This Easy Vegan Mac and Cheese Powder is perfect to whip up mac and cheese within minutes when needed. It also makes a great gift! Add flavors and herbs for variations. Soyfree Vegan Mac and Cheese Mix Recipe. Glutenfree Nutfree Option. Jump to Recipe
You know when you need some mac and cheese fix super quickly and without having to think much about what to add when and how much! Or a Creamy Cheese Sauce to dip some veggies, This mix comes in handy!
Just mix or blend with non dairy milk, simmer and done. Add cooked pasta, sauteed veggies or salsa for a dip!
Saute some onion, garlic and veggies such as mushrooms to the cheese sauce for variation. Add some flavors such as chipotle pepper or cajun or garam masala. Play away!
You can use the mix to make a fabulous cheese sauce to dress roasted veggies or bowls or use as a dip! You can also make a casserole with it. Add more herbs of choice. Lots of options!
When the sauce is simmering, you can add additional flavors like some miso, lemon and/or soy sauce. Add some sriracha or chili garlic sauce or Gochujang for variation. Fold in some salsa and taco spice for a fajita style cheese sauce. Perfect to have around while travelling/camping!
If you want to use nuts other than cashews, such as almond, use a 1/3 cup nuts and add 2 tbsp more flour as most other nuts are not as creamy.
Tips to make a smooth cheese sauce
- You want to process or blend the mixture a few times with scraping and mixing in between. Check in between to feel the mixture if it is too gritty with pieces of nuts. Process more until themixture becomes more powdery with just a slight grittyness.
- Blend the mixture with the non dairy milk in a blender so the nuts blend in even more, before adding to the saucepan.
More gifts for the Holidays
- Cowboy Cookies in a Jar.
- Kitchari Mix in a Jar – Put in instant pot or saucepan and done.
Lets make this easy mac mix and gift it out to everyone who loves a good cheese sauce! This recipe is adapted from Miyoko’s Cheese Mix.
Above is scant 1/2 cup chipotle mac mix with non dairy milk. Below is 1/3 cup mac mix with water.
Vegan Mac and Cheese Powder
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (64.5 g) cashews raw, (see notes for nutfree)
- 1/2 cup (22 g) nutritional yeast
- 3 tbsp flour ( all purpose or use oat flour for glutenfree. rice flour will work too, but it adds a slight grittyness)
- 2 tbsp tapioca starch or other starch
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp ground mustard
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1.5 tsp (2 tsp) salt (2 tsp for saltier or adjust later when you make the sauce)
- 2 to 3 tsp paprika , a mix of smoked and regular or all smoked
- 1/2 to 1 tsp black pepper
To make Mac & Cheese:
- 1 cup (4 oz) mac or other small pasta
- 1 cup (240 ml) non dairy milk or water
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup (6 to 8 tbsp) of mac and cheese powder from above
Instructions
To make the Powder Mix:
- Process everything in a food processor or blender until powdered. It takes 2-3 mins. Blend/process or a minute, scrape sides and blend again. (Check in between to feel the mixture if it is too gritty with pieces of nuts. Process more until the mixture becomes more powdery with just a slight grittyness.)
- Add other flavor profiles such as chipotle, cajun, garam masala and mix in (optional). See notes for options.
To make mac:
- Cook 1 cup of dry pasta according to instructions on the package in salted water. Drain and set aside.
- Combine 1/3 to 1/2 cup of mix with 1 cup of water or non dairy milk and 2-3 tsp olive oil or vegan butter (optional) in a saucepan or blend and add to saucepan for creamier, and bring to a boil. Add cooked pasta (and optionally sauteed veggies such as mushrooms, broccoli etc) and cook for a min, taste and adjust salt and flavor. (You can add 1 tsp miso or soy sauce and/or lemon juice for additional flavor. Garnish with oregano, pepper flakes if needed.) Cover and let sit for another 2 mins. (For saucier, use 1/2 cup mix. You can add a tbsp more of the powder to the simmering sauce, if it isnt as thick as you like).
- To make cheese sauce to drizzle over roasted veggies or salad or baked potato, blend 1/2 cup mix with 1 cup non dairy milk.Add to a pan and bring to a boil. Simmer for a few mins to thicken.
- To Store: Store in a glass jar or ceramic airtight container. On the counter away from heat for upto a month. Refrigerate for freshness and longer life.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Greta says
May 24, 2020 at 12:07 amThis was freaking delicious. Thank you so much!
Vegan Richa Support says
May 24, 2020 at 12:17 pmSo glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Aman says
May 27, 2020 at 6:12 pmThis was life changing. Not only was it quick but my super carnivore husband loved it. I’ve made other vegan mac n’ cheese recipes before and he did not like them at all. My kid is eating it up like candy. I can see this as our easy dinner night on my weekly meal rotation! Thanks a million!
Aman says
May 27, 2020 at 6:24 pmForgot to give it the 5 stars it deserves!
Richa says
May 27, 2020 at 9:00 pmAwesome! Thanks!
M says
June 7, 2020 at 6:20 pmRicha,
I only have roasted pepitas. Will that work for the nut-free sub, or do they need to be raw?
Grace says
June 9, 2020 at 1:33 pmThank you so much for this recipe! It has been a lifesaver for my daughter with many allergies
Colleen Swanger says
June 16, 2020 at 8:24 amI am just in love with this recipe (especially with the nut free option) and now want to make little gift jars of it. Do you mind sharing where you got your little jars shown? Thank you in advance!
Richa says
June 17, 2020 at 12:46 amFrom amazon. They are smaller mason jars
Michele says
June 28, 2020 at 4:38 pmEasy & Delicious! I added a little cayenne and some crushed up croutons on top. Can’t wait to try different add ons. Thanks so much!!
Laura says
June 30, 2020 at 6:42 amWould cornstarch work instead of tapioca starch? TIA. This could be a game changer. All vegan Mac and cheese recipes look so time consuming. Thanks for sharing this powder. ☺️
Richa says
June 30, 2020 at 12:12 pmIt will. The mixture might not be a stringy that’s all.
Charlotte says
July 2, 2020 at 12:35 pmExcellent! So much flavor, definitely the best vegan mac and cheese recipe I’ve come across! And so convenient too!
Jimena Juarez says
July 3, 2020 at 8:30 amI like the recipe too much, i started with a free month trial vegan challenge, and this change my life. Now i can enjoy more my life and the food, Thank u.
If u want the link of the challenge here is: https://bit.ly/3eWDq6D
Vegan Richa Support says
July 3, 2020 at 6:56 pmwow. that’s amazing!! good for you. thank you.
Toni Kulma says
July 24, 2020 at 4:28 pmLove this recipe. So convenient! But to my taste it needed a tang of acid because cheddar cheese has a tang to it. . So I added lemon juice with the non dairy milk.. perfect
Alyssa says
July 27, 2020 at 6:35 pmThis looks awesome! Any thoughts on how this might work for cheese popcorn? I’m craving Chicago style popcorn hard these days!!
Richa says
July 28, 2020 at 12:26 amShould work just fine!
Luke says
August 21, 2020 at 4:11 pmTastes just like store-bought, love it! I made this when my vegan box mac came without a packet and I don’t think I’ll buy another now, this is just so easy and much healthier. Thank you!
Vegan Richa Support says
August 25, 2020 at 1:55 pmamazing! thank YOU!!
Karolyn Aucoin says
September 3, 2020 at 6:00 amQuicker, tastier and easier than any other vegan mac I’ve had. my go-to from now on.
Vegan Richa Support says
September 3, 2020 at 10:46 amAwesome !!
Alina says
September 17, 2020 at 10:05 pmSounds delicious but it is a pity that I cannot use nutritional yeast. Does anyone have any solutions? Thank you.
Vegan Richa Support says
September 19, 2020 at 7:03 pmin the dry mix that would be difficult to substitute. I dont like too much nutritional yeast either, but this works for me.
You can make a cheese sauce with no nutritional yeast. Try this one and add 1 tsp miso and 1/2 tsp natural mustard and that will help with the the cheesy flavor. https://www.veganricha.com/2017/02/garlicky-korean-mac-cheese.html
Toni says
October 4, 2020 at 8:50 amI didn’t want to use cashews for this recipe. I had a big bag of shelled hemp seeds from Costco so I used them instead. It trunked out really well. I did add a bit more nutritional yeast and lemon juice at the end to give some tang. This is a mix i will definitely keep around for a quick batch of Mac n cheese.
Swathi says
December 23, 2020 at 7:17 amThis looks delicious. I don’t have starch or yeast at home. Can starch be replaced by potato? What can I use instead of yeast?
Vegan Richa Support says
December 23, 2020 at 12:20 pmin the dry mix that would be difficult to substitute. I dont like too much nutritional yeast either, but this works for me.
You can make a cheese sauce with no nutritional yeast. Try this one and add 1 tsp miso and 1/2 tsp natural mustard and that will help with the the cheesy flavor. https://www.veganricha.com/garlicky-korean-mac-cheese/“>Garlicky Korean Mac and Cheese with Gochujang
Rhonda says
February 7, 2021 at 9:50 amI can’t have any dairy and also GF ? Can I get this in GF also …? Please let me know what it’s called I will order.
Vegan Richa Support says
February 8, 2021 at 1:35 pmgreat- – it’s already dairy free – and the GF option in the notes states: A mix of 1/3 cup oat flour, 2 tbsp rice flour and 1 tbsp tapioca for glutenfree.
Elaine Eddinger says
March 7, 2021 at 7:41 pmI’m all set to do the nut-free/gluten-free version. I have the ingredients, but I notice I’m confused (this happens to me on your other recipe subs too.)
The part in the notes about using “A mix of 1/3 cup oat flour, 2 tbsp rice flour and 1 tbsp tapioca for glutenfree.”: Is this in addition to the oat flour (within the recipe it says to use oat flour to make GF) and tapioca already in there? Or is this total oat flour, tapioca and rice flour and then forget lines 3 and 4 of the recipe?
Thanks so much and I enjoy playing with your recipes.
Vegan Richa Support says
March 9, 2021 at 12:13 pmok great – not in addition to – just use 1/3 cup oat flour, 2 tbsp rice flour and 1 tbsp tapioca for glutenfree.” only and forget about the other lines (2 T tapioca) thanks for your question Elaine
Laura says
February 9, 2021 at 7:38 amI double the recipe and keep this in a jar in the freezer for whenever I need it. Weeks later it’s still fresh and delicious!
Vegan Richa Support says
February 9, 2021 at 9:54 amWhat a great idea! Thanks for the awesome review, so glad you stopped by!
Leah Anne Abercrombie says
March 1, 2021 at 3:10 amCould you substitute almond flour for the cashews?
Vegan Richa Support says
March 3, 2021 at 11:36 amyes, same amount
Becky says
March 13, 2021 at 5:09 pmYummmmmy! So easy to make, turned out super delish! Thank you 🙂
Vegan Richa Support says
March 15, 2021 at 2:30 pmthanks for popping in ♡
Margaret Wolfe says
March 24, 2021 at 3:00 pmThis recipe is brilliant! I have subbed in half cashews for sunflower or pumpkin seeds. Thanks for creating this. You have made the convince of boxed mac and cheese possible with whole ingredients to make a nice cheese sauce for anything but especially a noodle. I make large batches to keep when the urge for a cheesy craving arrives.
Meggie Wolfe says
March 24, 2021 at 3:02 pmThanks for your wonderful recipes 🙂
Richa says
March 24, 2021 at 3:18 pmAwesome!
Amanda says
March 28, 2021 at 5:31 pmCan you sub almond flour for the flour? I don’t have rice flour to go with oat flour.
Vegan Richa Support says
March 29, 2021 at 8:32 pmsure – use the same amt as the cashews instead
Amanda Arnold says
March 30, 2021 at 7:20 amSo 1/2 cup of almond flour vs 3 tbsp regular flour? Just asking because it seems like a LOT more!
Vegan Richa Support says
March 31, 2021 at 10:46 amyes because it’s replacing the other
Lina says
April 27, 2021 at 2:46 pmJust to clarify, to make this GF i used oat flour and cornstarch and followed everything else for the recipe is that okay?
Vegan Richa Support says
April 29, 2021 at 7:58 pmperfect