This vegan mac & cheese sauce recipe is so creamy, so easy, and the best part is... it stays creamy! We love sauces that don't loose all their oomph if you have leftovers! This recipe makes a generous 700ml of sauce for your favourite noodles! It's:
Extra Creamy
Wonderfully "Cheesy"
Can Be Made While Your Pasta Is Cooking
And It's All Achieved While Being Dairy-Free!
Creamy And Cheesy
I know it sounds pretty hard to believe. And until I tried it for myself, I was certainly a doubter!
BUT!
The first time I made a creamy pasta sauce without the use of the dairy butter, milk, and cheese I would normally have used... I was pretty darn blown away and haven't turned back since.
The reason I love dairy-free sauces so much, is that I always found my milk and cheese based sauces dried out so quickly! The reason for that... was likely me being a little stingy with the amount of cheese in order to keep the cost down.
So, what is the special ingredient that made my dreams of homemade creamy mac & cheese a reality??
Cashews!
Soaked Cashews
And if you're allergic to tree nuts, not to worry! I have also had wonderful success making a creamy, cheesy mac & cheese sauce out of my nut-free Quick And Easy Extra Creamy Bechamel! Jump to that recipe and scroll down to the notes for the instructions on how to make it a pasta sauce!
But for this vegan mac & cheese sauce recipe we've chosen to use the powerful soaked cashew to provide all the long-lasting oomph!
- Using raw cashews
- Measure out ¾ cup in a heat-proof dish
- Boil water in your kettle
- Pour the boiling water over the cashews
- And let the cashews soak for 15-20 minutes
- Drain the cashews and blend them into thick, creamy, goodness!
Have I tried using cashews and not soaking them? Yes. Did it work? Nope. The 15 minutes prep time is needed in order to get the cashews to blend down smoothly. I don't have the most powerful blender on the market so my soaked cashews don't turn into an absolutely smooth cream but... it's pretty darn close! So even if you don't have the most powerful blender, give this a try and I hope you have good results too!
And what makes the blended cashews the superstar long-lasting creamy ingredient? Their high fat content! The fat you omit from the dairy cheese is replaced with the fat, fibre, and all the nutrients in cashews; making sure this mac & cheese sauce recipe has that rich taste you want.
The Cheese
Nutritional yeast is the secret!
You were on board with the cashews but nutritional yeast? Again I know! It's a super strange, fish food looking, flaked yeast that does not look appetizing at all!
BUT... it works cheesy, savoury, delightful wonders when dissolved into your tasty dishes!
Nutritional yeast can be:
- Purchased at your bulk store or likely in the "natural foods" section of your grocery store.
- One of our pricier pantry items so we try to buy it on sale at our bulk store.
- But! Cost effective when considering it replaces the need for cheese!
- And! It's shelf-stable and lasts for months! So you won't have to worry about that brick of cheddar going mouldy in your fridge!
Flavour Boosting Tip
Saute your onion and garlic for way more flavour!
I've made this sauce and just tossed raw onion and garlic into my blender and it works... but... the key to a really flavourful mac & cheese sauce is cooking the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes so they release all their wonderful flavour!
- I put a dash of oil (or water/broth) in a medium sized saucepan.
- Saute the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes
- Add the soaked and drained cashews to my blender
- Spoon in the cooked onion, garlic and the remaining ingredients (except the butter)
- Blend until smooth
- Pour the blended sauce back into the same medium saucepan.
- Bring to a very low boil, stirring frequently, for a few minutes to activate the starch and eliminate any starch flavour
- Adding dairy-free butter to smooth out the taste even more.
- And voila! Your noodles have cooked in that time and you're ready to serve!
Recipe Cost
This creamy sauce costs us approximately: CAD $5.77 for 700ml ($0.82/100ml). Using our homemade veggie scrap broth means it actually costs us $5.39 or $0.77/100ml.
A simple traditional mac and cheese sauce using ¼ cup dairy butter, ¼ cup flour, 2 cups of dairy milk, and 2 cups of cheddar cheese would cost us approximately: CAD $6.21.
That means our vegan mac & cheese sauce recipe can actually provide a savings of about $0.45! Although cashews and nutritional yeast are two of the pricier items in our pantry, they still result in savings for this recipe.
And if you tend to buy boxed dairy-free mac and cheese... making this easy at home recipe will certainly be more cost effective and super tasty! A box of dairy-free mac and cheese would cost us: CAD $5.49 for a 300g box.
What do you think? Will you give this one a try? Let us know in the comments below if you try it and how you like it!
For another pasta made creamy with cashews take a look at our Smoky, Spicy Beet - Pinkest Pasta In The World. And for another favourite that is nut-free and stays creamy for your leftovers, jump to our Pumpkin Penne - Easy, Creamy, Ready In 20!
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The Easy Vegan Mac 'N' Cheese Sauce You'll Crave
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 700 ml 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This vegan mac & cheese sauce recipe is so creamy, so tasty, & so easy. The secret to the creaminess... cashews! Dairy-free creamy & cheesy.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup raw cashews (soaked for 15 mins in boiling water)
- ½ yellow onion, sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup vegetable broth (homemade for extra savings)
- 1 cup soy milk (or plant milk of choice)
- 1 tbsp arrowroot starch (or cornstarch)
- ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ½ tsp salt
- optional: ½ teaspoon vegan butter (or more to taste, smoothes out any starchy flavour)
- optional: ¾ teaspoon smoked paprika
*All the ingredients for this recipe are from our pantry and freezer tips!
Instructions
- In a heatproof dish or glass measuring cup, soak cashews in boiling water for 15-20 minutes.
- To really boost the flavour, saute the onion and garlic in a saucepan with a bit of oil, broth, or water. Season with salt and cook until onion is translucent and garlic fragrant; about 3 minutes. You can skip this step (I've tried!) but the sauce has so much more flavour if you saute the onion and garlic.
- Add the soaked and drained cashews, sauteed onion and garlic, and all the remaining ingredients except the butter to your blender and blend until smooth.
- Transfer the sauce to the saucepan you used for the onion and garlic and briefly bring to a very low boil so the starch is activated and the starch flavour dissipates.
- Stir the butter into the sauce until melted and combined to smooth out the taste even more.
- Toss your sauce with pasta noodles and enjoy! Try it as our Jacked Up Mac 'N' Cheese!
- Store sauce in the fridge for 2-3 days (it could last longer, I just haven’t tested it) and reheat on the stovetop when ready to use.
- This recipe does make quite a bit of sauce so if using a 454g box of noodles it will be extra saucy (which we love!) but feel free to use more noodles, decrease the sauce slightly, or use any leftover as a cheesy drizzle on breakfast bowls, pizzas, burritos, veggies, or whatever tastiness you can dream up!
Notes
*Approximate Cost: CAD $5.77 ($0.82/100ml). Roughly CAD $7.56 with noodles. Using our easy homemade veggie broth brings the cost of the sauce down to $5.39.
*Making a simple, traditional mac & cheese sauce with ¼ cup dairy butter, ¼ cup flour, 2 cups dairy milk, and 2 cups cheddar cheese would cost us roughly: CAD $6.21. Resulting in a savings of about $0.45.
*A box of dairy-free mac and cheese would cost us roughly CAD $5.49 for 300g.
*Soaking the cashews is the only way to get them to blend down smoothly. You can soak them overnight (about 8 hours) in cold water if you prefer. And sautéing the onion and garlic really boosts the flavour. It’s worth it!
*For a nut-free sauce try our Extra Creamy Bechamel! Follow the note in the recipe for how to make it a mac & cheese sauce!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Sauces & Dips
- Method: Blender, Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Maria
This is so quick and easy it’s almost too good to be true! I sautéed some veggies an added them at the end once the pasta and sauce had been mixed together! Delicious
Kathryn Alexandre
That sounds great! I love that you added in some veggies. I'm glad to hear it was quick and easy for you!