10 Minute High Protein Mac and Cheese Recipe (Vegan)
Feb 20, 2020 • Updated Jan 08, 2024
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This simple recipe makes the ultimate comfort food– High Protein Mac and Cheese! An easy way to make a vegan version of everyone’s favorite dish. Complete with a cheesy, creamy sauce, protein-packed noodles, and delicious flavor. Easy to meal prep or make for a weeknight dinner, this 10-minute recipe is perfect for the whole family!
What Makes This Recipe Great
I can’t believe I haven’t shared this High Protein Mac and Cheese sooner! It’s probably the first thing I really missed when going vegan myself, and this is a common sentiment, which is why you’ll find recipes for vegan mac all over the internet. It’s everyone’s favorite comfort food! There are usually a few different kinds of recipes for vegan mac and cheese–some are made with cashews, some with a potato, carrot, and onion base, and some the classic-but-vegan way with vegan cheese, butter, and mylk.
Admittedly, mac and cheese isn’t really something I’d consider a healthy food, but you know how I like to roll. I love to make things vegan and secretly healthy. A little extra nourishment never hurts, am I right? And with all of the vegan mac and cheese recipes out there, I never wanted to share one for fear of just adding to the masses. Until that is, I discovered a super lazy hack of mac and cheese, and it has been my default recipe for about 2 years now. I’ve decided it’s different enough to share, and can you believe it’s made without nuts, potatoes, or vegan cheese and butter? Oh yeah, and it only takes about 10 minutes to make. Seriously.
This vegan, high-protein mac and cheese is a delicious bowl of undetectably healthy comfort food. Silky smooth cheese sauce packing the plant protein, folded with high protein vegan pasta. Plus, there’s tons of fiber, vitamins, calcium, and more! Talk about a power bowl!
Ingredient Notes
This recipe is vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, nut-free, refined sugar-free, and high in protein. It can be meal-prepped, though sauce should be prepared separately until ready to eat, and it’s made with just a handful of simple ingredients. See a full list of ingredients and amounts in the recipe card below.
- Silken tofu → is our base ingredient that provides the creaminess in the cheesy sauce, the sneaky plant protein, and a beautiful silky texture. Tofu contains all 9 essential amino acids, as well as magnesium, copper, zinc, and vitamin B1 and is a really good source of protein.
- Nutritional yeast → ah, the classic vegan “cheezy flavor maker.” That’s what I call it, anyway. This superb ingredient adds real savoury flavour, cheezyness, and, surprisingly, vitamins and protein too. No, really, one tablespoon packs 2 grams of extra protein and fortified nutritional yeast is a great way to get vitamins B6 and B12. Plus, it’s cheesy while being completely dairy-free!
- Carrots → a riff off of the classic potato-carrot-onion sauce, really just for flavour and a subtle sweetness. When carrots are steamed or boiled, they have a natural sweetness to them, and of course, we eat with our eyes, so mimicking color can be really important when veganizing food.
- High protein gluten-free pasta → is an option if you’d like to pump this pasta dish even more with additional protein. I love using high protein pasta because, usually, legume-based varieties are gluten-free as well. A win-win in my book! You can really choose whichever noodles you love, though– gluten-free or regular pasta. Brands like Barilla make regular high-protein pasta, too. There’s also Banza chickpea pasta.
- Spices → We’ll be using a combination of garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, and white pepper.
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Garnish with chives, cracked black pepper, and extra vegan cheese if desired.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- In a large pot over medium high heat, boil water and prepare pasta according to package instructions (cook to al dente if desired). While the pasta cooks, prepare your sauce.
- To prep sauce, add all ingredients to a blender and blend until completely smooth, scraping down sides if needed. Taste and adjust seasoning and spices until the desired result is achieved.
- When the pasta is ready, drain and return the cooked pasta to the pot over low heat. Add sauce and fold until sauce is heated and evenly distributed. Add garnish of choice and enjoy immediately.
Secrets to Success
- It’s important that you use silken tofu when preparing this recipe. Make sure the package of tofu explicitly reads “silken.” The texture should be something similar to a pudding–difficult to pick up with your hands and super duper soft. You can find tofu at Whole Foods Market, most health food stores, and any Asian grocery store (where you’ll probably also get the best price!).
- When it comes to a classic, nostalgic recipe like mac and cheese, I think a big key to success is keeping true to the way you used to enjoy it. I’ve said it before, but visuals matter, and flavors do too! Did you always garnish your mac with chives? Perhaps extra parmesan cheese or bacon? Peas, spinach, or other veggies? Hot sauce? How about truffle? Well, I recommend you do the same to your vegan mac. Throw chives, truffle, vegan parmesan, vegan cheddar cheese, or a little bit of vegan bacon on top–whatever you need to do to recreate the feeling.
- If you don’t have a blender, a food processor will work as well.
- For the same reason, we added the carrots to the sauce because colour matters! And finally, I chose to use elbow noodles because they’re the classic macaroni shape. Use your favorite type of pasta!
Storage Tips
For leftovers, store the sauce and the pasta separately. Store each in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Reheat on the stovetop over medium heat and stir together, then serve!
It’s important to use your sauce from the fridge within a few days as well because tofu tends to go bad relatively quickly, and it is our base ingredient.
More Easy Recipes
If you try this High Protein Mac and Cheese recipe out, tag me on Instagram @veggiekins so I can see your delicious re-creations and for a chance to be featured! As always, I love when you share your reviews in the comments below, and if you make any fun substitutions, let me know how it worked out below too!
10 Minute High Protein Mac and Cheese Recipe (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 8 ounces pasta of choice I used chickpea based elbow shaped pasta
- 1 1/4 cup silken tofu
- 1/3 cup carrots diced and steamed (more if desired)
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp white miso paste
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp white pepper optional
- salt and pepper to taste
- garnish
- cracked black pepper
- chives
- salt and pepper to taste
- extra vegan cheese
Instructions
- In a large pot, prepare pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, start to prepare your sauce.
- To prep sauce, add all ingredients to a blender and blend until completely smooth, scraping down sides if needed. Taste and adjust seasoning and spices until desired result is achieved.
- When pasta is ready, strain and return to pot over low heat. Add sauce and fold until sauce is heated, and evenly distributed. Add garnish of choice and enjoy immediately.
Notes
Secrets to Success
- It’s important that you use silken tofu when preparing this recipe. Make sure the package of tofu explicitly reads “silken.” The texture should be something similar to a pudding–difficult to pick up with your hands and super duper soft. You can find tofu at Whole Foods Market, most health food stores, and any Asian grocery store (where you’ll probably also get the best price!).
- When it comes to a classic, nostalgic recipe like mac and cheese, I think a big key to success is keeping true to the way you used to enjoy it. I’ve said it before, but visuals matter, and flavors do too! Did you always garnish your mac with chives? Perhaps extra parmesan cheese or bacon? Peas, spinach, or other veggies? Hot sauce? How about truffle? Well, I recommend you do the same to your vegan mac. Throw chives, truffle, vegan parmesan, vegan cheddar cheese, or a little bit of vegan bacon on top–whatever you need to do to recreate the feeling.
- If you don’t have a blender, a food processor will work as well.
- For the same reason, we added the carrots to the sauce because colour matters! And finally, I chose to use elbow noodles because they’re the classic macaroni shape. Use your favorite type of pasta!
Storage Tips
For leftovers, store the sauce and the pasta separately. Store each in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Reheat on the stovetop over medium heat and stir together, then serve! It’s important to use your sauce from the fridge withinNutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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