Dairy Free Mac and Cheese

Learn how to make this baked mac and cheese that is flavoursome with a silky smooth cheese sauce. Topped with my homemade crunchy gluten free breadcrumbs and baked to perfection. This is a must try vegan friendly recipe for any time of the year, especially during the holiday season.

Course Appetiser

Cuisine American

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1 10

Servings people

Calories 709kcal

Author Charla

Ingredients

2¼ cups gluten free macaroni (532g)
1 tablespoon pink salt (18g)
4 tablespoon vegan butter (32g)
4 tablespoon brown rice flour (40g)
½ cup cashew nuts (65g) soaked in advance in hot water
2 tablespoon nutritional yeast (15g)
2½ cups almond milk (590ml)
1 teaspoon mustard powder (2g)
1 teaspoon paprika (2g)
1 teaspoon parsley (2g)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme (2g)
1 teaspoon onion granules (2g)
1 teaspoon garlic granules (3g)
2½ cups vegan cheese (280g)
additional pink salt to taste

For the topping

1½ cups gluten free breadcrumbs (135g)
1 teaspoon parsley (0.1g_
1 teaspoon onion granules (2g)
1 teaspoon garlic granules (3g)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

To cook the macaroni

Preheat the oven to 375f/180C and grease a baking dish and set aside.
Bring a medium sized saucepan of water to the boil.
Once boiling point has reached, add the 1 tablespoon of pink salt.
Proceed to add the macaroni to the water.Stir the macaroni for the first 1-2 minutes (this will also help to prevent sticking at the bottom of the saucepan).
Allow to cook until it is "al dente" (this should take anything from 5-7 minutes, keep in mind SOME gluten free macaroni cooks quicker then others so start to check the readiness from 4 minutes).
Determine its readiness by removing a piece of macaroni from the saucepan using a fork and testing with your fingers (squashing it).
Once the pasta has cooked, drain the macaroni in a colander and rinse the macaroni with cold water (this will prevent it from cooking any further) then pour into a large bowl and set aside.

To make the mac and cheese

Combine and blend together the cashew nuts, nutritional yeast and almond milk then set aside.
In a large saucepan or a skillet, melt the vegan butter over medium heat.
Once melted, mix in the brown rice flour for about one minute and form a paste.
Slowly pour in the almond milk, while stirring to dissolve the paste into the milk.
Add the mustard powder, onion granules, garlic granules, thyme, parsley and finally the vegan cheese.
Continue to stir until the cheese melts and the sauce thickens (this should take several minutes). You want the sauce to be not too thin nor too thick (it should coat the back of a spoon) adjust by adding more cheese/milk if needed.
Fold in the macaroni and thoroughly coat with the cheese sauce.
Do a taste test and add any additional pink salt if needed.
Pour into an oven proof baking dish.
Mix the breadcrumbs together with the parsley, onion and garlic granules.
Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the macaroni.
Bake for 12-15 minutes (don't over bake or the sauce will start to evaporate).
Serve immediately while hot.

Notes

I used my very own homemade breadcrumbs for this recipe and here is the link to How to Make Gluten Free Breadcumbs
When making the sauce, do a taste test and add any additional pink salt, if needed.
Make sure to thoroughly whisk the roux and also when you are adding the almond milk to avoid any lumps.
Feel free to use your favourite plant based cheese. I used Cathedral Cheddar's plant based cheese with Sainsburys gluten free macaroni (UK).
I would advise using a neutral tasting plant based milk i.e almond or cashew milk, work just fine.
If you don't have brown rice flour, sorghum, coconut flour as stand alone flours will work or use your favourite GF flour.
Check the consistency of the sauce, very important, have some extra vegan cheese and almond milk to hand, adjust accordingly, if required.
Any leftovers should be covered with saran wrap or portioned in containers for up to 2 days.
You can prep ahead of time by cooking the pasta in advance, grating the cheese and preparing the spices
To re-heat any leftovers, do so in the oven covering the top with aluminum foil.
Do not re-freeze this mac and cheese, serve it immediately, while still hot, for best results.
You will want an oval oven proof pie dish or a dish with similar dimensions - 28x19x6cm.

Nutrition