Vegan Mac and Cheese

When I became a vegan, the only real meal I missed was macaroni and cheese. I had tried in the past to make a few recipes and they just tasted awful. I managed to not give up and found a recipe that tastes pretty close to macaroni and cheese. It is one of my least favorite to make but my favorite to eat. I'll warn you - it is a mess to clean up, but it is worth it! You can cook a single serving but this recipe is for a bigger serving. This will last about a week in our house with 2 people eating it. The first time my daughter had this, she could not get enough of it! We had it every night for a week!

What you'll need

Pasta noodles

'Follow your Heart' Vegan Cheddar Cheese

Earth Balance butter

Daiya Cheddar or Mozzarella cheese

Tumeric

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Nu-Salt (or regular salt)

Pepper

Soy or Coconut milk

How to make

Start boiling your water. You want to immediately start making your sauce so it will be finished at the same time.

I love using Follow Your Heart cheddar cheese, mostly because it tastes pretty good and it is a good filler cheese. I wouldn't make this recipe with only this cheese, but you definitely can! I ran out of Daiya cheese, but I really suggest using that as well. Daiya cheese melts better and becomes sort of 'sticky' so it holds everything together. Follow Your Heart melts nicely but doesn't stick unless it isn't as hot.

  
You'll want to cut about half of the block of cheese and a little bit of the butter. You don't want to put all of the cheese in at once. It melts better if you cut it into squares and put it in piece by piece.

These are all of the spices you'll need. You don't have to use them, but I find it gives it more of a flavor.

 I really want to talk about Nu-Salt for a minute. It is a salt substitute that is absolutely wonderful. The bottle will last you a few months and it isn't all that expensive unlike other salt substitutes. You can find this just about anywhere and it goes great on so many foods. You don't get that 'salt bloat' the next morning after eating a really salty meal.

 Put a little bit of soy or coconut milk into the pan with the cheese and butter. I used a bit more cheese than usual only because I wasn't using the Daiya cheese as well. I usually use coconut milk for this recipe since it is thicker and cooks better.

Within a few minutes it should start melting and looking more like a real cheese sauce. If you have the Daiya cheese, you can add it in now. It will make everything thicker. I usually use the shredded Daiya cheese for this recipe.

 Add your pasta once the water starts boiling. You can use any kind - I used long pasta since it is easier for my daughter to eat.

 Your cheese should be starting to melt. You can put in the spices whenever you want. I just sprinkle a little bit of each on top of the cheese.You can add more cheese blocks as you need, depending on if you like thick or thin sauce.

 Your noodles should be just about done. I take them out first and make sure to drain all of the water completely so the cheese really sticks to them.

 Your cheese sauce should be done as well. Be careful not to burn it while cooking - it doesn't take too much to do!

 Mix it all together in the pot after you drain the water from the noodles. One suggestion I have is to make sure you let the dishes soak while you are eating. This cheese tends to stick very very hard to the sides of the pan. If you don't soak it, you are almost better off just buying new dishes.

 And that's it! You are all done. As I said earlier, I didn't use the Daiya cheese since I was out, but that really makes the recipe pop. It tastes pretty good without it, but it tastes AMAZING with it. Don't skip out on that part if you make it! I can only really find that at Wegmans, but depending on where you live, it might be in your local store.

 

I like adding Boca chicken nuggets. They go GREAT with mac and cheese

 

Enjoy!