I’ve made many a vegan mac ‘n’ cheese over the years, even some great ones, but they are complicated affairs using many ingredients to achieve an acceptable flavor. Traditionally making home made macaroni and cheese is very simple, essentially a bachamel sauce (milk gravy) with cheese added. After discovering Daiya cheese, I decided to try a traditonal recipe. It turned out wonderfully, perhaps even the best vegan mac I have ever had. For this batch I used cheddar flavor Daiya for the sauce and “Italian Blend” for the top. While the texture and melting of Daiya is excellent, the flavor is mild (although excellent), so in the future I may experiment with adding other vegan cheeses or other ingredients to give it a sharper flavor.
Daiya Mac ‘n’ Cheese
1 lb macaroni
1 Tbsp Earth Balance or other vegan butter
1 Tbsp flour
2 cups unsweetened soy milk
salt and pepper
2 cups Daiya shreds, plus 1/2 cup for the top
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°. Cook macaroni until it is just a little under done (should still be a little chewy) drain and set aside. In a large saucepan, melt Earth Balance over medium high heat. Stir in flour to make a roue. Stir in milk and whisk to incorporate and cook until mixture begins to thicken. Season with salt and pepper. Add 2 cups of Daiya and cook, stirring, until melted. Remove from heat and add macaroni, stirring to coat pasta well. Pour into a 2 quart baking dish and top with remaining 1/2 cup Daiya cheese. Toss bread crumbs with olive oil and paprika and spread evenly over the macaroni. Bake for about 30 min until bread crumbs are nicely browned. Remove from oven and let cool for about five min before serving.
If you find this site as helpful as a cookbook you might buy or a class you might take, please support us.
Everyone is raving about Daiya cheese and this looks amazing I think I must try
I’ve done your recipe twice now with a few changes, I love that it’s so easy to make (I’m just starting to learn my way into the kitchen). Both times I skipped the flour and it still came out great. I replaced the bread crumbs with crushed Erewhon Crispy Brown Rice Gluten Free Cereal (my bf can’t eat gluten), same results, I don’t think you can tell the difference. First time I didn’t use salt, but this time I used 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper and it made a (good) big difference. This time I also tried inverting the cheese flavors, good results too. And I absolutely love using smoked paprika on top of it, I love anything smoked!
I love this recipe!
Thank you so much for the recipe. My boyfriend is making this dish for my birthday today! And I love Daiya cheese as much as I love Mac N’ CHEEESE! Thank you thank you.
This turned out really well. The only modification I made was to add a small amount of prepared mustard and dried onion to the cheese sauce which is how I learned to it from the dairy days.
Really great recipe. Thanks!
Thanks! Yeah, this is the most basic version. I usually add somer prepared mustard powder and cayenne. When I really feel like going to town I make something like this.
I love this! I use Cavatappi pasta. Once I added fresh broccoli that I processed in the food processor first. I also like to add cayenne pepper and cinnamon to the non-broccoli version.
Soooo yummy!!!
I added some nutrional yeast to the mix…it came out delicious. Will try the ground mustard route next time.
I have never tried yeast with Dayia, but I almost always use mustard if i have it on hand. You can find my most gussied up version here.
This is the best! Very easy to make and is super duper yummy!!! Even my 6 year old loves it and she is a dairy mac and cheese addict! I told her there was no cows milk in it and she said “Awesome, it is the best dinner ever!”