Need a quick and easy meal? Make a jar of this homemade vegan mac and cheese powder to have in your pantry.
This instant mac and cheese powder is:
- Vegan
- Flavoursome
- And incredibly convenient
You know those times when you’re starving but feeling too lazy or tired to cook? Make a jar of this homemade vegan mac and cheese powder and next time you’ll be able to cook up a meal super quick, with hardly any effort!
Before going vegan, my default ‘I’m so exhausted and just got back from a really long day’ dinner used to be pasta with a homemade cheesy sauce.
Now we’ve got a jar of this vegan mix in the cupboard, it’s even easier. It’s as simple as: Cook macaroni, chuck stuff in, stir and EAT!
Ingredient tips
The main ingredient of the mix is nutritional yeast. We use so much of this that we buy it in bulk for better value! Nooch, as it’s affectionately called, has a cheesy, nutty flavour, and is a good source of protein.
A bit of plain flour helps to thicken the sauce. We haven’t tried a gluten free flour, but it would likely work as an alternative.
Then, onion granules or powder, garlic powder and smoked paprika add some flavour.
Turmeric adds a bit of warm yellow colour.
And salt, pepper and a bit of sugar complete the mix.
Camping friendly
The other thing that’s awesome about this mac n cheese powder is how perfect it is for camping. It’s lightweight, shelf stable and quick to cook, so it makes the ideal camping dinner.
And instead of using plant milk, you can just use the cooking water from the macaroni to make the sauce, which makes it even more camping cooking friendly!
Step by step
You'll find the recipe card at the end of the post, but here's a quick visual guide.
The mix is super easy to make. Just measure all your ingredients into a jar, give it a good stir and you’re done!
To use the powder to make mac and cheese:
It’s perfect if you are cooking for one person or feeding a crowd. Simply use 3 tablespoons of mac'n'cheese powder, plus ⅓ cup liquid (75 ml) and ½ cup dry macaroni (70 g) per person.
Step 1 - Cook your macaroni according to the package instructions. (Usually about 7 minutes) Drain the pasta.
Step 2 - Add the plant milk.
Step 3 - Then add the mac and cheese powder.
Step 4 - And stir until the sauce is smooth and thick.
Step 5 - We like to finish it off by adding a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. That adds some tang and fat for a more cheesy experience!
Variations
Feel free to adjust the mix to your own tastes: Add a bit less salt, more pepper, tweak the spices...
Instead of adding some lemon juice at the end, you could use a pinch of lemon pepper or citric acid, which has a nice sharp tang to add to the cheesiness.
We haven’t included cashews in the powder so it has a long shelf life. But if you want to add some for more cheesy flavour, just grind up some cashews in a high speed blender, and use in place of some of the nutritional yeast.
Add some veg to cook with the macaroni:
- Brocolli or cauliflower
- Green beans
- Frozen peas (add a couple of minutes before your macaroni is done)
Or chuck in some :
- Fresh herbs
- Sliced spring onions
- Or sun dried tomatoes
Serving
If you’ve got some vegan cheese to hand, you could also grate some on top. Or pop it under the grill until it’s bubbling.
Serve the vegan mac and cheese with a salad to add some colour, fibre and vitamins.
Go super indulgent and use the vegan mac'n'cheese as a side dish to a hearty Vegan Chili Non Carne!
Check out our other super easy vegan recipes, that require very little effort or ingredients!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Mac & Cheese Powder
Ingredients
Vegan Mac & Cheese Powder
- ¾ cup (33 g) nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder or granules
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp black pepper ground
- ¼ tsp turmeric for color
Cooking Mac & Cheese
- 2 ½ cups (350 g) macaroni uncooked, ½ cup / person
- 1 ⅔ cups (400 ml) plant milk ⅓ cup / person
- 1 cup (112 g) Vegan Mac & Cheese Powder 3 tbsp / person
- 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp / person
- 1 tbsp lemon juice ½ tsp / person
Instructions
Max & cheese powder
- Measure and mix all the ingredients.¾ cup (33 g) nutritional yeast, 2 tbsp plain flour, 1 ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp smoked paprika, ¼ tsp black pepper, ¼ tsp turmeric
- For long shelf life, store in a dry jar in a cool dark place.
Cooking vegan mac'n'cheese
- Cook and drain pasta according to package instructions. For the camping version without non-dairy milk, reserve the pasta cooking water to use in its place.2 ½ cups (350 g) macaroni
- Return the pasta to a saucepan. Add non-dairy milk/pasta cooking water, prepared mac'n'cheese powder, oil and lemon juice.1 ⅔ cups (400 ml) plant milk, 1 cup (112 g) Vegan Mac & Cheese Powder, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Stir to combine on low heat, until the sauce thickens up and reaches the desired consistency.
Nutrition
This information is calculated per serving and is an estimate only.
Felicia says
Is the “ 2 ½ cups (350 g) macaroni” cooked or uncooked pasta? Should I cook that much dry pasta, or is 2.5 cups the amount of cooked pasta I should end up with? Thank you!
Sophie and Paul says
Hi Felicia, thanks for the question! That's dry macaroni, and the 2 ½ cups is for 5 servings 🙂 I'm upating the recipe card to make it a bit clearer.
Enjoy! Paul
Jay says
I can't have wheat/gluten, do you think I could switch the flour out for corn starch?
Sophie and Paul says
Hi Jay, Yes cornstarch will most likely work fine. I'd suggest using about half the amount, as it is stronger at thickening than flour. Hope that helps! Sophie
Kim says
Thank you!
I made this two nights in a row to serve over baked potato with butter beans and broccoli. It was delicious and my mom loved it too. Now it’s going to be a staple recipe whenever I need a nice cheesy sauce. I didn’t have coconut milk so I used plain oat milk and about a teaspoon of a neutral tasting vegetable oil for a little added fat. I’m sure that I’ll be making this every week. 🙂
Sophie and Paul says
Fantastic, so glad you found our recipe Kim. Enjoy it!
Blaine says
I’ve made this a few times and I love it as a base!
I double the garlic and onion, add in a teaspoon of porcini mushroom powder, a teaspoon of msg (cause it makes everything taste good), a teaspoon of dried oregano and a pinch of chilli powder. I also used sweet paprika cause I don’t like Smokey taste.
With the salt, I do about 1/4 teaspoon as chicken stock powder (vegan) and the rest as table salt.
The serving ratios were off for me, I’ve settled on about 1 cup milk, 1 tablespoon vegan butter (instead of olive oil), 1 cup pasta (the bigger elbow macaroni that’s cheap at the supermarket) and 3 level tablespoons of the cheese mixture.
I keep forgetting the lemon so am yet to try that…
And I store with a silica gel pack in the pantry.
Sophie and Paul says
Hi Blaine, thanks for your comment, and kudos for experimenting and adding flavours to your taste! 🙂 We always like some extra flavour, and it's really good for people if they want to take it to the next level! Our idea was to keep it really simple with common ingredients to make it highly accessible.
The vegan butter is a great idea for creamy texture and great flavour. As you have to keep butter in the fridge, we used olive oil to make the recipe camping friendly. The lemon just gives that tiny bit of acidity that you would get from cheese, so a little goes a long way. You could also experiment with very small amounts of citric acid in the powder!
Of course if you change the recipe, the ratios might change to get the best result, and it's also a matter of personal taste 🙂
Glad you found our recipe and made it your own!
Best wishes, Paul
Elizabeth Oliver says
This is the second recipe I've used from your site and I love this one! I've seen a lot of recipes that used cashew nuts but that's not an option for me due to not being available in my area, so I looked for something else. This one is great! So convenient and easy to make. As well, I really liked your instructions for single servings. How smart! I've already had four servings - Thank you very much!
Sophie and Paul says
Thanks so much, Elizabeth! This recipe is all about convenience, as we wanted an mac'n'cheese 'instant' powder for our travels, and a recipe that doesn't require any fresh or chilled ingredients. This one does it all, and practically no extra effort apart from cooking the pasta, once you've got a jar of the powder. So yes, really great and quick for single portions! Paul's go-to lazy evening pasta snack 😉
Hope you'll find more recipes on our website to enjoy! Best wishes, Paul & Sophie
Mai says
I have found it a very useful standby. Unfortunately, my granddaughter finds it a bit too cheesy.
No matter we will tweek the next batch.
Enjoy your travels.
Sophie and Paul says
Thanks so much for your feedback Mai and good luck with the next batch. Maybe try to reduce the nutritional yeast if you want it less cheesy.
And thank you, we are loving being on the road again! Sophie