was still delicious so adjust the baking time, if any, according to your preference. I also put a couple of extra tablespoons of nutritional yeast. Next time I might add a 1/2 can of white beans to the blender and see how it turns out.Roasted red peppers are a MUST. Definitely a recipe you can tweak and play with but delicious as is!

Very creamy and tasty. My mother, a staunch carnivore, even loved it.

Slightly disappointed with this recipe. The flavor was not so good the first day, but tasted great the next day after it had a chance to develop. As suggested by a previous commenter, I made a roux and left out the 1/3 cup of oil. I did use nearly a cup of nutritional yeast. In addition to the spices, I used white pepper and mustard powder. This macaroni is very heavy. Sorry, this recipe is not for us.

I totally loved this recipe. I tried to stick as closely to the original recipe in order to give a fair review. my only tweak was as the reviewers suggested to add more flakes. I actually doubled the nutritional yeast. I also did not bake mine. I did however put in the oven to keep warm and I could see where it would be completely dried out. I would suggest to add more something for more kick, also add more "cheese sauce", otherwise this was a success.

As a strict vegetarian, I loved this recipe! I presoaked the cashews overnight, doubled the pasta and nutritional yeast and had it with broccoli. Also, the red pepper is a must! It gives it an orange cheese color. Excellent. Very filling!

Pretty good basic recipe. I used a couple of squeezes of key lime instead of the lemon as those are hard to find here. I used artichoke elbow macaroni. I also used like 1/4 of an onion instead of a whole medium size. I added zucchini and red sweet peppers.

Wow, this is a great dish! I swapped the water for almond milk and added a generous amount of paprika and I'm thrilled with the results. Also I didn't bake it at all, just warmed the sauce on the stove and then added the pasta and onions. It's the exact same orange colour as KD mac and cheese but it's so much healthier and richer. It tastes delicious, I can't wait for my lactose intolerant spouse and daughter to try it! Thanks for the great recipe!!

Not bad taste wise, but certainly did not taste anything close to real mac and cheese. The worst part is how expensive it was to make. For the price, I'd like it to taste MUCH better.

OMG, I made this tonight and it was AMAZING! Even my non-vegan boyfriend asked for seconds!!!!

This was great! I agree with others who said it wasn't exactly mac and cheese, but as a vegan alternative, it's terrific. I used whole grain macaroni noodles. I added some cooked lentils for extra protein and sprinkled some finely chopped spinach on top for extra color and to give myself some greens. I reduced the cooking time to 35 minutes. I did have a little trouble mixing all of the the ingredients that are supposed to go into the food processor; there was a lot of liquid that splashed out on my first try. Doing small batches and then blending everything together worked fine. My husband ate two huge bowls full! Thanks so much.

Absolutely delicious! I made this for a New Year's Eve party and everyone loved it! Omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans alike. The combo of cashews, nutritional yeast, and roasted red peppers really give this dish a cheesy and savory flavor that satisfies. I will make this again and again. Yum!

I omitted the red peppers, (cause I didn't have any) and used fresh garlic instead of garlic powder. Turned out great! Will use this recipe again! Has a tangy cheesy flavor

I'm a cheese lover transitioning to a vegan diet, and I loved this recipe. We added some cheddar-flavored Daiya cheese substitute in the last 10 minutes or so, and it really got pretty cheesy in taste and texture. The dish is a bit oily with all the cashews - hence the four stars instead of five - but still, this is very good as an occasional treat. Next time, we will try adding green pepper and/or tomatoes.

I made this dish last night and didn't know what to expect. It was delish!! I am gluten free so I used quiona pasta noodles and it was still amazing. I put hot sauce on at the end to give it a little kick. yummy!

simple to make and great alternative to cheese, you can play around with this recipe. surprised some ppl didnt like it.

It did bake up and look like mac and cheese, but, sorry.

I've got dozens of recipes for vegan Mac "uncheese." This is the only one I really like and would serve to non-vegan eaters. It has great taste, appearance and texture. The only thing I added was a light sprinkle of smoked paprika on top before baking to give it some added color.

I was surprised at the awesome flavor. I accidentally used active yeast instead of nutritional, I'm excited to make it again with the correct ingredient. Yumminess even without the extra cheesy flavor

First time making it and it was absolutely delicious!! After it was cooked I topped it with some dill, which added the extra deliciousness! Will definitely make it again :)

The 'cheese' sauce is so delicious! This is my new fav

I thought this was a great recipe. Very important to soak the cashews. I also doubled the nutritional yeast and used half water/half cashew milk in place of just water to increase the creaminess. The fat content will keep me from eating this all the time but his is my new go-to comfort food! As a side note, I had some non-vegans try this and it helped to not call it mac n cheese....I say it's pasta with a cashew, onion, and red pepper sauce. They have all loved it!

I added diced zucchini, whole mustard seeds (about 1 tsp), a dash of cayenne, and made a roux with vegan "butter", rice milk and rice flour that i added to the cashew mix and added about 6 oz of roasted red pepper (half of the 12 oz. jar I bought - was the only option the health food store had) - all organic. Oh, and doubled the yeast. My son was skeptical (picky and non-vegan and 16) and ate it and said it was pretty good. i would add more veggies (mushrooms, zucchini, maybe diced tomatoes, parsley, cilantro, even kale or whatever) and maybe skip the roux everyone seems to think is so fabulous. It's NOT mac n CHEESE - it's its own thang and while the roux didn't ruin it, it didn't really seem to add much and was a wasted time/step. I'd maybe do something crumbly on top, too - vegan-buttered crumbled rice crackers? will def make again and play around with this one!

Not a replacement, but definately an awesome vegan substitute!!! Did start w/ the roux (vegan spread and soy flour). Added 1/2 soy milk 1/2 water and reduced cashews to 1/3rd cup (though i tripled everything else but the pasta which made it 'cheesier.' Believe cashews could be ommitted and still would be great. Hubby who hates anything vegan gave it thumbs up!

I did not care for this recipe. It was super dry and had no flavor.

Meh.

I put double the amount of nutritional yeast in because I read a review that did the same and said it was great. It had a strong lemon and onion taste. It was also bland. I will not be making this again.

I have had cheesier tasting vegan cheese sauce. I think there is too much lemon in this one, although the consistency is good. I did double the nutritional yeast, as others have suggested. I really like the use of cashews in this sauce and will probably try it again with some flavor tweaks.

Made it nearly as described: used macadamia milk for most of the water (a bit sweet, but not intrusively) and coconut oil instead of canola. Also bumped the yeast to a quarter cup. Blended the sautéed onions with the cashew mixture. Added sautéed mushrooms and tomatoes, which I do with macaroni and real cheese. Not a fan of salty dishes, but this was definitely improved with salt. Great texture and a nice substitute for the real thing.

I absolutely love this! I'm not a vegan but wanted to try this. A friend of mine who is fully vegan recommended soaking my cashews for a couple of hours before blending them and it worked great. I've never forayed into any dish like this so to have my first try come out so well was astounding! I agree with another reviewer not to leave out the roasted red peppers. It gives the dish great flavor and color. I made it exactly as written but I'm looking forward to adding in broccoli, mushrooms or any other veggie I have around to make this a main meal. Great recipe!!

This is my second time making this dish. I minced my onions where when mixed with noodles, they seem to stick together and spread better. Both times I used the spiral noodles instead of the elbow. Two thumbs up!

OH MY!!!!! I wish I had made this before!!! This is unbelievably good! I'v never made even traditional Mac&cheese before since I thought it was kind of bad for you.. (white flour, fatty cheese). But I decided to give this a try. And yay! My fiancé just couldn't shut up about how good it was hahaha. I added a layer of vegan mozzarella cheese in the middle, and then topped the macaroni as well. And I baked it at 375 for 30 mins. I think the only modifications I'll make is add a little bit less lemon next time. (I squeezed 1.5 lemon to make 1/3 of a cup). Next time I'll just squeeze 1 lemon to make 1/4. It was just a little bit too sour to my taste.And another thing, blend in the food processor for a bit longer to crush all the nut particles to ensure a really smooth texture, not to taste the cashew crunches. But otherwise YUMMMM!!!

Great recipe I haven't had mac & cheese in three years sometimes the fake stuff or vegan can be a little strange this mac & cheese was sooooo savory I will make it again for sure

This has become a family favourite. I didn't change a thing, except that I use safflower oil instead canola. We like it better than traditional macaroni and cheese, and we are in no way vegan!

This is really tasty and quite easy to make. I made it for my family tonight and all five of us reallly liked it. We really do recommend this recipe. We will definitely make this a lot!

This is one of the recipes I tried in my first 2 weeks of being vegan. Because my tastes and expectations were still adjusting, I'm going to cut it some slack, and it was a gateway to my own simpler version of this. I think right off the bat if you are expecting Kraft macaroni and cheese flavor you are going to be dissapointed (my husband had that issue.) So instead of being dissapointed myself, I adjusted my perspective, adjusted the recipe, and now I use it as a "garden alfredo sauce" instead. When I make it I use: -1 can diced tomatoes -about a similar portion of cashews -some salt to taste -some garlic powder to taste Blend together until smooth in the blender and add a little water if needed to get your desired sauce consistency. Really simple, really versatile, and really believable as "garden or tomato alfredo sauce." Sometimes I add some southwest seasoning etc. if I'm going for a different flavor experience and that works well too. The moral of the story for me is that with the proper perspective and expectations this is a versatile recipe that adjusts well to chef preference.

Not really like mac and cheese, but good in its own right.

Too oniony

Sorry, but I did not enjoy this recipe. It was easy to make but I did not like the taste or the smell. Thanks anyways.

When I made this, it was an odd consistency-sort of curdled looking. The overwhelming flavor was lemon. I didn't really care for it.

This was good, will definitely make again.

Don't expect it to taste like mac and cheese because it doesn't. However, it is good and I will probably make it again.

Really good. I froze the leftovers and used later while making pizza. I use pita bread. Put down the sauce, then a layer of Mac and No Cheese, then the vegetables and baked 20 minutes at 350. Fantastic!

Made it 6 times, this time I added a can of diced tomatoes drained. Added some flavor and interest and also added a shirt of Nance's mustard. Mm

This was alot of work, not really worth it. Better just to make vegan food, not try to mimic non vegan food.

The recipe can't be right. It turned out to be really runny batter like a cake batter. Had to add flour to salvage. They did not turn out very good.

I don't think this tastes like mac 'n' cheese, but having said that, I still think it tastes good...it has its own flavor and is a good, creamy mac dish. I made the roux as one reviewer suggested, using 1/2 cup hemp milk and a 1/2 cup vegetable broth. Used just a squeeze of lemon rather than 1/3 cup; used 1/2 cup of cashews, used 4 TBS of nutritional yeast, and used whole grain penne. Did not use the oil, which cuts down on the fat considerably. I would make this again.

I'm sorry, but I did not care for this at all. I followed the recipe exactly. Nobody in the family could eat more than a few bites. The texture was pasty and the flavor was really funky.

I suppose I am also a minority but I did not enjoy this recipe. I found it really bad, to be honest. I also don't understand how others could find it "creamy" well, actually yes I do but the nut taste is too much - not to mention the tons of calories nut butters give foods! No thanks. I will not make this recipe again. HOWEVER, what came out of this, on a personal level, was a desire to create a "cream" based vegan mac&cheese... so right now I am testing diff methods out using soymilk as a base, with little or no nut butters. If all goes well I will publish it! :D

Taste was good. Texture was wanting. I would make it again and try to add moisture somehow.

Tasted great!

Excellent recipe. Second time I've made it. The only changes I made was that I doubled the recipe.

made this for my vegan friend and couldn't believe how amazing it came out. I wanted to stray from the recipe a bit (besides replacing the margarine with soy butter because it's all I had) but there was no need: perfect the way it is.

After reading the other posts, I doubled up on the nutritional yeast and baked for 1/2 hour. I also blended the heck out of all ingredients. It came out creamy and delicious. Very flavorful, not quite mac and cheese, but darn close

this recipe was really weird. i think it was the lemon juice...it just made it taste so bizzare! but we did end up eating it all.

Taste is okay. Texture is unappealing. Being new to veganism I was excited to try this recipe. I was skeptical as I poured the "sauce" over the pasta. Looked really gritty (maybe it's my food processor and not the recipe?) Came out of the oven very dry & gritty with an odd smell. The smell alone made me not even want to try it. The taste was okay but really hard to get past the texture especially when you are wanting a creamy mac n cheese type dish.

Should not make again. The lemon juice was all we could taste

This is the best vegan mac and no cheese ever (with the exception of Home Grown Smoker in Portland, OR). I tweaked the recipe a little by blending the onion in. I like onion flavor but not onion texture. Love it!

Awesome!! Please follow SOBRIQUET67's recommendation of the roux...worked wonders :) Kind of added almost every ingredient to taste (cut back on the oil, used more margarine, added double nutritional yeast, less lemon juice, no garlic powder and added panko crumbs before baking). Great recipe (and I'm not vegan, and I love all mac n cheezes!)

This was fantastic! We did not put in the red peppers because I forgot to buy them but it was delicious anyway. My five year old son loved it and he is very picky. I will definitely make this again.

I love this. Made it several times buy replaced roasted peppers with chipotle peppers and add Jalapeños.

This recipe was really good, I will definitely make this again. I doubled the onion and added 2t of Spike seasoning. I substitued soy milk for water, added a dash of red pepper flakes and used the entire 7oz jar of bells and some of it's liquid. I just mixed the sauce with the mac and warmed it on the stove top, which gave it a smoother texture. The first time followed the recipe, now I give it my twist and now I give it 5 stars.