clearly I take my mac n cheese pretty seriously considering I now have 3 recipes which may seem unnecessary. however I beg to differ. i love all 3 of my children equally in different ways. sometimes I am craving a classic mac n cheese like this one. other times my mouth is watering for some good buffalo mac n cheese and then there are those times i crave a hearty mac made with some hidden veggies blended in. whatever the vibe, there is a mac for that.
Classic Mac n Cheese
serves 4-6 and the prep / cook time is about an hour.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup - soaked cashews
2 tbsp - chopped garlic
1/4 cup - fresh lemon juice
4 tbsp - nutritional yeast
½ tsp - onion powder
½ tsp - garlic powder
1/4 tsp - smoked paprika
1/2 cup - warm veg stock
1 1/2 cup - canned coconut milk
1/4 cup - tapioca starch slurry (1/4 cup cold water with 1 tbsp tapioca starch)
1 tbsp - cold vegan butter
4 cups - pasta shells or pasta shape of your choosing
What you will need :
a strong blender like a Vitamix or Nutribullet
a large pot for boiling pasta
measuring cups + spoons
spoon or spatula for sautéing + stirring
Instructions
Step 1 - Prep + blend
There is nothing worse than going to make something and realizing you don’t have the stuff ! Take this moment to gather everything.
Once everything is ready and cashews are soaked, throw all your ingredients in a Vitamix or little bullet blender saving the slurry for the end. Let the cashews blend till smooth and add in the tapioca slurry so it can fully incorporate with the sauce.
Step 2 - Boil pasta + cook in sauce
In a large pot of salted water boil your pasta for 6-7 minutes and then reserve a cup of starchy pasta water before straining out all the water. Pour the cashew cheese sauce in the same pot the pasta was boiled in and bring it up to a low medium heat before plopping in the strained pasta. Give this all a good stir to incorporate the sauce and pasta together while allowing the pasta to cook a tiny bit more within the sauce. Use the pasta water as needed to thin out the sauce to your liking. At the end I like to add in a tablespoons worth of cold vegan butter and stir it in to sort of emulsify and bring everything together nicely.
If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.
And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3