Plant-Based Mac and Cheese

There are a lot of dairy-free mac and cheese recipes floating around the blogosphere right now, but too many of them rely on swapping dairy cheese for non-dairy cheese and butter for oil. We wanted to use as many whole-food, plant-based options as possible without sacrificing flavor, texture, or color. So, we put on our thinking caps (they look a lot like chef hats) and dreamed up everything we know about getting the cheesiest flavors from all-natural ingredients. We’re pretty excited because we basically came up with the mac and cheesiest of all mac and cheeses. This recipe is easy to make, substitution friendly, possibly gluten-free, and secretly hides veggies for those veggie-phobic people in your life. The only special kitchen tool you’ll need is a blender!

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw cashews
• 1 peeled and cubed medium russet potato
• 2 peeled and chopped medium carrots
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons yellow/mellow miso paste (key ingredient)
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• 2 cups unsweetened, plain oatmilk (see notes)
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder (or cornstarch/tapioca starch)
• Optional but so good: 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, dash liquid smoke, 3 soaked sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 pound dried pasta of your choice
• 1/4 cup pasta water (don’t add if using a gluten free pasta)

Instructions

1. Put cashews, potato, and carrot in a 4-6 quart pot and fill with enough water to cover by 1-2″. Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes.
2. While both pots are boiling prepare the other ingredients (not pasta water yet). Cut onion and garlic and set aside. You will be cooking the onion and garlic; however, you’ll use the same pot as the cashews, potato, carrot to save using too many pots and pans.
3. Add nutritional yeast, miso, ground mustard, milk, and arrowroot to blender. (Add the optional ingredients at this stage if using)
4. Drain cashews, potato, carrot. Add to blender but don’t blend yet.
5. Rinse the used pot, add onion and garlic, heat over high heat until sizzling. Add one tablespoon of water at a time to keep onion and garlic from burning. The goal is to brown them but not burn or scorch. Keeping adding a tablespoon of water as needed. This process takes roughly 2-3 minutes. Add to blender. Now, blend until smooth.
6. Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a separate pot. Add 2 tablespoons of salt to the water prior to cooking pasta. *Plan your pasta cooking time so that it finishes after your sauce is ready. Cook pasta to al dente, the lowest cooking time. Measure out 1/4 cup of the pasta water and set aside. Drain pasta but do not rinse.
7. Pour blended ingredients into pasta pot, add the reserved pasta water and cooked pasta, stir, heat over medium-low heat until it starts to bubble on the sides. It is important to slowly stir at this stage so that you don’t burn your mac and cheese.

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Nutrient information provided using Lose It! app

The following nutrient information uses a one pound box of Creamette medium Shell Pasta. If using a whole wheat or gluten free variety of pasta you will need to adjust the nutrient information. 

Plant-Based Mac and Cheese

Servings 8 | 405 Calories per Serving

64 g carb; 9 g sugar; 14 g protein; 9 g fat; 4.6 g fiber; 271 mg sodium

*Add legumes or a lean protein as desired

Explanation of Ingredients: 

The two ingredients that you might be most unfamiliar with are nutritional yeast and yellow miso paste. These two ingredients are plant-based cooking staples and can be purchased at most chain and natural grocery stores.

Nutritional Yeast: 

Found with dry ingredients and typically in the natural food section. Bob’s Red Mill is a common brand. Many natural food stores sell this product in their bulk bins.

This yeast is the same as what’s used to make bread and beer; however, it is grown to be used as a food product. The yeast cells are grown for several days on a molasses mixture and are killed during processing and not alive in the final product. It is used in many plant based recipes for its cheesy, nutty, and umami adding flavor.

It is a great source of B vitamins and it is a complete protein. Just one tablespoon is 2 grams of protein. You can also purchase fortified nutritional yeast which has even more B vitamins and other trace minerals.

Miso Paste: 

Found in the refrigerated section in grocery stores. It is typically sold with the natural food items near the dairy-free milks and refrigerated tofu. Miso Master is a common brand that most chain grocery stores carry.

Miso paste is made by fermenting soy beans with koji (a food safe mold) and adding salt. Some miso paste is fermented for a few weeks whereas others are over a year old. This is a staple cooking ingredient in Japanese cooking, but it is becoming more popular in other countries due to its nutty, salty, umami, cheesy flavor.

Red Miso and Yellow/Mellow Miso have different uses based on their distinct tastes. Red miso has had a longer fermentation time and more salt added. It is a good addition to tomato based recipes for added umami. Yellow/White/Mellow Miso has had a shorter fermentation time and less salt than red miso. Sampled on its own it is similar in taste and texture to spreadable cheese but a little more salty. Adding this ingredient to plant based “cheese” sauces makes a noticeable difference.

Tips:

Use unsweetened, unflavored oatmilk for savory dishes like this one. Most nut-based milks add sweetener, even if it’s unsweetened, and a variety of other flavoring ingredients that can make savory dishes off-putting. Prior to using a nut-based milk for a savory dish make sure to carefully sample it and determine if there is a flavor or sweetness.

Browning your onion and garlic cuts the acidic and sharp flavors while adding more umami and complexity to your mac and cheese sauce. Simply cooking to translucent doesn’t add the same richness of flavor as browning.

Use raw cashews for plant based cream sauces. Roasted cashews have a natural sweetness and don’t soak up water like raw cashews. Raw cashews have a neutral flavor and will puree into a thick cream that doesn’t taste nutty. The roasting process brings out the nut flavor which is what we want to avoid for a dish like this. Many cashew based recipes call for soaking the raw cashews overnight; however, we found that boiling them with the carrots and potatoes has the same results and eliminates the need to plan ahead.

If you have a nut allergy you can substitute the cashews for raw sunflower seeds or even raw pumpkin seeds. Follow the recipe the same. Sunflower seeds will make a slightly darker sauce that has a mild sunflower seed taste. It is delicious and a pleasant variation. Raw pumpkin seeds are challenging to find and they will tint your sauce with a little green color.