Spicy Garlicky Korean Mac and Cheese with Gochujang. Use sriracha for variation. Vegan Recipe. Gluten-free with gluten-free pasta
There can’t be too many mac and cheese recipes right. This version has some gochujang (Korean condiment that is spicy, fermented and pungent). Gochujang makes an amazing glaze for tofu.
It also makes a great addition to a creamy sharp flavored mac and cheese. Add as much gochujang as you like, or use Asian Chile Sauce or Sriracha instead. Serve this mac with roasted veggies that are glazed in gochujang + soy sauce+ sugar or over some broccoli or with a lentil loaf with a sriracha maple glaze. I like this with a sprinkle of vegan parm and generous black pepper. A toasty breadcrumb topping with a mix of toasted bread crumbs, a clove of garlic minced and herbs of choice, works amazing as well.
More Mac from the blog
- Masala Mac and Cheese – Because Masala!
- Cauliflower Alfredo, Spinach, artichoke Lasagna
- Pumpkin Sage Pasta with Pumpkin Cream Sauce and Crispy Sage
- Instant Mac and cheese mix in a jar – a must
- Nacho Mac and cheese Casserole – So filling.
- Black Pepper Mac and cheese with potato Carrot Cheese Sauce. So good!
Gochujang can be found in asian stores or online. It is a pungent sauce that can be an acquired taste, or can be bothersome on the tongue/taste buds as with any fermented food. Try a smaller amount in combination with an asian chile paste and experiment with more after. If the smell or flavor doesn’t work out for you, the sharp smell and flavor of heddar will mask it. Add vegan cheddar to the sauce and garnish. Gochujang can contain barley water, barley or barley malt which might not be listed as an ingredient. If you are gluten-sensitive, make sure to get certified gluten-free gochujang.
Garlicky Korean Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 oz (226.8 g) macaroni pasta
- 1 cup (91 g) chopped broccoli
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 (0.5 ) medium onion chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 tbsp gochujang or use sambal oelek asian chile paste, or sriracha
- 4 cloves of roasted garlic
- 1/4 cup (32.25 g) cashews
- 1 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot starch
- 1 3/4 cup (437.5 ml) water
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) paprika
- 3/4 tsp (0.75 tsp) or more salt
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) black pepper
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) prepared mustard or ground
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp ketchup or tomato paste
- 1 to 2 tsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) thyme
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make your pasta according to instruction on the package by boiling in a large saucepan. Add broccoli in the last 3 mins.
- In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and minced garlic and cook until golden, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, blend all the ingredients from roasted garlic (spices, ketchup etc, through nutritional yeast until smooth. I usually blend 2 to 3 times for 1 minute cycles.
- Add gochujang or asian chile sauce to the cooking onion and mix well. Cook for a minute.
- Add the blended mixture to the skillet and cook to bring to a boil. Taste and adjust salt and heat. Add more of either if needed. At this point you can add in some vegan cheddar shreds if you like.
- Fold in the cooked pasta and broccoli and thyme and toss well. over and cook for 1 minute. Then switch off the heat. Let it sit for 2-3 mins.
- Sprinkle black pepper generously and/or vegan parm (optional) or vegan cheddar and serve.
Ellen Lederman says
February 18, 2017 at 1:49 pmThis is genius! I have gochujang at home and will definitely try this. I live in an area that has tons of Koreans and I’ve grown to like the food, but am usually limited to the tofu stews and bi bim bap. You are so creative! I like how you aren’t a snob and say ketchup or tomato paste—sometimes I don’t want to open a can of tomato paste for one teaspoon and I can’t really tell the difference (ketchup has some sugar in it, but can’t be that much in a teaspoon. I have to laugh at the garlicky in the title—do you think 4 cloves are that much? To me 4 is just a minimal to moderate amount!
Richa says
February 18, 2017 at 2:17 pmlol Ellen, its 8 cloves, 4 minced and 4 roasted 🙂 i would add 8 roasted :). yes to the paste thing. Hate to waste it when I will not use it all. the slight sweetness balances the heat and tang well
Ellen Lederman says
February 18, 2017 at 2:47 pmOops—sorry—my brain didn’t add the second line into the equation! Yup, four minced and 4 roasted will be sufficiently garlicky…
nancy says
February 23, 2017 at 5:10 pmBuy the tubed tomato paste!
Christine @ Run Plant Based says
February 20, 2017 at 8:11 amThis looks wonderful! My husband is a fan of anything spicy and mac n’ cheese, so I mush track down gochujang and try this. Thanks!
Alocasia says
February 20, 2017 at 5:18 pmOutstanding recipe. Thank you.
Priscilla says
February 21, 2017 at 6:56 amAny sub for cashews, for people with nut allergies? Thanks!
Richa says
February 23, 2017 at 11:36 pmmaybe do a roux like a bechamel sauce. flour in oil or vegan butter. Roast for a minute or 2. Add non dairy milk. Add all the spices and herbs and bring to a boil to thicken, fold in pasta. See process here http://www.veganricha.com/2014/03/gluten-free-potstickers-with-tempeh-and.html
Jena says
November 7, 2018 at 5:48 amI haven’t made this specific recipe YET, but I find that in many recipes that call for cashew, hemp hearts work super well as a replacement and are so very healthy! They don’t need any soaking either. Just go by weight for substitutions. Example: 1/4 cashews is usually about 30 g so replace with 30 g hemp hearts:-) good luck!
Vanessa says
February 22, 2017 at 4:30 pmJust made this for dinner, almost exactly as written (just added in half a red pepper that was floating around my vegetable drawer and the end of a bag of frozen peas) and it was amazing! Served it with a side of kimchi and a simple salad. I was planning to have leftovers for lunch tomorrow, but my nonvegan boyfriend liked it so much that there isn’t any left.
Marissa says
February 23, 2017 at 1:51 pmThis is so good and you’re amazing. Some of your recipes are like magic to me — mixing a little bit of this and that and, voila, a delicious and original meal appears. I’m so thankful for your recipes because of my special diet and only eat delicious food.
Bubs says
February 23, 2017 at 10:00 pmNice one, Richa! Such a creative take on a classic dish. The sauce thickened up just right, and the taste was so rich and flavorful. I subbed smoked paprika in mine, as I am hooked on that smoky goodness.
After eating some of the finished dish, I decided to put the rest in a casserole dish (with some panko on top) and bake it at 350 for 20-25 minutes or so, then turned on the broiler and en-crispened the top. Totally recommended! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Hope Livingood says
February 23, 2017 at 10:35 pmI made this tonight! OMG it is so deeee-lishous! It tasted like sharp cheddar cheese! This is a keeper for sure. Thanks Richa!
I did get stuck on #3, it isn’t clear. I had to read and reread it.
3.Meanwhile, blend all the ingredients roasted garlic through nutritional yeast until smooth. Blend 2 to 3 times in 1 minute cycles.
Leese says
June 18, 2017 at 2:22 amI did too! But once i got it, it was fine. It tastes amazing!
Richa says
June 18, 2017 at 9:44 pmyou blend all the ingredients listed from roasted garlic to nutritional yeast. i’ll change it. Cashews sometimes dont break down easily, so blend the sauce a few times. I do 1 minute blending cycle and then break for a minute and then blend again.
Stacy says
February 25, 2017 at 4:18 pmEating this now and it’s delicious! Baked in a casserole dish with panko topping, roasted broccoli on side. This is just what I needed after a week of flu! I also made milk tea from your cookbook this morning using fresh made almondmilk from my Vitamix. Perfect!
maria says
March 19, 2017 at 2:56 pmI made this twice, this is a Delicious, great recipe!
Ginny Bear says
April 3, 2017 at 7:11 pmI made this and was impressed how rich and satisfying it was. Even my omnivore husband liked it, even as leftovers!!
Richa says
April 3, 2017 at 8:29 pmthats awesome!!
Anne Marie says
May 5, 2017 at 6:53 amJust skimming your wonderful recipes. This sounds so good. I wanted you to know as a person highly sensitive to gluten (and having lived in Korea for nearly a decade) that gojujang is made with barley water = gluten. Maybe in the States it is better marked as an allergen. Apparently gojujang without barley exists somewhere, but 99% of it is made with the barley water here in Korea.
Richa says
May 5, 2017 at 9:31 amThanks for the information about gochujang Anne. The boxes i have seen dont say barley anywhere. I think here is a lightened gochujang sauce by a US based brand which probably is a better option to ensure no gluten. I’ll add a note to the recipe.
Liz says
May 31, 2017 at 10:00 amHey! This looks amazing!! Do i need to soak the cashew (assuming that it’s raw)?
Richa says
May 31, 2017 at 10:33 amyes raw cashews. You can soak them for 15 mins and use. I generally just blitz them in the blender. 1 min, then let the mixture sit for a few minutes, then blend again for a minute. Repeat once more if needed and the cashews get all creamy.
Liz says
June 1, 2017 at 4:37 amOMG! I just made this and it’s absolutely AMAZING! Definitely a keeper recipe 🙂 Thank you!!
Richa says
June 1, 2017 at 10:21 amyay!
Cynthia says
June 6, 2017 at 2:39 pmThis is sooo good! Thanks for the recipe!
Richa says
June 6, 2017 at 2:50 pmthanks!
Vanessa says
July 21, 2017 at 9:16 pmI commented a while back but I wanted to post again because I keep coming back to this page. This is just a great, easy mac & cheese with a perfect texture. To me, a sign of a really good recipe is that it’s yummy on its own but it can also easily be adapted to a lot of different versions. That’s how this base recipe has become a staple in our house…for example, we love using chipotle in place of gochujang and adding black beans and soyrizo.
Richa says
July 22, 2017 at 12:04 amthats a great idea to use chipotle with the beans, a southwestern-ish mac!
Shelly Carter says
August 10, 2017 at 1:00 pmI LOVE this recipe! You are such an awesome chef. I’ve bought your book and tried most of the recipes in t, and each one is a winner.
With this recipe I substituted the gochujang for Thai yellow curry paste and the cashew nuts for Brazils and it was delicious.
Thank you for your wonderfully creative, easy-to-make and delicious recipes!
Tiffani says
February 4, 2018 at 6:46 pmMy boyfriend is half Korean – I made this for him tonight. This is hands down amazing!!! Wouldn’t change a thing.
Richa says
February 4, 2018 at 7:27 pmawesome!
Jennifer says
February 24, 2018 at 4:38 pmIf you stirred in some agar could you make a sliced cheese out of this sauce?
Richa says
February 25, 2018 at 12:56 amyour mind is on a good track:) yes, activate the agar by boiling with a bit of water and mix in the blended sauce and simmer for a few minutes then pour on parchment and let set.
Vibeke Vale says
July 29, 2019 at 10:04 amWhoa! So good. Just the right amount of heat. I cut back on the oil and the salt and it’s still too salty, but that is personal preference, so I will make adjustments for next time.
Kerry Lashbrook says
October 19, 2019 at 11:38 amSo great! Thanks!
Richa says
October 19, 2019 at 12:09 pmthanks!
JS says
August 9, 2020 at 4:42 pmHands down this is the best vegan mac and cheese I have had. It is so flavorful and creamy and has just the right amount of heat. I will make this again and again.
Vegan Richa Support says
August 10, 2020 at 7:59 amThank you so much for the rave review! 🙂
Jen says
September 1, 2020 at 6:08 pmLove this recipe so much! You’d never know it’s vegan, as it’s so creamy and cheesy!!
Monica says
February 14, 2021 at 6:50 pmSo delicious! I served it with vegan bbq, and this dish was both delicious on its own and combined with the bbq.