Vegan Bacon Mac and Beer Cheese
This vegan bacon mac and cheese is made with a simple dairy-free beer cheese sauce that uses a potato carrot base and NO cashews. The cheesy flavor and ooey gooey texture will blow your mind! To finish it off, we top our vegan mac and cheese with coconut bacon crumbles. It’s also a fairly healthy mac and cheese recipe that's easy to make gluten-free and includes an oil-free option.
Ingredients
- 1 16-oz box small shell pasta, cooked*
- Vegan bacon optional, for sprinkling
For the beer cheese sauce:
- 3 cups peeled and diced potatoes
- ½ cup peeled and diced carrots
- ½ cup peeled and diced yellow onion
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil**
- 2 Tbsp yellow mustard
- 2 Tbsp stone ground mustard
- 1 Tbsp vegan chicken broth powder
- 4 - 6 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 2 Tbsp tapioca starch
- 1 Tbsp sea salt
- 1.5 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 cup beer***
Instructions
- BOIL: Get a large pot of water boiling and add the diced potatoes, carrots, and onions. Cover the pot and let the veggies boil for about 15 minutes or until they are fork-tender.
- BLEND: When the veggies are finished boiling, strain them and add them to a blender or food processor with the remainder of the sauce ingredients (EXCLUDING the beer). Blend on high for 1-2 minutes until the mixture goes from chunky/grainy to smooth and shiny.
- SIMMER: Pour your sauce back into the large pot and turn the heat to high. Whisk the beer into the sauce, cover, and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, remove the cover, turn the heat to medium-low, and let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes or until your desired thickness is reached. If it gets too thick, add a little more water.
- SERVE: Then, taste and adjust your seasonings as needed. Stir in your cooked pasta, taste/adjust again. Serve in a big bowl or pretzel bowl sprinkled with vegan bacon!
Video
Notes
*To make it gluten-free: Use your favorite gluten-free beer and pasta!
**To make it oil-free: Replace the olive oil with raw cashews or sunflower seeds. To do this, add the cashews or sunflower seeds to the pot to boil with the rest of your veggies. Just make sure the strainer you’re using is fine, so you don’t have any seed/nut pieces slipping through!
***Beer: A German pilsner or Golden Lager are your best in this recipe. And thanks to Reinheitsgebot (Bavarian/German Purity Law of 1516), these beers are almost always vegan-friendly!
Nutrition
Serving: 1bowlCalories: 257kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 9gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 9gFiber: 5gSugar: 2g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!