This vegan mac n cheese is so creamy and perfectly delicious. Best yet, you don’t need a blender! It takes just a few minutes longer to make than it does to cook a bag of macaroni. Fast, delicious, healthy-ish, and comforting? Check.
With my mom and sister cooking more vegan food in the last few weeks and texting me their questions, I’ve been reminiscing on when I first started cooking vegan. I survived off mostly sausage and vegan cheddar english muffins, and cashew mac n cheese. At the time, my college blender, mostly used for margaritas or vodka slushies, was not the best for creating smooth, creamy cashew sauces. That didn’t stop me, but had I thought of this easy hack back then, I would have been saved many cashew crunchy meals! Plus, no more face palms when you forget to soak your cashews “overnight”.
I like to get my cashew butter at Trader Joe’s because its relatively cheap, and delicious in all sorts of dishes. Miso gives this recipe a nice depth of salty, nutty, umami flavor.
If you try this recipe, let me know what you think by commenting below or tagging me in your photos on Instagram, @namasteandchow!
Blender-less Vegan Cashew Mac n Cheese
Ingredients:
1/4 c cashew butter
1/3 c nutritional yeast
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 1/2 T white miso
1/2 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp garlic powder
3 T olive oil
8 ounces macaroni noodles
2 cups of reserved pasta water
black pepper
Method:
1. Cook the pasta according to directions. Reserve two cups of the pasta water.
2. Meanwhile, make the paste for the sauce. In a small bowl stir together cashew butter, nutritional yeast, mustard, miso, lemon juice, turmeric, and garlic powder. This will create a dry, thick paste.
2. Once the pasta is done, strain. In the same pot, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and then dump in the sauce paste.
3. Whisk the paste into the olive oil for a minute over medium high heat , then slowly start to pour in pasta water, whisking while you go. Aim to use about 1.5 cups of pasta water, but if the sauce seems too thick, add more.
4. Whisk the sauce for about 5 minutes, until it is bubbly and thickened, then pour in the macaroni noodles.
5. Coat all the macaroni in the sauce and serve. Top with freshly cracked pepper if desired. Enjoy!
Notes:
This recipe was adapted from a Cacio e Pepe recipe I found in the New York Times, by Alexa Weibel.