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This vegan jalapeno popper mac and cheese is the ultimate creamy & delicious mac and cheese recipe. Made with a creamy cashew sauce and filled with bits of jalapeno pepper for an extra kick!
This post is in partnership with Carrington Farms.
Today is a special day. Because today is the day for vegan jalapeno popper mac and cheese. That’s right. We’re doing creamy cheesy cashew sauce loaded up with garlic, onion, jalapenos, tossed together with macaroni, topped off with coutrons and then broiled to perfection.
Drooling yet?
Vegan Mac and Cheese – Comfort and Health Food?
This is one of those recipes that falls under the category of ultimate comfort food. I’m talking bundle up in a big sweater, sit by the fireplace (or if you don’t have one like me, lighting a candle totally counts.) and eat a big bowl of mac and cheese. (Then when you’re done why not make a big bowl of vegan pumpkin alfredo? #carblife)
Although this is comfort food, this is one of those ‘sneaky’ comfort food recipes that is secretly still pretty healthy. The base of the sauce is made from raw cashews (healthy) and gets tossed up with garlic, onions and
A few notes on this recipe:
This vegan jalapeno popper mac and cheese starts off with a creamy cashew sauce and vegan cream cheese. If you can’t find vegan cream cheese at your local grocery shop, you can just omit it from the recipe entirely.
The sauce will be partially prepared in the blender, and then gets finished up in a pan. The sauce will be quite liquid after blending-don’t worry! It will thicken up a lot in the pan and become rich & creamy.
One of my favourite tricks to making any pasta recipe extra creamy is to reserve some pasta water to add back to the sauce. For this recipe, set aside 1/2 cup of pasta water before draining the pasta. (Trust me on this one!)
This mac and cheese
This vegan jalapeno popper mac and cheese is:
- Made with naturally & healthy ingredients
- Can be made gluten-free or whole-grain (whatever pasta you like!)
- Makes the ultimate healthy comfort food!
Vegan jalapeno popper mac and cheese
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Cook
- Cuisine: American
Description
Say hello to the ultimate comfort food! This mac and cheese is the best!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked in water overnight then drained
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp avocado oil (or vegetable oil)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed and finely chopped
- 2 tbsp vegan cream cheese
- 250 grams pasta of choice (I used gluten-free cavatappi)
- 1/2 cup of crounons or gluten-free croutons, crushed
Instructions
- Add the cashews, water, nutritional yeast, dijon mustard, salt and pepper to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water.
- Heat the avocado oil in a pan on medium-high heat, then add the onion and cook for 2 minutes.
- Next, add the garlic and jalapenos and cook for another minute.
- Reduce heat to medium and add the cream cheese and cashew sauce to the pan, stirring until everything is well incorporated.
- Add the pasta and 1/2 cup of pasta water to the pan and mix everything together, letting cook for 2-3 minutes until thick and creamy.
- Transfer the mac and cheese to a baking dish and top with the crushed croutons.
- Place under the broiler for 1-2 minutes (keep a close eye on it!) until browned.
- Remove and serve.
Notes
Salt your pasta water to give your pasta some extra flavour! If you can’t find vegan cream cheese you can just omit it from this recipe.
Nutrition
- Calories: 395
- Sugar: 4g
- Fat: 21g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Carbohydrates: 38g
- Fiber: 5g
- Protein: 13g
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Your recipes are simple and easy. Enjoyed the watermelon pizza. IT was Very refreshing .
So glad you enjoyed it!
Honestly this is my absolute FAVORITE vegan Mac & Cheese – and I’ve tried many and am a #1 Mac fan. I’ve made this recipe dozens of times and it’s always a hit. Thank you so so much for a simple and tasty meal with such unique and delicious flavors!
Thank you so much Carly!! I’m so happy this is your favourite! 🙂
Can you make any of this ahead of time?
Hi Brenda, you could- but this recipe is definitely best made and served fresh. If you want to do some prep-work ahead of time I’d recommend preparing the sauce and cooking the pasta and then when you want to serve it prepare the rest of the recipe.
Very good and simple. The cream cheese def adds a layer and is worth it.
Happy you enjoyed Chris!
Amazing! Oh my goodness, this is a go to around here! My husband LOVES spicy things and I love cheesy things so this is a perfect combo! AND my son can eat this too!
So happy you loved the recipe Jennier!
This sounds really good! What brand of vegan cream cheese do you recommend? I’m fairly new to trying vegan recipes and foods. Thanks!
Hi Laura, i like the brand kite hill foods (it tastes honestly REALLY good!) If needed you can also just leave it out of the recipe entirely. Still delicious without it!
Wow!!! Honestly so good this is one of my absolute favorite recipes now! I switched it up a bit because I like things really spicy so I added a ton of red pepper flakes, and added vegan butter, vegan shredded mozzarella, and almond milk instead of water to the sauce and it was so incredible.
Thanks for the review Lilu! So happy you enjoyed 🙂
It is so yummy. It doesn’t have a really deep flavor though. I blend a bulb of roasted garlic in the cashew sauce. It really elevates it.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe Jessica!
Question, I just came across this recipe and want to make it right now. Is it absolutely necessary to soak the cashews? Wondering what happens if I don’t.
Hi Jenni, yes it is necessary! Soaking the cashews softens them and allows them to blend up into a cream. If you don’t soak them, you won’t end up with a cashew cream which is essential for the recipe
Just made this! YUMMY great recipe, super easy!
as a trick instead of soaking cashews for 24 hours/overnight, I boil the cashews in water with a squirt of lemon juice, then cover and let it sit for 15 minutes. It was extremely creamy
Glad you ejoyed the recipe Dana!