Vegan Loaded Mac and Cheese
Vegan loaded mac and cheese: Dive into plant-based comfort food heaven! Indulge guilt-free with our irresistible recipe, brimming with flavour and wholesome ingredients. Perfect for vegans and non-vegans. Satisfy your cravings and nourish your body with every creamy, cheesy bite. Discover the ultimate twist on a classic favourite.
The ultimate comfort food
We love to dive into this cheesy goodness once in a while. It's certainly not the healthiest, but who cares if it's just once in a while? We've had the pleasure of eating this dish quite often for the past few weeks while I tried to perfect the recipe.
For me, the key is getting the cheesy sauce just right—not too thick or too thin. It needs to be gooey but not dribble.
When everything is right, this pasta will take you to the next level of happiness. The cheesiness and smokiness from the Vivera bacon pieces are pure heaven.
Ingredients you'll need to make Vegan Loaded Mac and Cheese:
- Cashew nuts
- Vegan cheddar-style cheese - I find Dayia works best
- Vegan parmesan cheese
- Plant milk
- Seasonings - Vegetable bouillon powder, granulated onion, granulated garlic, cayenne pepper
- Pasta - Macaroni or any other you prefer
- Panko breadcrumbs
- Vegan bacon - Vivera bacon pieces are great
- Fresh parsley
- 1 1/2 cup Cashew nuts
- 200 g Dayia medium cheddar style cheese
- 1 tbsp Vegan parmesan cheese
- 2 cup Plant based milk
- 1/2 tbsp Vegetable Bouillon powder
- 1/2 tsp Granulated onion
- 1/2 tsp Granulated garlic
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 500 g Macaroni pasta (Or any other you prefer)
- 175 g Vivera vegan bacon pieces
- 2 tbsp Fresh parsley
- 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
Soak your cashews for 8 hours or up to overnight. However, if you are anything like me you'll probably forget to soak the cashews. You can then boil them for around 10 minutes and then set aside.
- In a casserole pour the plant-milk, add the Daiya medium cheddar style, Violife Prosiciano cheese and spices and allow simmering until the cheese is completely melted.
- Put the cheese sauce and the cashews in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth.
- Boil the pasta according to the directions. Pour the sauce over the pasta and blend well.
- Fry the Vivera veggie bacon pieces on medium heat until it starts to crisp up a little. Take about 1/3 and set aside. Stir the remaining bacon pieces in the cheesy sauce. Chop the 1/3 of the bacon pieces into small bits and put back in the pan along with the panko breadcrumbs, fry in a little bit of oil until golden. Add fresh parsley.
- Serve the macaroni with some of the panko mix sprinkled over for decoration and added flavor.
- For a Gluten-free version: Use Gluten-free pasta and skip the Panko breadcrumbs. We used toasted seeds which we chopped up and it was lovely.