The Best (and easiest) Vegan Mac and Cheese
There is something to be said for maintaining the integrity of recipes from your childhood. Can the peanut butter cookies with the Hershey’s kisses in the middle ever be replaced by a gluten free, dairy free, sugar free alternative? Is vegan ice cream ever as delicious as the pint of maple walnut that your grandmother used to keep in her freezer? As I have transitioned to a more plant based, gluten free, lifestyle over the course of the last few years (slow and steady and I’m still not perfect) my mission has been to find or come up with the best versions of my favorites from my childhood like my grandmother’s gingersnap cookies to the creamy pasta alfredo I used to request for my birthday. But my all-time favorite, and also the most daunting for which to find a vegan alternative has to be mac and cheese. There truly is nothing like a bowl of homemade triple cheese mac or even a classic box of Annie’s. And where vegan cheese alternatives can be expensive and rubbery, I found myself looking for natural ingredients with which to make this classic. This was not my first or even my fifth attempt at making vegan mac and cheese and I have run the gamut of techniques from using potatoes and butternut squash, to using vegan cheese and almond milk (not good). This is by far the best version of vegan mac I have ever had, and the beauty is that it is easy, inexpensive, and reminiscent of all the goodness from the mac and cheese of my childhood, what more could you ask for?!
Ingredients
1 cup raw cashews
2/3 cup chopped yellow onion
3 clove garlic
1-1/2 tbs olive oil
3 tsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric
Salt and pepper to taste
5 tbsp nutritional yeast
16 oz dry pasta (I use mini shells or small rigatoni!)
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Boil pasta water and prepare pasta according to directions, reserving about 1 cup pasta water.
While pasta cooks, add cashews to a boil and cover completely in boiling water and let soak for at least 15 mins.
In a pan over medium heat, add olive oil, garlic, and onions until onions are soft and translucent (not brown) about 5-8 mins.
When the onions are soft, add in Dijon mustard and spices and stir until the onions are coated. Remove from heat.
Drain cashews and add to a blender with about 1/4 cup reserved pasta water. Blend on high until smooth and creamy, adding more water 1 tbsp at a time until the mixture is thick but smooth.
Add onion mixture to cashews. Add nutritional yeast and salt and pepper. Taste and add more as needed. Blend on high until mixture is smooth and creamy, but thick.
When the cashew mixture is smooth and creamy, return to the pan where you sautéed your onions. Add in pasta and about 1/4-1/2 cup pasta water. Mix until pasta is well coated. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Add pasta to a pan and top with a combination of nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the top starts to brown.
Remove from oven, allow to cook and enjoy!!