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    Home > Vegan Pasta Sauces

    Nut-free Vegan Mac and Cheese

    By My Pure Plants on 09/12/2022 - May contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure.

    Jump to Recipe Print Pin

    This is an easy vegan mac and cheese sauce without cashews, soy, oil, and gluten as well. What’s more? It is an easy, creamy, veggie-packed sauce that is ready in 20 minutes. All you need is a handful of vegetables, sunflower seeds, and nutritional yeast to make a healthy macaroni and cheese.

    Pasta with yellow sauce, chili flakes and chopped spring onion in a frying pan.

    Yes, another pasta sauce. You can’t have enough pasta sauce for sure. If you need a quick lunch or dinner, a pasta dish is always a good choice. You can use different pasta and different sauce every time to make things even more interesting. Our favorite pasta sauces are vegan spaghetti bolognese sauce, hidden vegetable sauce, and our popular vegan cashew alfredo sauce which is ready in 15 minutes! Or you can also visit our collection for even more vegan pasta sauce recipes.

    Table of Contents hide
    1. What to expect from this recipe
    2. Ingredients
    3. Instructions
    4. Top tips to make it perfectly
    5. Toppings
    6. FAQs and substitutions
    7. Allergen info
    8. More vegan pasta recipes
    9. Nut-free Vegan Mac and Cheese (No Oil, No Soy, No Gluten)

    What to expect from this recipe

    There are 3 types of vegan mac and cheese recipes out there:

    • veggie-based
    • nut-based
    • store-bought vegan cheese-based

    What all the above versions have in common is that they will be an EXACT match for dairy mac and cheese. However, if you change your expectations, you might be surprised how delicious a non-dairy mac n cheese sauce can be. So how it will taste like?

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    • Potatoes and sweet potatoes will give an absolutely creamy texture.
    • Sunflower seeds make them heavy and filling.
    • If you have tasted nutritional yeast, you’ll know that it is much closer to dairy Parmesan cheese than dairy mozzarella. And this will be reflected in the final flavor. It will taste mature, nutty, rich, and a bit overpowering. If you don’t like its taste, I heard good things about white miso paste and chickpea miso as a substitute.
    • Carrots and sweet potatoes give it an orange hue, which brings the color closer to a cheddar sauce.
    Pasta with yellow sauce, chili flakes and chopped spring onion. A hand is holding a fork and taking some.

    Ingredients

    This dairy-free mac and cheese sauce requires only 7 ingredients and a really good blender. You can have the best creaminess if you use a high-power blender like Vitamix. So what do you need to make this recipe?

    Ingredients for the nut-free vegan cheese sauce are in separate small bowls like chopped potatoes, chopped sweet potatoes, chopped carrots, sunflower seeds, yellow lakes, half on onion, clove of garlic.
    • Sunflower seeds – You can try using other seeds as well, but sunflower seed has the most neutral and the least nutty taste among them all. Some readers had success with pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas) as well.
    • Carrot
    • Potato
    • Sweet potato
    • Onion – We used raw onion, but you can use onion powder. As far as I know, 1 cup of chopped onions equals to 1 tablespoon of onion powder.
    • Garlic – We used raw garlic, but you can use garlic powder instead. As far as I know, a clove equals to ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder.
    • Nutritional yeast
    • Vegetable broth
    • Salt and black pepper

    No vegan butter, no oat milk, almond milk, or any fancy ingredient is needed. This nut-free recipe is easy and cheap. Since you only need a handful of things to make 6 servings, you can do a sort of leftover version. You can use up any potatoes or carrots you don’t need for your more intricate main dinner course. 🙂

    🛒 You can find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

    Instructions

    Preparing the ingredients

    Since this recipe is a vegan mac and cheese without nuts, no soaking or overnight preparation is needed.

    • Boil water and cook pasta as per instructions on the packaging. 
    • Wash, peel, and dice potatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots. The smaller you dice them, the shorter will be the cooking time.
    • Peel and chop onion and garlic.

    Cooking the vegetables

    1. Take a large pot or stockpot and add all vegetables (diced potatoes, diced sweet potatoes, diced carrots, chopped onion, and garlic) at once.
    2. Add vegetable broth and cook them over medium heat until all of them are soft. When they are fork-tender and ready, drain them, but reserve 1 cup of the cooking water.
    2 photo collage of a pot showing diced vegetables cooking in broth to make vegan mac and cheese sauce (carrot, sweet potato, potato, onion, garlic)

    Blending them to make a vegan cheese sauce

    1. Transfer all cooked vegetables into a blender.
    2. Add sunflower seeds (no need to soak them), nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, sweet paprika powder, and rice flour or corn starch.
    3. Blend them until you have a creamy sauce. When pasta is ready, drain the water. Pour the sauce on the pasta and enjoy!
    3 photos collage of a blender from above showing cooked chopped veggies in it, then added sunflower seeds and finally showing a smooth creamy yellow sauce

    Top tips to make it perfectly

    • Chop vegetables evenly and small – All root veggies are hard, so they need a long time to get tender. The smaller you cut the veggies, the shorter will be the cooking time.
    • Vitamix vs regular blender – You can certainly use a hand blender (aka immersion blender), a food processor, or a regular blender. They all make a creamy sauce. However, if you need this sauce to be extra smooth without a single little piece to find, we recommend using a high-powered blender like Vitamix*. We took new photos for this recipe after buying a Vitamix and there was a huge difference.
    • What if it is not thick enough? – There are 20 ways to thicken something. In this recipe, the easiest is to put it back in the pot and cook it down because the root veggies already have a starch content. Or you can add a bit of rice flour or corn/arrowroot/tapioca starch to make the sauce even gooier and thicker. It is really up to you.
    A frying pan is full of pasta. A hand is pouring a yellow sauce on it directly from a blender.

    Toppings

    Now, you have a gooey, cheesy, and creamy vegan mac and cheese sauce, which is already great on its own. But how about some toppings:

    • chives, spring onion
    • parsley
    • chili flakes, smoked paprika
    • almond flakes
    • wilted spinach or kale
    • breadcrumbs or other substitutes
    • crispy vegan bacon bits
    • green peas, corn, or any other canned legume
    • roasted asparagus and mushrooms
    • pan-fried oyster mushrooms
    • hot sauce, salsa, or jalapeno
    • eggplant meatballs, chickpea meatballs, vegan meatballs, or IKEA veggie balls.

    What is your favorite topping? Let us know in the comments.

    A frying pan with paste and yellow sauce topped with chili flakes and chopped green onion. A wooden smiling spatula is place next to it.

    FAQs and substitutions

    Can you use other veggies?

    Carrots and sweet potatoes are somewhat interchangeable in this recipe. If you have one or the other just skip the one you don’t have. Not to turn this into a butternut squash mac but if that is all you have substitute squash for one of the orange vegetables.

    Not vegetable, but we also made a melted mozzarella sauce out of white beans for our vegan eggplant parmesan. It is delicious next to a pomodoro sauce, but we never tried it on its own with pasta. Let us know if you do.

    What if I don’t like nutritional yeast?

    You need something cheezy and nutritional yeast is the easiest ingredient to do so. I heard good things about white miso and chickpea miso.

    How do you store it?

    You can keep leftovers in the refrigerator for 2-3 days tops without any problem. However, if you store it after mixing it with the pasta, the noodles will absorb some of the moisture of the sauce and it might not be as juicy as it was. We recommend storing the sauce by itself and only pouring it on the paste before serving.

    Can you freeze it?

    I never had to freeze it as it is usually gone by day 2. If you try to freeze the sauce, let me know how it turns out.

    2 black bowls of pasta in creamy yellow sauce topped with chili flakes and chopped green onion. Remaining pasta is in a frying pan in the corner.

    Is sunflower seed healthy?

    Raw, unsalted sunflower seeds are surprisingly packed with a lot of nutrients. Not to mention compared to cashews or almonds, they are on the cheap side.

    According to Cronometer 1 cup of raw sunflower seeds contains an astonishing amount of good plant-based protein (approx. 30g) and healthy plant-based Omega-6 fat (approx. 33g). It is very rich in Vitamin E, B1, B3, B6 and folate and high in minerals like copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus and zinc.

    Who knew? Read more about sunflower seeds in Healthline’s article about 6 healthy seeds.

    Pasta with yellow sauce, chili flakes and chopped spring onion. A hand is holding a fork and taking some.

    Allergen info

    This no cashew mac and cheese sauce recipe is meat-free, egg-free, and dairy-free.

    • Vegan – All ingredients are supposed to be vegan.
    • Nut-free – Yes it is. This recipe uses sunflower seeds. In any event, always check the labels for cross-contamination for whatever product you buy especially nutritional yeast.
    • WFPB-friendly (whole foods plant-based) – It is compliant since all ingredients are whole foods and no oil or sugar is added.
    • Gluten-free – You need to choose gluten-free pasta. For example this corn quinoa and rice fusilli or this protein-packed chickpea pasta or this gluten-free chia flour pasta. Other than that all other ingredients are supposed to be gluten-free, but always check the packaging for cross-contamination info.
    • Soy-free – All ingredients are supposed to be soy-free.

    More vegan pasta recipes

    We have a collection of more than 30 easy and delicious vegan pasta recipes, or check out our quick vegan meals collection.

    • White bowl with tortiglioni pasta covered in green pesto topped with cherry tomato halves and sprinkled with yellow flakes.
      Easy Vegan Pesto Pasta
    • Large white frying pan with red pesto spaghetti topped with green-yellow tofu cubes, shredded cheese and basil leaves.
      Red Pesto Tofu Pasta (Vegan)
    • Black cast iron skillet with spaghetti in creamy light brown sauce with asparagus, spinach and red pepper slices. Red harissa sauce in a glass jar and a spoon with tahini paste next to it.
      Creamy Harissa Tahini Pasta Sauce
    • Black frying pan with spaghetti in white sauce with wilted spinach leaves and charred cherry tomatoes. A hand is holding a fork and coil up with pasta.
      15-min Cashew Alfredo Sauce (Oil-free, Vegan)
    • White bowl with fettuccine pasta covered in green sauces sprinkled with yellow flakes and a pair of basil leaves. A fork is next to the bowl.
      Creamy Spinach Pasta Sauce
    • Vegan Spaghetti Bolognese (Cauliflower Walnut Meat)

    THANK YOU so much for visiting our website. Please comment below if you have tried this recipe. We LOVE hearing from you! If you loved the recipe, please don’t forget to give us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ RATING. We appreciate all of our readers.  

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    Small white bowl of fusilli pasta mixed with Easy Vegan Mac and Cheese No nuts Sauce and topped with eggplant and oyster mushroom garnish

    Nut-free Vegan Mac and Cheese (No Oil, No Soy, No Gluten)

    My Pure Plants
    Creamy and easy vegan mac and cheese sauce with sunflower seeds. It is veggie-packed, cheap, and nut-free for everyone to enjoy. This is an easy vegan mac and cheese sauce without cashews, soy, oil, and gluten as well. What's more? It is an easy, creamy, veggie-packed sauce that is ready in 20 minutes. All you need is a handful of vegetables, sunflower seeds, and nutritional yeast to make a healthy macaroni and cheese.
    4.5 from 15 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 10 mins
    Total Time 20 mins
    Course Main Course, Side Dish
    Servings 6 servings
    Calories 88kcal

    Equipment

    • our Vitamix A2300
    • Regular blender
    • Stockpot

    Ingredients
     
     

    To pre-cook

    • 1 cup Potato (diced) 1 medium
    • 1 cup Sweet potato (diced) 1 small/medium
    • ½ cup Carrot (diced) 1 medium
    • ¼ cup Onion (chopped) ½ small
    • 1 clove Garlic
    • 3 cup Veggie broth

    To blend

    • 1 cup Veggie broth aka cooking water
    • ⅓ cup Sunflower seed (raw, unsalted)
    • 2 Tbsp Nutritional yeast
    • ½ tsp Salt
    • ⅛ tsp Pepper
    • 1 pinch Sweet Paprika powder
    • 1 Tbsp Brown rice flour or corn starch if you want an even more gooey sauce (optional)
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    Instructions
     

    Prepare ingredients

    • Boil water and cook pasta as per instructions on the packaging. 
    • Peel and dice potatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots. The smaller you dice them, the shorter will be the cooking time. 
    • Peel and chop onion and garlic. 

    Pre-cook ingredients

    • Boil veggie broth in a pan and add all vegetables (diced potatoes, diced sweet potatoes, diced carrots, chopped onion, and garlic). Cook them until soft.  
    • When ready, reserve 1 cup of the cooking water. 

    Blend everything to make a sauce

    • Transfer all cooked vegetables into a blender. Add sunflower seeds (no need to soak them), nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, sweet paprika powder, and rice flour or corn starch.
    • Blend them until you have a creamy sauce. 
    • When pasta is ready, drain the water. Pour the sauce on the pasta and enjoy! 
    Tried this recipe? Can we see it?Please share a picture with us by uploading an image to Pinterest below ours.

    Notes

    Quick note: In the video, we added the nutritional yeast after blending, which was due to the fact that we almost forgot. :-))) Slight distraction due to two kids running around at home. 
    A quick tip: Sauces with added flour and starch need to be hot to thicken. It means you have to re-heat the sauce in a small pan to activate the flour or the starch properly. However, the veggies also have starch in them, and I think the sauce is thick enough without anything else to add.  

    Video

    Nutrition

    Nutrition Facts
    Nut-free Vegan Mac and Cheese (No Oil, No Soy, No Gluten)
    Amount Per Serving (1 serving of the sauce)
    Calories 88 Calories from Fat 36
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 4g6%
    Saturated Fat 0.4g3%
    Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
    Monounsaturated Fat 1g
    Sodium 371mg16%
    Potassium 228mg7%
    Carbohydrates 11g4%
    Fiber 2g8%
    Sugar 2g2%
    Protein 3g6%
    Vitamin A 5096IU102%
    Vitamin C 2mg2%
    Calcium 19mg2%
    Iron 1mg6%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    UPDATED: This recipe was originally posted in Nov 2018, but was rewritten and republished with new photos, instructions, and tips in Sep 2022.

    836 shares

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

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    1. Valerie Wilson

      October 06, 2022 at 11:57 pm

      I am allergic to sunflower seeds.
      Do I have to use them?
      If so, is there a substitute please?
      Thanks for answering my question.

      Valerie Wilson

      Reply
      • Nandor

        October 07, 2022 at 8:36 am

        Cashews if nuts are okay. I remember someone told me that they tried it with pumpkin seeds. She could taste the seeds a bit and the color was off-orange, but the texture was similar. I haven’t tried this recipe with pepitas myself.

        Reply
    2. Jane Foster

      March 11, 2021 at 12:47 am

      How much sunflower butter should I use to replace the seeds? The same amount? Thanks!

      Reply
      • My Pure Plants

        March 11, 2021 at 10:43 am

        Hi Jane, 2 cups of sunflower seeds yield 1 cup sunflower butter. I use 1/3 cup seeds, so I would try with 1/4 cup sunbutter or a bit less. If you end up with a sauce too thick, thin it with a bit of milk.

        Reply
    3. Emma Li

      April 09, 2019 at 11:19 pm

      5 stars
      I just made this without the nutritional yeast and substituted some vegetable bouillon in place of salt. Alpha did not make the eggplant topping.

      Reply
      • My Pure Plants

        April 16, 2019 at 9:04 pm

        Thanks for making our recipe. We are so glad that you liked it.

        Reply
    4. Proktools

      January 01, 2019 at 7:23 am

      5 stars
      It looks very tasty…. yummy.. Write For Us

      Reply
    5. Kimmy Ripley

      December 01, 2018 at 6:03 pm

      I have never had vegan mac and cheese but this sure looks and sounds delish!

      Reply
      • My Pure Plants

        December 01, 2018 at 9:31 pm

        There is always a first. You should definitely give it a try.

        Reply
    6. Emma

      November 27, 2018 at 1:58 am

      5 stars
      This looks so good, definitely adding it to my list of recipes to try!

      Reply
      • My Pure Plants

        November 27, 2018 at 8:13 pm

        Thanks. Great to hear it.

        Reply

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