Creamy Dairy Free Mac and Cheese
This creamy, dairy free mac and cheese is a quick and easy dinner recipe for those nights you’re craving something cheesy that actually tastes like the real thing. The sauce is made with nutritional yeast, cheese shreds, almond milk and a secret ingredient that makes this the best vegan mac and cheese recipe you’ll find! Even kids will love it.
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Why I love this vegan mac and cheese recipe
I started making stovetop mac and cheese with the hopes of recreating my favorite Noodles & Company order, but it also serves as a quick substitute for my favorite baked mac and cheese.
Because sometimes, you just don’t want to wait the 30+ minutes it takes to bake that mac and cheese in the oven, no matter how good the end results are. Sometimes, you just want your big bowl of cheesy goodness as soon as possible.
And when you’re making mac and cheese on more-than-regular basis because you’re pregnant and need a constant stream of carbs and cheese, you just have to keep things simple. So I’ve mastered stovetop mac and cheese, and I never want to stop eating it.
If you like this recipe, you have to try this cauliflower alfredo sauce, and this butternut squash pasta sauce and this dairy free pasta carbonara. All of these are great dairy free alternatives to some of your favorite creamy pasta recipes!
Searching for even more pasta recipes? Try this flavorful cilantro peanut pesto pasta or my roasted vegetable pasta salad.
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Ingredients & substitutions
- Dairy free cheese – We like Daiya and Violife, but use your favorite brand.
- Almond milk – You can use any dairy free milk you prefer, just make sure it is an unsweetened milk alternative.
- Vegan yogurt – Again, it’s important to make sure you use an unsweetened, plain yogurt.
- Dairy free butter
How to make dairy free mac and cheese
Cook the macaroni noodles according to the package directions in salted, boiling water. While they cook, make the cheese sauce. When they’re cooked, drain them in a colander.
Make a roux. Heat a large saucepan to medium-high heat and melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, stir in the flour until it absorbs the liquid.
Make the vegan cheese sauce. Next, slowly whisk in the milk until smooth. Once that’s smooth, stir in the cheese, yogurt, the rest of the seasonings.
Stir, until the dairy free cheese melts and the sauce has thickened slightly. Adjust seasoning to taste with salt & pepper.
Combine the noodles and sauce. Add the cooked macaroni noodles to the cheese sauce and stir until evenly coated. Serve immediately.
Quick tip: If you’re reheating leftovers, add a bit of extra dairy free yogurt or added almond milk to give the macaroni and cheese some extra moisture.
10 EASY DAIRY FREE SUBSTITUTIONS
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FAQ’s and tips
Does vegan cheese taste like cheese? Vegan cheese often has a very strong cheese flavor, it’s the texture that doesn’t match up with regular cheese that non-vegans are used to.
Can you reheat vegan mac and cheese? Yes, place your leftover mac and cheese in a pot with a little vegan butter or milk to help keep the pasta hydrated and heat it over medium low while stirring until the vegan mac and cheese has been heated thoroughly.
Can you freeze vegan mac and cheese? Yes, vegan mac and cheese actually freezes very well. Simply keep it well wrapped/covered in an airtight freezer-friendly container and store it in the freezer up to 4 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
How long does vegan mac and cheese last? If you keep your vegan macaroni and cheese in the fridge in a Ziploc style bag or other airtight container, you can expect it to last up to 5 days and be just fine- perfect for meal prepping!
What goes good with vegan mac and cheese? I always love how steamed broccoli tastes great next to a cheesy dish, so I think I’d be serving up a heaping plate full of those little green trees (and maybe add a little extra cheese sauce over the top) yum!
Dairy Free Mac and Cheese
This creamy, dairy free mac and cheese is so easy to make. It uses simple ingredients like nutritional yeast, cheddar shreds, one secret ingredient that gives it the best tasting “cheese” sauce. No cashews, cauliflower or veggies. It’s the perfect vegan dinner for when you’re craving comfort food.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Mains
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- 3 tablespoons vegan butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups almond milk
- 1/4 cup unsweetened vegan yogurt
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 7-ounce package vegan cheddar shreds
- Salt & pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cook macaroni in salted water according to package directions for al dente.
- In a large saucepan, melt vegan butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour to make a roux.
- Add milk, yogurt and nutritional yeast. Whisk until smooth. Increase heat to medium high and cook until milk has thickened – about 5 – 6 minutes.
- Stir in cheddar shreds, whisking until melted.
- Toss macaroni with cheese sauce before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 479
- Sugar: 2.4 g
- Sodium: 718 mg
- Fat: 16.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 62.6 g
- Fiber: 2.9 g
- Protein: 19.3 g
- Cholesterol: 32.7 mg
Published: July 21, 2014. Updated: April 16, 2024.
Our comfort food. We like it ***
i prefer stovetop to baked because it’s creamier. great cheese blend!
Comfort food at it’s finest…this looks so rich and creamy and delicious! Can’t go wrong with a bowl of mac and cheese 🙂
I love the creaminess of stove top mac and cheese – and also how fast it is to prepare. Lovely pictures. Pinning!
Your Mac n cheese looks super tempting. I would love to try this for my daughter 🙂
I love Mac and Cheese. Used to eat it all the time when I lived in Canada. Need to try your recipe.. its totally my comfort food… 🙂
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I made it two nights ago and boy oh boy, did it satisfy this pregnant lady’s craving! I modified by adding canned tuna, which my husband loves in his mac and cheese. I’m so happy to have found such a delicious and easy way to make it from scratch.
I love tuna with my mac and cheese! I’m glad you loved it as much as I do 🙂
Pretty bland unless you add some other things in (I recommend vegan bacon & your favorite green veggie). Also, where are you supposed to add the nutritional yeast? It’s in the ingredients but not the directions.
As I live in England could you please tell me how much a cup measures in inches or grams.
Also, could you please tell me what a 1 pound elbow is.
Thank you so much.
I am really looking forward to getting stuck into your lovely dairy free recipes.
Thank you
Maura Fay
The pound of elbow macaroni should be 454g, but a 500g box should work just fine!
As for the other ingredients, I honestly don’t know. I’m guessing a quick google search will give you a conversion though!
1 Cup = 128 grams
Elbow is the shape or style of pasta noodle
1 lb = 16 oz. = 453.592 grams
First, thank you for the recipe, it’s in the oven right now (I’m baking it with a topping). But: why is it not said in the recipe instructions when to add in the yogurt and nutritional yeast? I only would have thought of it because I saw the video first. So I had already put in the cheese when I thought wait..is that it? Then I started panicking looking for when and how much of the yeast and yogurt to add, and saw it wasn’t mentioned. So then I went back to the video and saw that the yogurt and nutritional yeast was supposed to go in *before* the cheese, even though it’s never mentioned in the instructions. Also, everything heated up way too quickly with the heat settings provided here. I suggest starting on low heat, then increase to medium, instead of starting on medium and going to medium high. This is how I always made non-vegan mac n cheese…but I guess if you want everything to heat up much fast these heat settings definitely did that. I added some garlic powder along with salt, and a crust of melted vegan butter mixed with panko bread crumbs, topped with the rest of the cheese, and put that in the oven at 400 for 30 mins (you can also do 45 mins at 350). Broccoli is a good side with this!
You’re right, I totally forgot to add that step to the recipe, but it is in the video. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. As far as the heat issue, everyone’s stove is different and different brands of vegan cheese will act differently too, so it’s important to pay attention and adapt to what you have.
It seems like the proportions are way off but maybe it’s just me. I only ended up using half of the macaroni, half of the flour was absorbed by the 3 tbsp of butter so quickly it threw everything else off. I made regular Mac and cheese at the same time for the rest of my family, and it called for 6 tbsp of butter and only 2 tbsp of flour…
Anyway, even with the train wreck that ended up happening, it turned out okay. Definitely want to try again though
Recipe says 17 ounce package of cheese . I could only find 8 oz packages. That seems like a lot of cheese and also expensive.
It’s actually one 7-ounce package of cheese. So an 8-ounce package would work just fine!