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Vegan Macaroni and Cheese begins with a no-cook dairy-free, yogurt miso mac and cheese sauce, that you stir into the gluten-free pasta, or not, your choice!

Before we dive into some gluten-free pasta varieties to use in this plant-based and dairy-free mac and cheese recipe, let’s talk cheese!

Let’s be real; cheese is the most likely the reason you’re reading this recipe.

We know that you want to know how to get to the cheesy flavor using plant-based vegan ingredients, and you are not alone. We all want to get to the cheesiness while keeping every last drop of the dairy-free mac and cheese sauce, one-hundred percent whole food plant-based, gluten-free, and healthy!

How to: Accomplish the Cheese Flavor in this Gluten-Free Vegan Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

Have you ever tasted something that reminded you of something else you’ve eaten? That’s what happens when you get ahold of high quality, vegan, dairy-free yogurt.  

The first time we tried Kite Hill brand plain plant-based vegan yogurt, we thought of sour cream and cream cheese. Needless to say, we quickly became huge fans of that brand and especially the plain dairy-free yogurt.

Then we started playing around with recipes to make vegan yogurt at home.

While we aren’t quite ready to share our version on homemade plant-based vegan dairy-free yogurt, you can bet that we will soon!

Until then, you’ve just got to try the Kite Hill brand and let us know what it tastes like to you.

And after you fall in love with the tang of it, try this Vegan Macaroni and Cheese recipe. Finally, after all of that fun, leave us a comment on the recipe and tell us about your experience!

Try mixing a dab of miso into the plain vegan yogurt and give it a taste. Then, add in some nutritional yeast and a drizzle of tahini and BAM, the cheese taste shines through!

And then, blend all of that with the softened raw cashews and a couple of other ingredients and prepare to smile – wide.

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DELICIOUS Ways to Use This NO-COOK Mac and Cheese Sauce!

Of course, we want you to use this gluten-free Vegan Macaroni and Cheese recipe exactly as we are sharing it. But let’s take it a step further and think of additional DELICIOUS ways to use this no-cook dairy-free, yogurt, miso, mac and cheese, sauce!

  • Use this no-cook sauce to dress up roasted vegetables.
  • Drizzle it across a plate of air-fried potatoes, yum!
  • Stir this dairy-free yogurt miso mac and cheese sauce into your favorite rice.
  • Did we mention mashed potatoes? Add some cheesiness to smashed spuds!

Don’t you love it when that happens?  

Wow, we haven’t even turned on the stove, and here we are, wowed by the way we arrived at the umami cheese taste that we once believed only to come from dairy.

We’re standing in our kitchen, tasting what we would never have thought possible. A vegan mac and cheese sauce that is ready to stir into gluten-free pasta, or other pasta of choice, and chow down!

By the way, for whatever it’s worth like the old song says, the cheese most definitely does stand alone. Nothing compares to the desired flavor profile of cheese. That’s why we get so excited when we get even close to accomplishing such a thing completely dairy-free!

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Gluten-Free Pasta Options We LOVE!

While you do not have to use a gluten-free pasta to enjoy the vegan mac and cheese sauce in this recipe, our recipes have gluten-free ingredients because it is what we prefer. That said, use any pasta you like. Our goal is to provide you with the beautiful no-cook, vegan, mac and cheese sauce to use as you please.

There are all sorts of gluten-free pasta available these days. At nearly every grocery store, there is a variety of choices, including everything from a pasta made of beans to pasta made of rice. Rice is the type of gluten-free pasta we use in this recipe for Vegan Mac and Cheese.

There are a few different brands of rice pasta that we use most often. The first brand is Tinkyada. You can click on this link to purchase the Tinkyada pasta we used in this recipe shoot.

Thrive Market offers another brand we like. We’ve shopped with Thrive Market for years and feel confident sharing it as a shopping source. And as plant-based and gluten-free, vegan consumers, we’re especially pleased with their attention to labeling. Their in-house brand is the other rice pasta that we like to use. It cooks nicely, even when we want to keep things al dente, which we appreciate.

MORE Plant-Based, Vegan and Gluten-Free Cheese Recipes For You – ENJOY!

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Thank You for Being Here!

We take the time to thank you at the end of each post for a good reason. You, the reader, cook, explorer of all things new and exciting in vegan plant-based flavor land, are the reason we do what we do.

More than that, you are the reason we enjoy doing what we do. We believe we are supposed to share what we learn about plant-based living with you so that eventually, everyone will get to know that they can eat healthy veggie-based food without sacrificing an ounce of flavor or pleasure!

So thank you for following on the social media platforms you enjoy most. And thank you all, so much for commenting here on the blog and for sharing our recipes on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and over dinner when you invite friends to try one of your delicious, homemade, plant-based vegan meals.

Happy Eating!

Vegan Macaroni and Cheese (Gluten-Free) overhead mac and cheese sauce gluten-free pasta yogurt whole food plant based diet dinner recipe entree recipes side noodles comfort food cashews nutritional yeast wfpb wfpbno oil free
Vegan Macaroni and Cheese (Gluten-Free) vegan mac and cheese sauce gluten-free pasta dairy-free yogurt whole food plant based diet dinner recipe entree recipes side noodles comfort food cashews nutritional yeast miso wfpb wfpbno oil free

Vegan Macaroni and Cheese (Gluten-Free)

  • 10
    Prep:
  • 20
    Cook Time:
  • Yield: 8 Servings

This no-cook combination of plant-based ingredients creates incredible vegan cheesiness that’s quick, easy, and ready to stir into your favorite macaroni in a flash! This recipe makes enough for eight generous one-cup servings of pasta and sauce. The sauce portion provides four fabulous cups of no-cook sauce, which is plenty to cover a one-pound dry package of prepared macaroni or other pasta. And one-pound of uncooked small to medium pasta shapes, such as macaroni equals, 8 cups, cooked. 

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Once you've soaked your raw cashews for 20 minutes or so, you're on your way to this excellent no-cook blender sauce!
  2. Place all of the ingredients, except the miso and salt, in a high-speed blender, such as the refurbished model we use by Vitamix. You could also use an immersion blender or food processor if your cashews are nicely soaked. No matter which blending tool you use, combine the ingredients until you achieve a creamy, rich, decadent tasting sauce!
  3. Now, add in the miso a teaspoon or so at a time and blend just until it's incorporated.  Taste, and add the next spoon of miso, or not and then add the salt, adjusting seasonings to your preference. Stir the seasoned sauce into your prepared and drained macaroni of choice. We usually serve this alongside a heaping helping of roasted vegetables or a big bowl of greens. Come to think of it, our favorite way to enjoy mac and cheese alongside roasted broccoli with garlic - we're going to have to make a meal-in-a-bowl post of that combo!

Notes

  • Soaking is everything when it comes to accomplishing a creamy no-cook sauce. Be sure to soak your raw cashews for 20 minutes or so, or even as long as overnight.
  • You'll achieve the creamiest texture of sauce by using a high-speed blender. We purchased a refurbished VITAMIX about six years ago, use it multiple times daily, and it is still going strong!
  • In this and all of the recipes you try, remember to taste and adjust amounts of flavor-enhancing ingredients such as garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, to preference before serving.
  • Since we enjoy saving money on preferred organic ingredients, we searched and found the following bulk opportunities for ingredients in this recipe: here is the non-fortified brand, of nutritional yeast; it's like getting one bag for free • and here's a bulk buy deal on the organic tahini • our favorite organic spice brand offers this bulk buy deal on three bottles of turmeric • and since so many dairy-free recipes call for blending cashews, why not take advantage of this fantastic bulk buy on organic cashew pieces?

Nutrition

% DV

Calories Per Serving: 371
  • Total Fat 13.9 g 21 %
  • Saturated Fat 2.2 g 11 %
  • Cholesterol 0 mg 0 %
  • Sodium 208.7 mg 9 %
  • Carbohydrates 52.3 g 17 %
  • Fiber 5.2 g 21 %
  • Sugar 1.9 g ---
  • Protein 11.5 g 23 %
  • Vitamin A 2 %
  • Vitamin C 1 %
  • Iron 19 %
  • Calcium 9 %

Leave a Comment

Comments

  • Is there a substitute for the nutritional yeast, I can not have that unfortunately. Otherwise it sounds amazing

    1. Thanks for reading the recipe and asking about a substitute for the nutritional yeast, Pam.

      I’ve learned that you can sub in a bit of chickpea miso to mimic the flavor of nutritional yeast. But I would do so just a bit at a time, perhaps along with a squeeze of lemon juice for a cheesy tang.

  • Can this be heated and eaten warm or is it no-cook only and eaten cold? I was wondering because of the yogurt ingredient.

    1. Thanks for asking, Jay. We reheat this dish a tad before enjoying a serving of the leftovers.