Vegan Cauliflower Mac and Cheese

Vegan cauliflower mac and cheese with cashews, a super easy and satisfying plant-based recipe. Creamy, cheesy and so comforting!

Vegan cauliflower mac and cheese with cashews, a super easy and satisfying plant-based recipe. Creamy, cheesy and so comforting!

Believe it or not, this vegan cauliflower mac and cheese is one of my son’s favorite pasta dishes. And he’s 11 and not much into the cauliflower. And he’s quite apprehensive each time I mention that I’ve cooked something vegan for dinner.

But no matter, if you are vegan or not, you will absolutely love this pasta dish. It is everything a good mac and cheese should be, only healthier. It is incredibly rich and creamy, comforting, and moreish.

Ingredients

• Raw cashews, which need to be soaked for several hours. Together with the cauliflower, they make the base of the sauce, they make it creamy and velvety.
• Cauliflower: you can use either fresh or frozen and defrosted.
• Chopped potatoes: not much, but they also add to the creaminess of the sauce.
• Nutritional yeast: not baker’s yeast. It is flaked and it is used to give food a cheesy flavor without the actual cheese.
• Other ingredients: coconut milk, garlic, garlic powder, sweet paprika, lemon juice, and pasta.

Method

• Soak the cashews for one hour in cold water.
• Start cooking the water for the pasta. Add the pasta when the water is boiling.
• Cook the vegetables in salted water for about 10 minutes or until soft. Drain, but reserve about ½ cup of the cooking water.
• Blend the vegetables, coconut milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and spices with an immersion blender or in a food processer. The sauce should be really smooth and creamy. Add some of the reserved cooking water if necessary to thin the sauce slightly. I normally have to add some.
• Adjust the taste and combine the sauce with the cooked macaroni.

More vegan pasta dishes:

Vegan Lentil Soup

Spinach Peanut Butter Noodles

Noodles with Coconut and Turmeric

Meatless Spaghetti Sauce

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Vegan Cauliflower Mac and Cheese

Yield: 4-6

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Vegan cauliflower mac and cheese with cashews, a super easy and satisfying plant-based recipe. Creamy, cheesy and so comforting!

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Ingredients

• 115 g/ 4 oz/ ¾ cups raw cashews
• 300 g/ 10.5 oz/ about 2 ½ cups chopped cauliflower
• 200 g/ 7 oz/ about 1 ¾ cups chopped potatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
• 125 ml/ 4.2 fl.oz/ ½ cup coconut milk
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• sweet ground paprika
• fine sea salt and ground black pepper
• 450 g/ 1 lb elbow macaroni (or other pasta)

Instructions

1. Soak the cashews in water for about 1 hour.
2. Bring two pots of water to a boil. Add the chopped vegetables and the garlic cloves to the smaller pot and cook for about 10 minutes or until they are soft. Keep about ½ cup of the cooking water and drain the rest. Cook the macaroni in the other pot. Drain well.
3. Blend the vegetables, coconut milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper until really smooth and creamy (immersion blender or food processor). Add some of the reserved cooking water little by little to reach the right consistency. Adjust the taste again and serve immediately.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1/6 of the dish
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 326Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 374mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 5gSugar: 3gProtein: 12g

Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.