If you are a lover of tacos AND a lover of mac and cheese... you have found your match! We took our popular Extra Speedy Queso and turned it into an awesome Queso Mac & Cheese. BUT now... we've gone even further! We've topped it with our Favourite Ground Round and our Salsa Fresca to create an ultimate vegan taco mac and cheese recipe!
Creamy & "cheesy"
With as much heat as you want
Topped with savoury walnut/mushroom ground round
An easy salsa fresca
And eaten all together with some tortilla on the side!
How Timely Is Vegan Taco Mac And Cheese
A fantastic thing about this vegan taco mac and cheese recipe is that the cheesy "queso" sauce takes only 15 minutes and is made from ingredients you can always have in your pantry!
The ground round takes a total of 50 minutes with 10 minutes prep and 30-40 minutes in the oven. It is by far the tastiest ground round we have made and is absolutely worth the extra time!
And with your "taco meat" in the oven you can have your loaded taco pasta ready in less than an hour by...
Making the queso sauce, boiling your pasta, and throwing together the salsa fresca while you wait!
*But of course... feel free to use your favourite ground round and a store-bought salsa for a quicker preparation!
The Fresh Ingredients
For a pretty loaded recipe we think it's pretty impressive that the only fresh ingredients we need are:
Mushrooms and red onion for the ground round. AND...
The rest of that red onion, tomato, and fresh cilantro for the salsa fresca!
Throw on some green onion for an extra pop of colour and the rest of the ingredients are pantry staples!
If you struggle to know how to stock your pantry, fridge, and freezer to make cooking easy and convenient... we were there too! Check out our pantry and freezer tips page/video to see the changes we made and how it's helping us to save money too!
The Taco Ground Round
Our choice ground round recipe is our absolute favourite way to make "taco meat". It's:
- Crispy
- Savoury
- Bursting With Flavour
- Textured
- And Moist!
Crispy and moist? The combination of the cooked mushrooms and the textured, crunchy walnuts prevents this ground round from tasting dry while being cooked long enough to not be mushy!
- Using a food processor will speed up the chopping if you have one but otherwise, chop your ingredients by hand.
- Add them to a bowl with the seasonings.
- Spread on a baking sheet.
- And bake at 350 degrees F for 30-40 minutes, stirring at the 20 minute mark.
The Queso Mac And Cheese Sauce
This 15 minute queso is our favourite "cheesy" sauce for drizzling or dipping! We doubled everything in our Extra Speedy Queso recipe except the spice level but feel free to add in extra heat!
- Melt the vegan butter in a small pot over medium low heat.
- Add the garlic and chilli pepper (feel free to use green chillies for a more traditional queso)
- Slowly add the flour whisking to combine.
- Whisk in the milk a little at a time.
- Stir in the seasonings.
- And allow to thicken for 5 minutes!
Recipe Cost
A loaded mac and cheese like this one would cost us at least CAD $10 if we were to purchase it out.
Fully loaded with our salsa fresca, this super "cheesy", tasty taco mac and cheese recipe costs us:
Roughly: CAD $2.86/serving!
The queso mac and ground round cost: CAD $10.63
A half batch of our salsa fresca costs: CAD $0.83
For a recipe total of $11.46 for 4 servings!
Let us know in the comments below if your mouth is watering and if you'll be combining taco night and pasta night into one "cheesy" bowl of tastiness!
If you're a lover of loaded pastas you need to take a look at our Ultimate BBQ Jackfruit Mac 'N' Cheese!
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Vegan "Queso" Taco Mac & Cheese - Nothin' Better!
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: serves 4
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Try our loaded vegan taco mac & cheese recipe using our popular 15 minute cheesy "queso" and our favourite mushroom/walnut ground round!
Ingredients
- 454g macaroni noodles
- 1 cup salsa of choice (try our easy Salsa Fresca)
- optional: garnish with sliced green onion and tortilla chips or fresh tortilla
Queso Mac & Cheese Sauce:
- 3 tbsp vegan butter
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- ½ red hot chilli pepper, deseeded and sliced (or green chiles for a more traditional queso)
- ¼ cup all-purpose white flour (see notes for gluten-free option!)
- 2 ½ cup soy milk (or plant milk of choice)
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast (for “cheesy” flavour)
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp turmeric (for yellow colour)
- Pinch of black pepper (for better turmeric absorption)
Taco Ground Round:
- ½ cup walnuts
- ⅓ cup red onion*
- 340g cremini mushrooms*
- 3 tbsp tamari or soy sauce (or 2 tbsp tamari 1 tsp worcestershire sauce)
- 1 ½ tsp cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp salt and pepper
*Fresh Ingredients you need that are not part of our pantry and freezer tips.
Instructions
For The Ground Round:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- You can chop everything by hand or use a food processor. If using a food processor, pulse the walnuts until they are coarsely broken down. Remove the walnuts and add them to a large bowl. Chop your red onion and add it to the bowl. Next, add your mushrooms in small batches to the food processor. If you add them all at once you may get some that are over-processed while others haven’t broken down enough. Try not to chop them too small and it's fine to have some larger pieces (see the photos in the blog post for reference).
- Add the mushrooms to the bowl and stir in your spices.
- Spread on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 30 - 40 minutes to dry the mixture out. Stir at the 20 minute mark. At 30 it will be dry enough but I like to stir it again and leave it in for 40 minutes to most resemble ground beef.
For The Queso Mac & Cheese Sauce:
- In a small saucepan, melt vegan butter over medium low heat until it starts to sizzle. Add the minced garlic and red chilli pepper and cook for 1-2 minutes (turn down the heat if the garlic browns too quickly).
- Slowly add in the flour, whisking to combine. Cook for another minute.
- Slowly whisk in the milk ¼ cup at a time. Adding it slowly will allow you to whisk the clumps out of the flour. When all the milk is added let it cook for 2 minutes, stirring.
- Whisk in the nutritional yeast, salt, turmeric, and pinch of black pepper until fully combined.
- At this point, if you want a really smooth sauce you can use an immersion blender or transfer the mixture to a stand up blender if it can process hot liquids. You can blend down the garlic and chilli pepper OR skip this step and you will just have small pieces of garlic and pepper in the sauce. (I usually don’t bother blending it).
- If you have removed the sauce, add it back to the same saucepan, continue to cook on low and allow to thicken for 5 minutes or so. If you decide not to blend the mixture, simply continue to cook for 5 minutes until the queso has thickened and the flavours have melded together.
To Serve:
- Pour your queso mac and cheese sauce over your noodles of choice.
- Top with crispy ground round, salsa fresca, and sliced green onion.
- Serve with tortilla chips or fresh tortilla on the side!
- We find that the leftovers stay nice and creamy!
Notes
Approximate Cost: The queso mac and ground round cost us CAD $10.63. A half batch of our salsa fresca adds $0.83 for a total of roughly CAD $11.46 ($2.86 per serving)!
Feel free to use your favourite ground round to cut the recipe time down. The queso mac and cheese sauce is ready in just 15 minutes! And top your taco mac and cheese with your favourite taco toppings! The sky is the limit.
For a gluten-free version I have made this sauce using ¼ cup gluten free 1-to-1 baking flour and 1 teaspoon arrowroot starch. Keep the method the same and just stir the extra starch into the flour before you add the flour to the butter, garlic, and chilli pepper. My sister has also had success using ¼ cup gluten free 1-to-1 baking flour with ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Main Dishes
- Method: Stovetop, Oven
- Cuisine: Mexican, American
Gabriel
Great Recipe. Topping the delicious cheese sauce with a very flavourful crispy ground round and salsa fresca make this a 5 star hands-down!
Kathryn Alexandre
Oh thank you! We're so glad you liked it! This is such a fun meal.
Lauren
This is one of our favourites!! The ground round is so savoury and tastes great with the queso. Getting the ingredients ready to make it again tonight!
Kathryn Alexandre
I'm so glad it's a repeat one for you! I agree, I'm always surprised by how savoury and delicious the ground round is. Thank you for letting me know it's a favourite and thank you for the star rating!