It doesn’t get much easier and tastier than this! You’ve loved our Extra Speedy Queso so we decided to take it up a notch and turn it into the quickest, no cheese, mac and cheese! This easy vegan mac and cheese sauce is:
So “cheesy“
Creamy
So easy
Made from pantry friendly ingredients
Thriftier than a traditional mac ‘n’ cheese sauce
And still manages to have that yellow colour you and your kids love!
Ingredients For This Vegan Mac And Cheese
We can’t get over how quick, easy, creamy, and cheesy this sauce is! AND it’s made with less than 10 ingredients! All of which, are part of our pantry and freezer tips!
- Vegan butter
- Garlic
- Red hot chilli pepper for some heat (or green chillies for a more traditional queso!)
- All purpose flour
- Soy milk or plant milk of choice
- Nutritional yeast
- A bit of salt
- And a pinch of turmeric for that yellow colour!
*Turmeric is a powerful spice full of all kinds of health benefits. Adding a pinch of black pepper to this sauce helps your body absorb more of the goodness from the turmeric! You can read about the health benefits of turmeric in this Healthline article, 10 Proven Health Benefits of Turmeric and Curcumin.
*We always keep red hot chilli peppers in our freezer! Freeze them whole and then slice them up whenever you have a recipe where you want to add a boost of spice!
How To Make The Sauce
The secret to the easy creaminess of this sauce is in the roux! And the secret to the “cheesiness“… is in the pantry friendly nutritional yeast!
- Cook the butter, flour, and milk for that thick, creamy texture…
- Then whisk in the nutritional yeast for all the cheesy depth of flavour!
If you’ve never used nutritional yeast don’t be scared of this slightly strange “fish food” looking flaked yeast! It is the incredible pantry stable secret to adding a “cheesy” flavour to anything you would like! It makes whisking up sauces like this one; with all the cheesy flavour you want, a breeze!
Jump to our Extra Speedy Queso and read our blog post where I dive into more detail about nutritional yeast!
Recipe Cost
It’s thriftier than the traditional!
By making this vegan mac and cheese sauce from pantry friendly ingredients our cost is approximately:
CAD $3.80 for 590 ml of sauce and 4 large servings!
If we were to make a simple mac and cheese sauce using more traditional ingredients:
- ¼ cup dairy butter
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 cups dairy milk
- And 2 cups cheddar cheese
Our cost would be approximately: CAD $6.21!
So cook up those noodles, whisk up this easy queso mac and cheese sauce and enjoy the simplest homemade mac you ever did make!
If you’re looking for a white sauce… we have you covered! Jump to our equally tasty Mac & Cheese Sauce You’ll Crave. This one uses cashews for all that thick, creamy deliciousness!
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Vegan “Queso” Mac & Cheese In A Flash!
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 590 ml 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
We turned our popular “queso” into our favourite easy vegan mac and cheese! No cheese? No problem! Ready in 15, SO easy & will help you save!
Ingredients
- 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).
*All the ingredients for this recipe are from our pantry and freezer tips!
Instructions
- 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 flavors have melded together.
- Pour over your noodles of choice and enjoy!
- You can make this sauce in advance as it keeps well in the fridge for 4-5 days. Simply reheat on the stovetop over low heat or in the microwave for a few seconds. You can add a bit more milk when you reheat it if it gets a little thick in the fridge. To avoid a skin forming on top of the sauce as it rests, you can use cling wrap or try pressing a piece of parchment paper on the top for a plastic free alternative (to be honest… I usually just give it a stir when I reheat it and it’s fine)!
- Oh… and leftovers stay creamy too!
Notes
Approximate Cost: CAD $3.80 vs. approximately $6.21 for a simple traditional mac and cheese sauce using ¼ cup dairy butter, ¼ cup flour, 2 cups dairy milk, and 2 cups cheddar cheese.
For a white mac and cheese try our cashew based Easy At Home Mac & Cheese Sauce You’ll Crave! Or… leave out the turmeric in this recipe!
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!
- Category: Sauces & Dips
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mexican
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