This classic vegan mac and cheese is ultra cheesy, saucy and creamy. Topped with breadcrumbs and baked until golden brown and crispy. Seriously satisfying.
This classic baked vegan mac and cheese is everything you want a mac and cheese to be.
It’s creamy, saucy, ultra cheesy and topped with a delicious crispy breadcrumb topping and baked to perfection.
This is really a ‘classic’ vegan mac and cheese recipe in the sense that a classic mac and cheese usually involves a bechamel sauce with heaps of cheese added to it, and then it’s placed into a dish and topped with breadcrumbs and baked.
And that’s really very close to what we did here.
We made a vegan bechamel sauce and added all sorts of cheesy flavorings to it in lieu of actual cheese so that even non-vegans will find this cheesy as all heck, and then we topped it with delicious breadcrumbs and baked it. Just like the classic version.
How To Make Vegan Mac and Cheese
This vegan mac and cheese is ultra cheesy yet we did not use one shred of actual vegan cheese in it. So if you’re living somewhere where it’s hard to find vegan cheese in the supermarket, no worries, this recipe is for you.
I did try a version with some vegan cheese added to the sauce, and quite honestly I just didn’t think it worked as well as the version without, so this is it.
I created a bechamel sauce with some vegan butter, all purpose flour, coconut milk and vegetable stock and once that was thick and creamy like a white sauce should be, I added some cheesy flavorings in the form of dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper.
The spices in this sauce really make it, you won’t have any doubt that this is a cheese sauce. We used our cheesy garlic vegan alfredo sauce as major inspiration for this.
Add the cooked macaroni to your big pot of sauce and toss it all together and then transfer into a 9×13 baking dish, top with breadcrumbs and bake for 20 minutes until beautifully golden brown on top.
Super easy and extremely satisfying.
How To Make Vegan Breadcrumbs
I made my own breadcrumbs for this which is easy and works great!
I toasted 3 thick cut slices of white bread and then broke them into pieces and put them into the blender. Blitzed them into breadcrumbs in the blender. Transferred to a bowl and added some melted vegan butter and tossed them up with it and then placed on top of the mac and cheese.
You can use brown or whole wheat bread but white bread actually works best for this recipe.
Ingredient FAQ
What can I use instead of vegan butter? You can use a dairy-free margarine which is basically the same thing. Just read the ingredients of the margarines and find one that is dairy-free. Alternatively you can make your own homemade vegan butter and use that in this recipe.
What kind of coconut milk did you use in this recipe? I used full fat coconut milk that comes in cans. That created the richest sauce for this recipe. Definitely do NOT use any kind of coconut milk that is sweetened, that would not work in this recipe. It needs to be canned full fat unsweetened coconut milk. If you’re not a coconut fan then see below!
How can I make this vegan mac and cheese without coconut milk? You can use soy milk instead of coconut milk, the end result is slightly less rich but you can definitely do it, I have tested it this way and it was great. I have not tested any other plant milks and while almond milk may work fine, my only worry is that it will create a sauce that is a little thin.
Can I leave out the nutritional yeast? The nutritional yeast really brings it with the cheesy flavor in this sauce! But yes you can leave it out without it ruining the recipe, but I do recommend you leave it in.
Vegan Mac and Cheese Recipe Q&A
Like the best comfort food ever! It’s super cheesy and so close to the ‘real thing’ you might not even know it’s vegan. Seriously!
The sauce can be made gluten-free if you use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend instead of the regular flour. And then of course you can use a gluten-free macaroni. You would also need to use gluten-free bread for the crumb topping, or alternatively you could add vegan cheese to the top instead of breadcrumbs.
Yes! If you need to make it ahead of time you can make up the sauce and macaroni up to 2 days before and mix it up and assemble in the 9×13 dish. Cover with foil and keep refrigerated. Then when you’re ready to bake it, add the breadcrumbs and bake. In this case, since it is going into the oven cold from the fridge, add an extra 5 minutes of baking time.
Leftovers keep very well in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Yes you can! This freezes very well.
What Goes With Vegan Mac and Cheese?
If you’re thinking of what to eat with vegan mac and cheese then there’s some great sides that go perfectly with this!
If you’re thinking in terms of comfort food then our vegan garlic bread or vegan cornbread is a perfect addition.
Some vegan coleslaw or a delicious vegan kale salad or black bean and corn salad would also go very well. If you’re looking for an appetizer then something like our vegan tomato soup or vegan tomato basil soup would fit the bill perfectly.
More Vegan Pasta Recipes
- Our vegan butternut squash mac and cheese recipe is made with butternut squash and cashew nuts! It’s quite different to this one, and it’s not baked but it’s so good.
- Our vegan pesto pasta will not disappoint and is a wonderfully quick and easy recipe.
- Our vegan pasta bake is perfect for when you want to feed a crowd. Our vegan pasta salad is an ultra quick 15 minute recipe that you will love! And if you’ve ever been a fan of spaghetti bolognese then our vegan bolognese will be right up your street!
- And then our recipe for the easiest vegan lasagna is totally divine but we also have a recipe for the best vegan lasagna which is fancier but oh so worth it!
- Also check out our vegan mushroom stroganoff and our vegan mushroom pasta.
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Classic Baked Vegan Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
For the Cheese Sauce:
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 6 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
- 5 cups Coconut Milk 3 cans (1200ml), Unsweetened*
- 1 cup Vegetable Stock (240ml)
- 3 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
- 1 cup Nutritional Yeast Flakes (60g)
- 3 teaspoons Onion Powder
- 3 teaspoons Garlic Powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
For the Macaroni:
- 16 ounces Elbow Macaroni (450g)
For the Breadcrumb Topping:
- 3 Thick Slices White Bread Toasted, or 1 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
- 2 Tablespoons Vegan Butter Melted
Instructions
- Add the vegan butter to a pot and let it melt. When it’s melted add in the all purpose flour and stir it vigorously with the melted butter.
- Then pour in the cans of coconut milk and the vegetable stock. Use a hand whisk to whisk out the lumps. Keep whisking until it starts to boil and then keep whisking for a few minutes after it has boiled until it thickens. It will continue to thicken as it cools, so it doesn’t have to be all the way there when you remove it from the heat, as long as it has thickened considerably from when you started.
- Remove it from the heat and add in the dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper and whisk in. Now your sauce is ready, you can prepare your macaroni.
- Cook your macaroni according to the package directions and then rinse and drain.
- Add the cooked macaroni into the pot of sauce and toss it up with the sauce.
- Then transfer the macaroni and sauce to a 9×13 baking dish and smooth down.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Prepare the crumb topping by breaking up the 3 thick slices of toasted white bread and placing into the blender. Pulse blend until you have crumbs. Then transfer to a mixing bowl, and add in the melted vegan butter and toss up the crumbs with the melted butter.
- Place the breadcrumbs evenly over the top of the macaroni cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes until the topping is golden brown and crispy.
Video
Notes
- If you want to replace the coconut milk with a different non-dairy milk such as soy milk then you definitely can. We have tested this recipe with soy milk and it works great.
- The coconut milk must be canned full fat unsweetened coconut milk. I would never use a sweetened coconut milk for any recipe and have never used it. Canned full fat unsweetened coconut milk is the way to go. There is a link to a good brand in the ingredients list. Alternatively, use soy milk (as per instructions above).
- If you have someone to help you then you can work on the sauce and they can cook the macaroni at the same time. But the sauce is very ‘hands-on’ so if you’re on your own it works best to just focus on the sauce and then do the macaroni. But if there are two of you it will save considerable time to do both at once.
- You don’t have to use macaroni, you can use a different pasta but of course it should be one that is suited to this kind of meal, like penne or shells and not something like spaghetti or linguine. If your package of macaroni comes in 18 ounce (500g) bags, then that’s great, just use it all.
- If you’re using store-bought breadcrumbs then just eyeball it for the right amount to use so that it easily covers the top of your mac and cheese. In the case of panko breadcrumbs the amount to use is 1 cup.
- Leftovers keep very well in the fridge for 3-4 days. It’s also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
Miranda says
SO GOOD! This is my new favorite vegan mac and cheese recipe out there. It’s so comforting, creamy, and flavorful. At first I wasn’t sure about the liquid to noodle ratio (three cans of coconut milk and a cup of veggie stock sounded and looked like a lot!!) but it ended up being perfect. The velvety texture of the sauce was spot on, and when it came out of the oven, it was bubbling and browning in the exact same way that dairy-based cheese would. Lesson learned to trust the recipe 🙂 Thank you Alison!
Alison Andrews says
So happy to hear that Miranda! Thanks for the awesome review!
Kay says
This was freaking tasty. Used GF flour and GF pasta for my celiac hub. Even my dairy loving mom was over the moon about it. I made one huge substitution but otherwise stuck to the T on this recipe in regards to seasoning. I subtracted one can of coconut milk and replaced with one container of Miyokos cream cheese and one pack of Miyokos new cheddar shreds because I was dying to try their new stuff!
This will be a new go to – next time I’m gonna try it with just the coconut milk and not the Miyokos additions. I was afraid the coconut milk would be too overpowering but I can tell that’s not the case.
Alison Andrews says
Sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing Kay!
Wendy says
This was delicious! I made it using Chickpea Pasta and it was so good! I used coconut milk, and had to drain some fat off it before I served it. Will certainly be adding this to future comfort dishes. Just what I needed today. Thank you.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome, thanks Wendy!
Rubi says
Tried the recipe turned out amazing as I had faith it would. Really creamy and cheesy taste 10 stars not 5
Alison Andrews says
Thanks Rubi!
Katheryn says
LOVE this recipe but had half the amount of pasta needed. But of course I made the recipe as followed. How long do you think the extra sauce will store? Also, how long can I maybe freeze mac and cheese for? Ugh, this was so amazing! Made my new vegan life so happy!
Alison Andrews says
So glad you love the recipe Katheryn! You can store leftover sauce in the fridge for 4 days or so, but it’s also freezer friendly for a few months!
S. Gilbert says
Amazing recipe! I made this for my family to try, and they took the leftovers and the extra sauce home with them!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks so much for posting!
Haley Eckert says
Will braggs nutritional yeast seasoning work?? I can’t find nutritional yeast anywhere.. 🙁
Alison Andrews says
Hi Haley, I ‘think’ it is the same thing. But maybe just go easy when adding it in case it’s stronger tasting than regular nutritional yeast (I’m not sure at all if it is).
Hannah says
Really enjoyed this, and so glad I can eat macaroni cheese again! Only thing is next time I’m going to put way less mustard in, as I felt it was quite overwhelming. Will probably use 1 level tsp per 2 portions and see how that works.
Amanda says
How much will subbing coconut milk for almond milk affect the taste?
Alison Andrews says
It will just be a little less rich, but still delicious!
Sarah says
I recommend cooking the noodles roughly 2 min less than you usually would. This prevents the pasta from becoming mushy/overcooked – since you bake them for 20min.
Barbara says
OMG, this is seriously THE Best Mac and Cheese recipe out there. If you are making it for one, I would cut it in half. This is a huge amount of yumminess and very filling too. I made it last night and my husband loved it and its even better the next day. I am going to go check out more recipes from Alison. I know they are going to be good.
Thank you.
Alison Andrews says
Thanks so much Barbara!
Siobhan B says
Wow, wow, WOW! I’ve been trying out various different vegan mac and cheese recipes lately and I have to say HANDS DOWN this is the best one yet!! I’m so happy that I’ve found my holy grail recipe!! I have to say tho I didn’t have coconut milk, so I used one can of coconut cream and then filled the can with soy milk 2 times to get the 3 cans 🙂 Absolutely delightful and I’ll be coming back to this from now on!
Alison Andrews says
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that Siobhan! Thanks so much for sharing and the amazing review!
Tracie Becker says
Hello,
I am wondering if there is a suitable substitute for all purpose flour. I really want to make this tonight. I have almond flour, tapioca starch, coconut flour, xanthan gum and arrowroot. So basically everything but all purpose flour :). Thank you!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Tracie, you could probably try something like half coconut flour and half tapioca. It might be worth trying a smaller batch of sauce first just to see how well it works.
Luisa says
Can I substitute the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour? Thanks!
Alison Andrews says
Sure, that should be fine!
Shakira Glover says
What about spelt flour?
Jamilah says
Made this for dinner tonight! Delicious!!! Perfect cheesy nutty flavor. Would not change a thing. Wish I could attach pictures cause it also looked delicious. Thank you!
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! Thanks so much Jamila!