Cashews are the creamiest of nuts. They practically cry out to be used in a vegan mac and cheese recipe – I mean just look at them: they’re even shaped like macaroni noodles. Really, all you need in order to make this dreamily creamy and cheesy vegan pasta dish is a decent blender, a cast-iron pan, and some umami-inducing pastes and spices. Atop the mac is a crispy, crunchy broiled breadcrumb crust, a compliment to the cashew cheese’d pasta beneath, which is flavored with smokey chipotle peppers. A perfect dish for kiddos and adults alike, everyone’ll love this vegan mac and cheese recipe.
Raw Cashews 101: To Soak or Not To Soak
For this vegan mac and cheese recipe, I suggest soaking your raw cashews for about 30 minutes in hot water.
There’s some dispute about whether or not this is really necessary, but I think that it’s an important step, especially if you don’t have a super strong blender.
Sure, if you have a state-of-the-art Vitamix, then there’s probably no need to soak your cashews to soften them before blending. But if you’re like me, and you have an older blender from the 70’s, then you’re going to want to make it as easy as possible to reduce the raw cashews down into a creamy, non-lumpy sauce. Texture is key for a vegan mac and cheese recipe, y’all, and you don’t want to break or bully your blenders to do it.
The more finely that you blend your cashew cheese sauce, the smoother and more cheesier it will be, and it’ll also thicken more quickly into a mouth-watering cheese sauce into which you can add your pasta.
Also, do make sure that you’re using raw cashews for this recipe – roasted cashews don’t thicken into that unctuously gooey cheese sauce as well, and they also sometimes have flavoring and salt added to them.
Vegan Chipotle Cheese Sauce
Here’s what you’re going to need in order to create the most velvety, smokey and delicious cashew-chipotle cheese sauce, the perfect sauce for this vegan mac and cheese recipe.
– Raw cashews
– Yellow onion & garlic, sautéed in olive oil
– 32 oz. low-sodium vegetable broth
– Lemon juice
– White miso paste (I used Norita white miso paste)
– Dijon mustard
– Dash of salt
Chipotle Chilis in Adobo Sauce
I’d say this ingredient is optional, but really chipotles add so much depth of flavor to this vegan mac and cheese recipe, I wouldn’t leave them out.
If you like smokey, spicy and rich flavors, then chipotle chilis fermented in an adobo sauce are for you.
That being said, if you’re making this for kiddos, you might want to dampen the spiciness for them, if they’re not used to the flavor. I’d add only one, rather than three.
A helpful hint that I learned from my mom regarding chipotle chilis is, once you’ve opened the can, you lay the remaining adobo chilis on a baking sheet, pop them in the freezer for an hour or two, and then wrap the frozen peppers in individual baggies. You can store them in the freezer for months and months. This way, you won’t have to worry about eating all the chipotles out of the can after it’s been opened.
More from Pasta & Co.!
– Vegan Ramen with Sriracha Tempeh
If you enjoyed this vegan mac and cheese recipe, consider leaving me a comment and recipe rating before you go!
Chipotle Cashew Mac N’ Cheese
Equipment
- Blender
- Cast-iron pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup Fair Trade raw cashews, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ yellow onion, finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup vegetable broth, low-sodium preferred
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon white miso paste
- 2 teaspoons smooth dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2 – 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, roughly chopped
- Dash of salt, leave out if you're not using low-sodium vegetable broth
- 4 cups cooked macaroni pasta, or your favorite kind of pasta (I used mini-penne)
For the Breadcrumb Topping
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- Dash of salt and ground black pepper
Instructions
- Begin by soaking 1 cup of raw cashews in hot water for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a cast-iron skillet, sauté the yellow onion and garlic for about 7 – 9 minutes, until they become more translucent and start to brown. Then, drain the cashews and add them to a blender, along with the sautéed onion and garlic, vegetable broth, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, white miso paste, dijon mustard, ground turmeric, chipotle pepper (add 3 for a more spicy sauce), and dash of salt. Blend this until it's very smooth.
- While this is happening, cook your pasta in a couple quarts of salted boiling water until tender. You'll need about 4 cups of cooked pasta, which is probably about half as much when dry. The cook time depends on the pasta you're using – you can use pretty much whatever, but I'd recommend classic macaroni noodles or some kind of penne. Drain the pasta well, and then set it aside until you're ready to use it.
- Now, add the blended cheese sauce to the cast-iron pan (that you cooked the onion and garlic in) over low-medium heat, and let it thicken for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Then, add the 4 cups of cooked pasta, and stir to incorporate and heat through, another 2 – 3 minutes or so.
- Lastly, in a small bowl, combine together the breadcrumb topping ingredients. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top of the macaroni in the cast-iron, and then place the cast-iron about 6 – 10 inches away from the broilers in your oven, and broil for 2 minutes or so, until the breadcrumbs become brown and toasty. Watch it – this happens quickly. After that, it's ready to serve!
Video
Nutrition
May you have good food in good company,
That Vegan Nephew
Yum. This was especially satisfying for dinner – delicious and filling. The penne pasta was just right, the grooves and hollows of the pasta holding the sauce well.