mac & cheese

Alicia Silverstone Alicia Silverstone
posted Oct 28, 2010
Editorial
0
Attached Recipe Photo

This is my absolute favorite Mac 'n Cheese recipe. It is from Kristina Brindley of Seedling Catering here in LA. Seedling Catering is a beyond awesome vegan delivery and catering company. I could go on about Kristina and her yummy dishes... but for now, you must try her Mac 'n Cheese.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups Elbow pasta
  • 1 cup soymilk
  • 1/4 cup tamari
  • 1 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • 2/3 cup canola oil
  • 1 pinch salt & pepper

Directions

  1. Cook the pasta al dente.
  2. In a blender/food processor combine the garlic, nutritional yeast, mustard and paprika, blend to chop garlic.
  3. While the machine is running add the tamari, soymilk and canola oil and blend until creamy.
  4. Heat sauce and mix with cooked noodles.
  5. You can also do it as a baked Mac n' Cheese by adding about 1/2 cup of water to the sauce and undercooking the noodles a little.
  6. Top with breadcrumbs and bake in a casserole dish in a 350 oven until bubbly and breadcrumbs are browned.
  • cook time
    40 min.
  • prep time
    15 min.
  • yields
    5 serv.

Diet Categories:

  • Flirt

Ingredient Restrictions:

  • Peanut Free
  • Sugar Free
  • Tree Nut Free

Join the Discussion!

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  • Terri Lucas
    Jun 15, 2012 at 6:47pm
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    yummy! word to the wise, if you haven't tried nutritional yeast or you already know you're not a fan, don't expect miracles from this recipe. i can't get enough of the stuff! went with little less than half the tamari (actually didn't have, so used bragg's), subbed regular mustard for the dijon, and made it potatoes faux gratin, since i was in the mood to indulge my Irish. precooked the potatoes with skin then tossed with the sauce (no extra liquid), covered with breadcrumbs and baked as recommended. took about 15 minutes. nom, nom, nom!
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  • Margaret Meyer
    May 18, 2012 at 10:28pm
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    I will try this. Looks like a quick and easy recipe. Amazing how far vegan cooking has come in the last 20 years. Way back it was interesting at times.
    http://healthyveganlife.blogspot.com/
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  • Alexis
    Oct 28, 2011 at 6:28pm
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    My friend and I were so excited to make this recipe and it turned out AWFUL!! We each only had a little bit and were sick all night. I would not recommend it! I'm poking my friend with a stick right now and she's not moving... I'm calling poison control.
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  • Deborah Billington
    Oct 10, 2011 at 6:56pm
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    Finally tried this recipe..also found too much tamari and maybe even too much nutritional yeast..found another recipe for mac and cheese that involved also using instant mash potato mix to the sauce and it was way better that way!!!
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  • Katie Gillis-Laden
    Sep 9, 2011 at 3:42pm
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    This was my first dish as a true vegan, first time using the yeast. I liked the recipe. I did it just as she said and it tasted good to me. Wasn't too salty that I noticed. I baked it and put Italian breadcrumbs on it. Very good.
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  • LAVANDULA
    May 26, 2011 at 4:09pm
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    my 6 year old loves this so much she says its better then kraft dinner
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  • Teresa Stock
    Apr 20, 2011 at 5:32pm
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    I have made this twice now and I LOVE it. I followed other suggestions and reduced the tamari (although, I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos). I also added a bit more mustard. I LOVE IT. So tasty; it is definitely a great meal and it so wonderful to have a go-to vegan mac 'n cheese recipe!!
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  • Smidgekat
    Mar 27, 2011 at 7:13am
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    Thank you Corrina for your points. I am trying to lose a few pounds and was wondering how it would turn out with out the oil (and that's A LOT of oil!!!) So it is really good to know that it can be omited form the recipe, I will definitelt give this a try at some point :)
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  • Samantha Cunningham
    Feb 27, 2011 at 4:13pm
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    Just made this for lunch tomorrow very yum!
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  • Corrina Anderson
    Jan 22, 2011 at 6:05pm
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    I'm just making this recipe now, I was actually going to make another one but I didn't have any corn starch or tofu to thicken. I thought what the heck, I'll give this one a try despite the fact I was on the fence with this particular recipe. It still came out too watery for my liking so I started a sous on the stove (ala traditional mac and cheese style to thicken it-earth balance and flour) and it thickened up perfectly. I also omitted the tamari sauce, paprika and oil. I used rice milk instead of soy. I salted to taste during the process.The colour and flavour turned out great. I'm currently waiting to see if my son likes it-he's 2 and entering a picky stage of eating. I will definitely be making this again though!

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  • Matthew Wilkinson
    Jan 20, 2011 at 5:46pm
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    i just made a similar recipe tonite only it called for 12 oz. of firm tofu also. Everything else was pretty much the same. Mine came out quite delicious and it was my first vegan dish!
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  • missjuli
    Jan 7, 2011 at 10:09pm
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    I just made this and it was great! I was surprised how good and "creamy" it was! I substituted rice pasta & almond milk and only used 1/8 cup of tamari, which I would use even less net time, the salt level was fine, just a taste preferance.
    I added some daiya cheese on top and it was awesome!
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  • JillIan Belrose
    Jan 2, 2011 at 11:07pm
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    So, I finally got around to making this recipe. I added a bunch of broccoli to make it a meal. So freaking tasty! My boyfriend, who is flirting with vegetarianism and a big fan of regular mac-n-cheese, said it was the best he's had, ever, including the regular kind! However, there is a TON of oil in this recipe. I feel so thick after eating it. Next time I will cut down the amount of oil substantially and add more rice milk (that's what I used because that's what I had). Also, although I love tamari and think it tasted great, all that sodium is a little freaky, so I'll cut back on it in the future, fo' sho! :)

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  • Greg Raffelson
    Dec 22, 2010 at 8:24am
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    @Lindsay--You are right! Brewers yeast is not the same as nutritional yeast. Learn by doing, I always say! ugh! My second attempt turned out much better--we enjoyed it very much!
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  • Lindsey Runyon
    Dec 20, 2010 at 8:49pm
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    Greg- Definitely not the same! I know they carry nutritional yeast at whole foods...at least the one near my house :) It's not bitter at all. Tastes very cheesy. :) Better luck next time!

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  • Greg Raffelson
    Dec 20, 2010 at 3:27pm
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    I am in the process of making this right now and not sure it is coming out as expected. I am using Brewer's yeast that I have had in the fridge for several months. I tasted the sauce and found it to be extremely bitter. Is Brewers yeast different than nutritional yeast. The guy at whole foods said that was all they carried and it was the same. In any event--I am wondering if it should be this bitter? Any thoughts? And it looks BROWN--not yellow like your picture. Thanks!
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  • Andy
    Dec 4, 2010 at 6:27pm
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    I just made this tonight. I was SO excited about it, but it turned out HORRIBLE! I didn't use tamari because of all the other comments. I did use safflower oil instead of canola, maybe that was why? I'm new to nutritional yeast, maybe I'm just not used to the taste. Thoughts?
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  • Linda Eastland
    Dec 3, 2010 at 5:07pm
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    I just made this and almost ate the whole thing. Modifications I made were eliminate the tamari, and dijon. I added 1/2 c Earth Balance Butter, 1 tbl agave nectar, 1 tbl mustard, and 1 c Daiya cheese. I also used Safflower oil rather than the canola. I did bake it as well.
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  • tali
    Dec 3, 2010 at 2:12pm
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    made this last night! I followed the advice and put 1/8 tamari and i think I'll put even less next time! Very intense and salty. I still really enjoyed it though. Also I used a spicy paprika which gave it some kick. Overall I'm so thankful for this recipe. I'm not a fan of vegan cheese and this was my intro into using nutritional yeast. I was a HUGE mac n cheese fan before going vegan so this is a fantastic alternative.
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  • Lindsey Runyon
    Nov 15, 2010 at 7:50pm
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    I made this recipe and it turned out SO YUMMY. I fed it to a bunch of non-vegans and they loved it, and they were asking for the recipe. Changes I made:


    -1/8 cup tamari like everyone said


    -3 cloves of garlic instead of 1


    -I used whole wheat tube-shaped pasta (not penne, but not macaroni either)


    -I did the baked version, and I added like 2 CUPS extra water


    -Whole wheat bread crumbs.


    -Extra virgin olive oil instead of canola because that's what I had.


    Some of the people thought it needed a tad more salt, and some loved it as-is. Which was perfect, because it's always easier to add salt than take away. Anyway, definitely going to make this again!!! Lindsey

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  • Katie Wims
    Nov 12, 2010 at 7:03pm
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    MmMmMmmm!!! i just made this and it came out fantastic. i reduced the amount of tamari significantly ( cus im not a fan), reduced the oil, and added wayyy more mustard. i used accidentally used honey mustard (oopss), but it worked surprisingly well. i gave it a nice sweet after taste. will definitely make again!
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  • Jackie
    Nov 11, 2010 at 3:22pm
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    I have to admit, I did not like this recipe. It seemed like way too much tamari, it tasted really salty,
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  • Ashleigh Whitworth
    Nov 8, 2010 at 8:45am
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    Made this this weekend, I took everyone's advice. Only used about 1/8 c of tamari, and it wasn't bad. I also added the addtional water to the sauce because I baked it, I think even if i didn't bake it I'd still keep the extra water in, it was too pasty w/ out it. When we reheated the leftovers, I melted some earth balance with about 1/4 cup of soy milk, just to cover the bottom of the sauce pan, this really helped out with thinning the sauce.
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  • Vanessa Packwood
    Oct 30, 2010 at 11:22pm
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    I've done this recipe as well and I also thought there was way too much tamari. I had trouble eating it, but my best friend (who isn't vegan) absolutely loved it and couldn't get enough of it!

    It's super easy to make and the texture is pretty impressing. So basically, take it easy on the tamari (I would use only 1/8 cup - and I usually love tamari, btw) and you'll have yourself a jaw-dropping meal :)

    Oh! And I added some grilled Yves' italian sausages - yum!
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  • Nicky
    Oct 29, 2010 at 5:03pm
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    I just made this recipe and it came out ok. I used peanut oil instead of canola oil since I didn't have it, and next time I would put less tamari. I wonder if the peanut oil changed the taste - so next time we make this we hope using the right ingredients will work out better.
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