Healthy Vegan Mac and Cheese with Jalapeno & Garlic
This healthy vegan mac and cheese is next level delicious! It is so creamy and rich you will not believe it is dairy free! This mac and cheese is garlicy, spicy, salty and so rich and filling! The sauce is made from potatoes and carrots but I swear you don’t taste them at all! It’s a quick and easy pasta perfect for a weeknight dinner!
What ingredients do I need for my healthy vegan mac and cheese
- Whole wheat macaroni – click here for the one I use!
- Jalapenos
- Garlic
- Potatoes
- Carrot
- Nutritional Yeast
- Plant Milk
- Lemon Juice
- Onion Powder
- Turmeric Powder
- Salt
How to make healthy vegan mac and cheese
This easy vegan mac and cheese is so simple and takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish!
Boil some water and add in your chopped potatoes and carrots. This will be the base of our mac and cheese sauce! Cook for about 15 minutes until fork tender.
Sauté your veg while the potatoes and carrots are cooking. Start by cooking the chopped onions and jalapenos until the onions are translucent then add in the chopped garlic and toast for one minute stirring continuously so the garlic does not burn. Take off the heat and set aside.
Make the cheese sauce by adding the cooked potatoes and carrots into a high speed blender or food processor along with the rest of the ingredients and blend until completely smooth. Add more plant milk or pasta water as needed to thin the sauce to your desired consistency.
Pout the cheese sauce in with the veg and cook over low-medium heat until heated through. Then add in your cooked pasta and stir to combine.
Top with some more jalapenos, tempeh bacon and fresh parsley and enjoy!
Does this really taste like mac and cheese?
OMG yes! It will blow your mind how much this tastes like mac and cheese! I gave this sauce to one of friends from France… so you could call him a cheese connoisseur, and he was blown away! He could not believe it was dairy free and vegan! The nutritional yeast provides such a cheesy flavor and the texture is so creamy and on point! You have to try it out!
Some tips from Steph
Use a whole wheat pasta! It’s a great way to get in some whole grains and keeps you full for much longer! Click here for the whole wheat macaroni I use!
Make a vegan baked mac and cheese! Once your mac and cheese is finished add it into a casserole dish, top with some breadcrumbs and bake at 425 for 20 minutes until the top is golden! Then top with some more jalapenos and enjoy!
Add in some cashews for ultimate creaminess! We made the vegan mac and cheese without cashews but you can add in half a cup of cashews to make the sauce even creamier! If your blender is not super powerful make sure to soak them it hot water first for 15 minutes to soften.
Top with some tempeh bacon! I love topping this easy vegan mac and cheese with some tempeh bacon or vegan sausage! If you need a recipe you can use the marinade from my smoky tofu bacon and use it for tempeh instead! Let the tempeh marinate for 15 minutes then pan fry or air fry at 400f until slightly crisped, about 8 minutes.
Keep some reserved pasta water to thin out the sauce as needed! This keeps the mac and cheese super creamy while thinning out the sauce slightly.
Any plant milk will work here! I like to use homemade plant milk but any milk will do, as long as it is not super sweet! If you don’t have pant milk you can also use vegetable broth – my favorite is the vegetable broth from Better than Bouillon!
Check you jalapenos for spiciness! Always make sure to check your jalapenos to check how spicy they are. This could be as simple as giving them a lick! The heat of jalapenos varies from pepper to pepper so adjust how many you put in based on their heat level! Although keep in mind cooking them does release some of the heat and they become less spicy! Mine were quite spicy and I used 5 and it was perfect!
Add in some veggies! I love to add in some broccoli to my healthy vegan mac and cheese to make it even healthier!
Other recipes you will love
Vegan Spinach and Artichoke Pasta {20 min dinner}
Vegan Sheet Pan Fajitas with Tofu
Easy Vegan Ground Beef made from Tofu
Spicy Peanut Noodles {10 min recipe}
Want more FREE plant-based recipes?
Make sure to follow me on all my social platforms:
✨Instagram @That.VeganBabe
🍍TikTok @That.VeganBabe
💜Facebook @ThatVeganBabe
🍉Pinterest @ThatVeganBabe
Healthy Vegan Mac and Cheese with Jalapeno & Garlic
Ingredients
- 400 g Whole Wheat Macaroni
- 1 White Onion
- 7 cloves Garlic
- 2 Medium Potatoes
- 1 Large Carrot or two small
- 1½ cup Plant Milk or vegetable broth
- 3 tbsp Lemon Jucie about the juice of 1 lemon
- ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- ¾ tsp Salt
Top with
- Tempeh Bacon find my recipe here, just swap tempeh for tofu!
- Fresh Parsely
- Chopped Jalapenos
Instructions
- Start by boiling one pot of water for your pasta and another pot for the carrots and potatoes. Roughly chop the carrots and potatoes and add boil until they are fork tender, about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, sauté your chopped onions and jalapenos until translucent, about 5 minutes, then add in the garlic and toast for one minute. Make sure to stir continuously so the garlic does not burn, then set aside.
- In your high speed blender add in the cooked carrots and potatoes along with the rest of the ingredients. Blend until completely smooth adding plant milk as needed to reach your desired consistency.
- Pour the sauce over the garlicy jalapenos then mix in the cooked macaroni.
- Top with some more jalapenos, tempeh bacon and fresh parsley and enjoy!