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Vegan Black Pepper Mac and Cheese with a light potato carrot cheese sauce. Free of dairy, egg, corn, nuts. Can be made soy-free and gluten-free with gf pasta. 30 minute meal. Add cashews to make a thicker creamier sauce. Vegan Mac and Cheese Recipe. 

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Vegan Black Pepper Mac and cheese with Potato Carrot Cheese Sauce| Vegan Richa #vegan #macncheese #nutfree

More Mac n cheese! Cannot have enough mac recipes right.

Veggie cheese is all over the web recently. So I made some my way. No prep needed, no mashed potatoes needed. Cook the potatoes and veggies you want to use for 15-18 minutes. Blend, boil with pasta, done. Easy and simple. 

And black pepper oh my. I don’t know why I haven’t added this much pepper to my mac before. It tastes amazing! more pepper= more fun.

This is a light sauce. For a creamier sauce, add sesame or pumpkin seeds or cashews. Use whole grain pasta or gf pasta to preference. Add more veggies in the cheese sauce or add with broccoli and use less pasta. Variations are endless. The veggie cheese sauce is one of those sauces that either one loves or doesn’t (as seen on the interweb on the many variations of the sauce) just like the butternut sauce mac :).  

This missing scroll bar is annoying. Has anyone’s wordpress editor scroll bar disappeared with the WP 4.2 upgrade?

Vegan Black Pepper Mac and cheese | Vegan Richa #vegan #macncheese #nutfree

Vegan Black Pepper Mac and cheese with nutfree potato carrot sauce | VeganRicha.com #vegan #macncheese #nutfree #recipe

More Macs and Pasta recipes from the blog. 

Vegan Black Pepper Mac and cheese | Vegan Richa #vegan #macncheese #nutfree

Video:


 

Vegan Black Pepper Mac and Cheese with Potato Carrot Cheese Sauce

4.91 from 31 votes
By: Vegan Richa
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 35 minutes
Total: 55 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Pasta
Cuisine: American
Vegan Black Pepper Mac and Cheese with a light potato carrot cheese sauce. Free of dairy, egg, corn, nuts. Can be made soy-free and gluten-free with gf pasta. 30 minute meal. Add cashews to make a thicker creamier sauce. Recipe inspired by several veggie cheese sauce recipes.
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Ingredients 
 

  • 2 1/4 cups water
  • 1 medium potato, about 1 cup or use 3/4 cup mashed potatoes
  • 1/3 cup chopped carrots
  • 4 garlic cloves , or 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tbsp chopped onion , or use 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 green chili, optional
  • 1/2 medium tomato, chopped
  • 1/2 to 1 tsp prepared mustard
  • 2 tsp soy sauce , or liquid aminos
  • 3 to 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 2 to 3 tsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, omit to make oil free
  • 1/3 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp sriracha, optional
  • 3/4 tsp or more salt
  • 1/4 tsp white pepper
  • 3/4 to 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided
  • 6 to 8 oz elbows pasta, cooked to preference
  • 1 cup broccoli chopped small

Instructions 

  • In a skillet, add water, potato, carrots, garlic, onion, chili and tomato. Cover and cook over medium-high heat for 17 to 19 minutes or until the potato is very tender and breaks easily. (add 2 Tbsp cashews for creamier sauce). Cool slightly.
  • Meanwhile, cook the pasta to aldente. (in parallel with the above step if you like).
  • Add the potato carrot mixture to a blender with the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth. taste and adjust salt and spice.
  • Transfer to the pan over medium heat. Add salt, white pepper, 1/3 tsp black pepper. Mix in. Bring to a boil. Carefully taste and adjust salt, cheesiness (add more nutritional yeast if needed).
  • Add the cooked pasta and broccoli or other veggies. Mix in. Cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until the sauce comes to a good boil and thickens.
  • Let it sit for 5 minutes. Mix in the rest of the freshly ground black pepper (1/2 to 2/3 tsp). Sprinkle more pepper if you wish and serve/

Video

Notes

For creamier sauce or variation: Add tbsp cashews, or 1-2 Tbsp sesame seeds or pumpkin seeds with the potato and carrots or add a tbsp of flour to the blended sauce.
If you like your broccoli and veggies a bit cooked, add them to the pasta pot, 5 minutes before the pasta will be taken off heat. Drain both and keep aside.
Dont like carrots? Use zucchini
Nutritional values based on one serving

Nutrition

Calories: 284kcal, Carbohydrates: 44g, Protein: 9g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 604mg, Potassium: 506mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 2145IU, Vitamin C: 32mg, Calcium: 49mg, Iron: 2.7mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Did you make this recipe? Rate and comment below!

Vegan Black Pepper Mac and cheese | Vegan Richa #vegan #macncheese #nutfree

About Richa

Hi, I'm Richa! I create flavorful plant based recipes that are inspired by my Indian upbringing, including many gluten-free, soy-free, and oil-free options.

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4.91 from 31 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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105 Comments

  1. Sam ~ it doesn't taste like chicken says:

    5 stars
    One of the things I LOVE about being vegan is that it seems like there are so many MORE options. I have made vegan mac and cheese, at least 5 different ways already, and here is a new way to make it that never occurred to me, potatoes!!! This looks amazing. Thank you for sharing!

  2. Nina says:

    5 stars
    This sauce was incredible! We didn’t even use nutritional yeast because of allergies. Still had lovely yellow color, melty and coated everything beautifully. We added green beans and peas to it also. What a treat this was…thanks!

    1. Richa says:

      Awesome!!!

    2. Donna says:

      5 stars
      Sooooooo happy to read your post. I was very excited about this recipe until I got to the nutritional yeast part! Used it once before and won’t use it again….granted it was in the freezer for a long time which may have affected the taste. Any thoughts, nooch lovers? Does it go bad?

      1. Richa says:

        yes it does expire. Maybe ry a little bit from a new batch?

        You can also use other things to get the cheese flavor such as 1/2 tsp miso, or ground mustard.

  3. Caitlin says:

    this sauce looks absolutely incredible. you never seise to blow my mind. i cannot wait to make it and then put it on everything.

  4. Jenn says:

    Nope, never enough mac and cheese. This looks incredible! So creamy. And I always put lots of black pepper on my mac and cheese too. Yum!

  5. Cassie Tran says:

    This looks great! YUM!

  6. James says:

    5 stars
    My little boy loves Mac and Cheese.. what a great alternative even to the Gluten Free boxed ones. Thanks again Richa for another awesome recipe!

  7. The Vegan 8 says:

    Looks so good Richa! The potato and carrot cheeses are taken over the web, but yours looks the best I’ve seen! I had to come check yours out because I love all your recipes and funny enough, I have a smoky black pepper cheese coming, but it’s a cream cheese type of recipe, but I LOVE all the black pepper in the cheese. Ever since trying the Chao black pepper cheese, I’ve been hooked on the black pepper. Anyways, looks amazing and I love the broccoli in it, yum!

  8. Breta says:

    This looks scrumptious! Any idea if cauliflower might work in place of the potato? (I may just try it anyway, but what do you think? Maybe with a little extra liquid to blend?

  9. Maria says:

    Yum Yum Yum!!! Looks pretty easy, maybe I can even get my partner to make it for me tonight! ๐Ÿ˜‰ Al dente is key! Thanks for this, Richa!