Mac and Cheese - Vegan and Gluten-Free
Try this Mac and Cheese - Vegan and Gluten-Free recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Mac and Cheese - Vegan and Gluten-Free recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 lb brown rice elbow pasta cooked just shy of al dente
- 3 tablespoons vegan margarine
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk (i used plain unsweetened almond milk)
- 3 cups daiya shreds (i used 1 cup cheddar and 2 cups mozz as that's what i had on hand)
- 1/2 cup gluten-free and vegan bread crumbs
- Carbohydrate 5.81346166639014 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 34.4046808333194 g
- Fiber 3.20701667456446 g
- Protein 6.26668999995327 g
- Saturated Fat 8.68257833332915 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (510g)
- Sodium 376.475833333146 mg
- Sugar 2.60644499182568 g
- Trans Fat 1.80423833333273 g
- Calories 343 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a saucepan, over medium heat, melt vegan margarine.
- Add nutritional yeast and black pepper.
- Pour in non-dairy milk and add Daiya shreds.
- Whisk to mix and reduce heat to medium-low.
- Continue to whisk occasionally while shreds melt and sauce becomes smooth. Do not let the sauce scorch.
- Once the sauce is smooth and heated through, pour over cooked elbow noodles.
- Pour into a casserole dish.
- Mix bread crumbs and paprika then sprinkle on top.
- Bake about 15 minutes in preheated oven, until sauce begins to bubble and topping browns slightly.
Why is this sauce breaking down into an oily slick instead of a smooth emulsion? Controlling the thermal energy transfer in a heavy-bottomed saucepan prevents plant-based fats from separating from starches during reduction. Maintaining a medium-low flame while continuously agitating the liquid ensures that modern vegan shreds melt uniformly without scorching the bottom of the pan. Brown rice pasta requires careful monitoring during the boiling phase, demanding a strict pull at just shy of al dente because it absorbs significantly more ambient moisture from the cheese sauce during the fifteen-minute bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Substituting almond milk with a heavier plant milk like full-fat canned coconut milk will yield a denser, more unctuous final viscosity, whereas thinner commercial rice milks demand an additional thickening agent to achieve proper coating consistency on the noodles. Freshly cracked black pepper releases volatile aromatic compounds immediately upon contact with warm fat, whereas pre-ground dust offers flat heat. Folding nutritional yeast directly into the melted margarine before introducing the liquid creates a stable flavor base that permeates every strand of pasta.
