Taste buds evolve as we age and palates become more refined with experience, but there is no such thing as aging out of mac and cheese. Of course, chefs have enhanced the childhood classic by adding truffle oil or crispy vegan bacon, but the fact that this comforting pasta dish can go high or low speaks to its universal appeal.
And perhaps its universal appeal and endless customization is why macaroni and cheese is a staple at Thanksgiving dinner. According to Campbell’s State of the Sides report, “mac and cheese is the [number] one side for Gen Z.” Regardless of age, more than half of Americans surveyed agree.
How to make vegan mac and cheese
Traditional macaroni and cheese heavily relies on dairy. Aside from cheese, most macaroni and cheese recipes call for cow’s milk and butter. Luckily, with just a few easy swaps, making plant-based mac and cheese is easy and nothing short of delicious.
Instead of animal-based dairy, a variety of plant-based foods help recreate this dish’s classic creamy taste. Store-bought vegan butter and plant-based cheese shreds are easy swaps when veganizing macaroni and cheese.
Home cooks who prefer to make this dish from scratch often rely on a blend of cashews, potatoes, squash, carrots, plant milk, vegetable stock, and/or nutritional yeast to create the perfect cheesy sauce.
Vegan macaroni and cheese recipes
Whether you crave stovetop or casserole-style, elbow or rotini-shaped, these 24 vegan mac and cheese recipes are all you need at this moment.
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The basics, perfected
Sweet Potato Soul
1Nut-free Mac and Cheese
If you’re searching for vegan mac and cheese recipes, you’re going to find that the majority contain nuts. This awesome recipe is perfect for those individuals who suffer from an unfortunate nut allergy.
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Rachel Carr
2 Gluten-Free Mac and Cheese
This recipe deserves a shot, even if you’re not gluten-free. The secret is the super velvety cashew-based cheese sauce. Whip this up over the stove and you’ll go from craving to comfort in under 45 minutes.
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Kylie and Ashley Knies
3 Real Deal Mac and Cheese
When you start with an exceptional vegan cheese, odds are your dish is going to turn out A plus. This recipe combines Miyoko’s mozzarella with nuanced flavors including white miso, coconut milk, yellow mustard, and hot sauce for a truly complex and satisfying pasta dish.
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Jessica in the Kitchen
4
Baked Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
Not only is this a fantastic recipe, it only requires one pot, just like the boxed version. For some reason, squashes like pumpkin work so well in vegan cheese sauce.
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The Vegan Rhino
5Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
If you don’t have rotini pasta on hand, you’ll want to purchase a box for this recipe. This noodle’s spiral shape clings onto the sauce which allows for every bite to burst with cheesy goodness. Be sure to pay attention to the chef’s tip at the bottom of the recipe for a quick vegan sage butter sauce to top your pasta.
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Crowded Kitchen
67-Ingredient Mac and Cheese
Seven ingredients are all you need for this ultra indulgent, cozy bowl of macaroni and cheese. Best of all, you likely already have everything you need right in your kitchen.
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7 Mac and Cheese by Tabitha Brown
Tabitha Brown has mastered vegan macaroni and cheese, and it’s all in the sauce. The actress and social media sensation starts off with potatoes, nutritional yeast, cashews, and vegan cheese shreds. Butternut squash helps her achieve the signature, bright hue of classic mac. Check out the full recipe on TikTok.
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Hannah Kaminsky
8The Best Vegan Macaroni and Cheese You’ll Ever Make
We stand by this: this is the best vegan macaroni and cheese, and we keep coming back to it regularly. Cashews, potatoes, carrots, shallots, and onions make the perfect, velvety cheese sauce. Trust us when we say everyone will be asking for the recipe.
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Fusion mac
Robin Robertson
9 Creamy Thai Mac
If you like curry, you’ll love this cheesy pasta mashup. The smooth coconut milk-based sauce is flavored with Thai red curry paste and is topped with roasted peanuts, cilantro, and Thai basil. It’s unexpected, but delicious all the same.
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10Baked Potato Mac and Cheese
This dish is the definition of carb-on-carb-on-carb. The recipe calls for mixing mashed potatoes with sauce-laden pasta and topping with breadcrumbs. How does it taste? Like the love child of cheesy potatoes and baked mac and cheese.
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The Nut-Free Vegan
11
Philly Cheesesteak Mac and Cheese
No shade thrown to the actual Philly cheesesteak, but this pasta rendition might be better than its muse. It comes together quickly thanks to store-bought vegan cheese and meat, so all you do is dump, stir, and bake. It really helps to lift the spirits after a stressful workday.
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Vegan Yack Attack
12American Buffalo Chickpea Mac and Cheese
There are a lot of components going on in this dish, but the end result is so worth it. The flavor combination is akin to a mashup of vegan buffalo wings and mac and cheese. Gooey, cheesy pasta sits on a bed of crisp romaine then gets topped with crispy, buffalo sauce-basted chickpeas and a drizzle of vegan ranch. It’s not a symphony of flavors and textures—it’s a rock concert.
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Vegan Richa
13Masala Mac and Cheese With Indian Spices
You may not have all of these spices on hand, but they’re worth the investment. Vegan Richa’s Indian recipes are phenomenal, and after succeeding with this fusion food, you’ll want to try them all.
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Two Market Girls
14Kimchi Mac and Cheese
If you prefer your mac and cheese with a kick of heat, that’s where this recipe comes in. Spicy gochujang and tangy, fermented kimchi are folded into a cheesy sauce for macaroni and cheese that brings the heat.
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Bianca Zapatka
15German Cheese Spaetzle
We love a good elbow macaroni, but spaetzle amps up the basic mac and cheese to an entirely new world of wonderful. Spaetzle are dumpling-like in consistency, meaning they’re soft and tender but retain a delicious chew. When doused with vegan cheese sauce and topped with caramelized onions and mushrooms, we swear a vegan angel gets its wings.
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Kid-friendly vegan mac
Healthier Steps
16Instant Pot Chili Mac and Cheese
What’s easier than a one-pot recipe? An Instant Pot recipe. For those who grew up with chili mac, there’s no need to mourn its loss after turning vegan. This recipe nails it.
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Make It Dairy Free
17Fried Mac and Cheese Balls
What do you do on the rare occasion there is leftover mac and cheese? You deep fry it and serve it with collard greens. These slightly spicy golden nuggets are super crispy on the outside yet so incredibly creamy on the inside. This is how to level-up leftovers.
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Hot for Food
18Mac and Peas
Kids love a play-on-words which explains why they’re willing to eat their vegetables when parents call it “mac and peas” or “mac and trees.” Granted, it could be the pasta and vegan cheese sauce. Either way, this cheesy dish is a great way to get a serving of veggies into any vegetable-hater’s diet.
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Veggiekins
1910-Minute High-Protein Mac and Cheese
Free of nuts, oil, gluten, dairy, and sugar, this is the healthiest mac and cheese can ever hope to be. The protein comes from silken tofu and chickpea-based pasta, and the sauce gets its cheesy flavor from a combination of nutritional yeast, garlic powder, white miso, and other umami spices. Despite what’s not in it, this healthy mac is spot-on when it comes to taste and texture.
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20 The Box Hack
Homemade mac and cheese is great, but let’s not forget this is also the ultimate convenience food. You don’t need many ingredients or 45 minutes to enjoy this humble comfort, you just need a box and enough culinary skills to boil water. To gussy up your favorite vegan boxed mac and cheese (check out our official guide), throw a few broccoli florets into the water while the pasta is cooking. For frozen veggies, add these along with the cheese sauce to prevent overcooking. Top with store-bought vegan bacon. If you’re feeling fancy, finish with a drizzle of truffle oil.
BOSH!
21BBQ Jackfruit Mac and Cheese
For a meatier mac, look to this quick recipe. After all, when you’re at a barbecue, why have your mac on the side when it can be the star?
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Date night mac
Sasquatch Books
22Plum Bistro’s Mac and Cheese
Taken from the pages of Plum: Gratifying Vegan Dishes from Seattle’s Plum Bistro, this recipe defines white tablecloth mac and cheese. The luxuriously thick, thyme-infused cheese sauce flows over baked elbow macaroni and is finished with toasty breadcrumbs and smoked tofu. Plum’s vegan mac is definitely worthy of date night.
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Alex Shytsman
23Cashew Mac and Cheese With Lobster Mushrooms
The antiquated rule of separating cheese and seafood does not apply when it’s vegan! The cheesy, roasted garlic sauce pairs perfectly with chewy lobster mushrooms for a refined dish you can’t get from a box.
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Lauren Hartmann and Julie Grace
24Baked White Mac and Cheese
There’s one in every crowd—some people just prefer vegan white cheddar. This breadcrumb and toasted pecan-topped white mac and cheese is just for you.
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Rabbit and Wolves
25Truffled White Mac and Cheese
Want to really impress someone? Invest in a bottle of quality truffle oil. This recipe is fairly straightforward and the ingredient list is intentionally short to allow this coveted ingredient to shine. Just be aware: once you acquire a taste for truffles, it’s hard to go back to the original.
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Tanya Flink is a Digital Editor at VegNews as well as a writer and runner living in Orange County, CA.
