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Have I mentioned that I love mac & cheese? ‘Cause I doooooo, and I just can’t get enough.
This time, it’s mac and cheese made with a creamy cauliflower cheese sauce. De-lish!
I’ve made numerous mac and cheese recipes in my life, but I think this one takes the cake. It’s cheesy and creamy and satisfying and YUM YUM YUM.
Even my mom, who is far from vegan, loved this dish and asked for the recipe. Mom never asks for the recipe! I knew it was a keeper when even she loved it.
I added some smoked paprika on top for a bit of smoky flavour, but you don’t have to. But it’s delicious and it’s pretty, so why not?
Also, a bit of vegan parmesan cheese never hurt anyone. Throw it on there.
Eat up, eat more, and do a happy dance for delicious vegan mac and cheese. Yes!
Vegan Cauliflower Mac & Cheese
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Author: Vegan Insanity
Recipe type: Pasta
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 4 cups elbow macaroni
- 1 large head cauliflower, chopped
- 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- Paprika, as garnish (optional)
- Vegan parmesan cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, and set aside.
- Fill a large pot with water, and bring to a boil. Add in the chopped cauliflower and carrots. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until softened. Drain, and add to a food processor or high speed blender.
- Add in the oil, water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Process/blend until smooth.
- Add cheese sauce to your pot full of drained pasta and mix well.
- Serve, with a sprinkle of vegan parmesan cheese and some paprika, if desired.
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My love for pasta cannot be put into words – it’s that strong. If I could eat breakfast for every meal of the day, I’d be one happy girl (I’ve been known to cook up a pot of pasta for breakfast on really cold mornings! I’m weird, I know.).
Alas, this is not possible, so I indulge whenever I can. And when I do make pasta, I try not to complicate things. Simple is often best. Like this pasta here, for example.
There is very little added to it (just tomatoes, garlic, basil, parsley, lemon juice and some herbs), and it tastes amazing. Also, because there are so few ingredients, it takes no time at all to prepare!
I love simple pastas!
Isn’t it pretty?
Use any kind of pasta you want for this – it will work with almost all kinds, but I love linguine. Spaghetti and spiral noodles work well, too. This was just an organic white pasta, but I usually use spelt, whole wheat or brown rice pastas – and they all work well in this recipe!
Garlic & Tomato Pasta
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Author: Vegan Insanity
Recipe type: Pasta
Serves: 2
Ingredients
- 8 oz. pasta (or ½-1 cup per person)
- 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup tomatoes, diced
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Boil pasta according to package directions.
- Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Once warm, add garlic and cook until lightly browned, then add in the tomatoes and cook for another few minutes (3 or 4).
- Drain your cooked pasta and add it to the pan. Mix everything together, and then add in your basil, parsley, lemon juice, salt and black pepper. Mix again.
- Serve immediately.
Vegan Cauliflower Bolognese
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Raise your hand if you love pasta!
Raise your hand if you’re bored of just pasta and red sauce!
Hopefully I wasn’t the only one raising my hand, because that would be embarrassing.
But seriously – as much as I love me some pasta, I get sick of pasta and red sauce really quick. I don’t mind it, but I don’t like to eat it all the time because then it’s repetitive and repetitive is so boring when it comes to food.
Don’t you agree?
So – cauliflower to the rescue!
Really, what can’t cauliflower do? I’d like to know, because everything I’ve ever tried to use it forhas worked successfully (pizza crust, “chicken wings”, soup, cheese sauce, and now – pasta sauce).
This sauce is a cinch to put together, too. It goes a little something like this:
Chop
Add to pot
Cook
Pulse/Blend
Serve
Simple, right?
And oh em geeeeeeeeee, this sauce is GOOD. Tastes just like bolognese, but without the meat. I used to love thin, boring pasta sauce when I was a kid – but now, big & chunky is my fave. And this cauliflower bolognese can be as chunky (or smooth!) as you want! Delish.
Vegan Cauliflower Bolognese
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Author: Vegan Insanity
Recipe type: Pasta Sauce
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1 medium carrot, chopped small
- 5 cups cauliflower, chopped
- ½ small onion, chopped small
- ½ cup packed spinach, coarsely chopped
- 1 tomato, seeded and chopped small
- 4 cups diced tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 tsp basil
- 1 tsp oregano
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic, chopped carrot, cauliflower, and spinach, and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the garlic has lightly browned.
- Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and cook for about 45 minutes, or until the largest piece of cauliflower can easily be pierced with a knife.
- Remove from heat and pour into a blender, or use a stick blender, and blend/pulse until you reach your desired consistency (I made mine a bit chunky).
- Serve over pasta and garnish with fresh parsley or basil, if you wish.
Notes
Adapted from Sweet Salty Spicy.
Super Cheesy Vegan Pesto Pasta
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I have one of the easiest recipes ever to share with you today.
Easy and tasty – the perfect combo, don’t you think?
I was craving pasta not long ago, but I wasn’t in a very creative mood, so I looked online for some inspiration.
Pesto pasta kept popping up everywhere, and since I had just made a batch of it the day before for a salad, that’s what I decided to make. I was excited to have such a simple dish for lunch. Cook pasta, add prepared pesto, eat.Easy.
But, as I reached into the fridge to grab the pesto, I noticed the jar of nacho cheese sauce that I’d made for our a few days prior.
Hmmm – “do I dare?”, I asked myself.
And dare, I did.
I warmed up the nacho cheese, then added it to the cooked pasta, along with the pesto. I mixed it all together, crossed my fingers, stuffed a bunch of pasta in my face..
and just about diedfrom the deliciousness.
The spicy nacho cheese with the cool pesto was a surefire winner!
Lunch was awesome that day. Which reminds me,I need to make another batch of pesto…
Super Cheesy Vegan Pesto Pasta
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Creamy, cheese, pesto-y. This dish has it all! Serve it up for lunch, dinner - heck, why not breakfast? You'll find it hard not to stuff your face with this cheesy pesto pasta, regardless of what time of day it is!
Author: Vegan Insanity
Recipe type: Pasta
Serves: 4
Ingredients
Pesto
- 1½ cups fresh basil
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil (or hemp oil)
- 1 cup pine nuts*
- 4 medium garlic cloves
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Nacho Cheese
- 1¼ cups water
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- heaping ¼ tsp paprika
- heaping ½ tsp onion powder
- heaping ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1 large roasted red pepper
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
Pasta
- 3 cups pasta noodles of your choice (I used spelt spiral noodles)
Instructions
Pesto
- Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until just a little bit chunky. Set aside.
Nacho Cheese
- Add all ingredients to a food processor or high-powered blender and process/blend until smooth. In a small saucepan on low-medium heat, warm the cheese sauce, whisking constantly for about 5 minutes, or until thickened. Set aside.
Pasta
- Cook according to package directions. Set aside.
Assembly
- Add your pesto and nacho cheese sauce to the cooked pasta. You will likely not use as much as you prepared, so just add a bit of each at a time, and stop when it gets to where you want it.
- Season with a bit more salt & pepper, if desired.
Notes
*Almonds also work well in a pesto. As do cashews or walnuts.
*Prepare the nacho cheese sauce and/or pesto in advance to save on prep/cooking time!
Vegan Lasagna with Ricotta Cheese
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If I was given the chance to choose my last meal in life, I wouldn’t hesitate to ask for lasagna.
Lasagna is, hands down, my favourite meal on the planet.
And this vegan lasagna with homemade ricotta cheese is freakin’ amazing.
I used my food processor to whip up my vegan ricotta cheese, but a high-powered blender would work, too.
I kept things simple and just added spinach as my veggie of choice, but I often add a whole heap of veggies, such as bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, and anything else I have sitting in my fridge.
Add whatever you love.
I also sprinkled a bit of fresh parsley on top, but this is optional. I just love the little flecks of green.
Vegan Lasagna with Ricotta Cheese
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Author: Vegan Insanity
Recipe type: Pasta
Serves: 6-12
Ingredients
- ½ tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- Veggies of choice (I just used spinach to keep things simple, but you could also add mushrooms, bell peppers, and more!)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 cups pasta sauce (homemade or store-bought)
- 1 box lasagna noodles (buy oven-ready to save some time)
- 1 batch vegan ricotta cheese (link at end of post)
- 1-1½ cups vegan cheese shreds (I used Daiya Mozzarella)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F.
- Heat oil in a pan over medium heat, then saute your vegetables until they are cooked to your liking. Add in the minced garlic and cook for a few minutes more. Season well with salt & pepper.
- Add a layer of pasta sauce to the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. This will help prevent the lasagna noodles from sticking to the dish.
- Add a layer of noodles, vegan ricotta cheese, and some vegetables.
- Repeat with more pasta sauce, noodles, ricotta cheese and vegetables, until all of your ingredients are gone.
- Top with vegan cheese shreds, cover the pan with foil (poke a few holes in the top to allow steam to escape), and bake for about 40 minutes.
- Remove from oven, take off the foil, and broil for another 5 minutes or so, until the lasagna is lightly browned.
Recipe: Vegan Ricotta Cheese
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Growing up, Kraft Dinner was a staple in our house. Up until I was in my early twenties, I ate that neon-orange pasta on a regular basis. I loved it. Big time. Despite it being filled with so many awful ingredients like artificial food dyes (yikes!).
Since I’ve adopted a much healthier way of eating, this blue box has left my home for good, and it’s not coming back. But I still eat mac and cheese. I just make my own in a much healthier way.
The best part of this dish is that there are not only zero artificial food dyes, but also no milk, butter or flour to be found – and it still tastes delicious!
This pasta is creamy, and hearty, with a bit of a spicy kick from the paprika and cayenne pepper. Yum.
If you have a high-powered blender, like a Vitamixor Blendtec, you should be able to get very smooth cheese sauce, but even if you don’t have one of those, you can still make the cheese sauce in a food processor and though it probably won’t be as smooth, it will be just as tasty!
I only had a small half-empty box of elbow macaroni, so I made that, and then made a large batch of penne pasta to make this dish large enough to feed my entire family. Everyone gobbled it up (and some went back for seconds!).
Spicy Vegan Mac and Cheese
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Author: Vegan Insanity
Recipe type: Pasta
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
- 2 cups elbow macaroni*
- 1½ cups raw cashews, soaked for at least 1 hour
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- ¾ cup water
- 1½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- ¼ tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp dijon mustard
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- paprika for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions.
- While your pasta is cooking, add the rest of the ingredients (raw cashews, garlic, lemon juice, water, salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, paprika, turmeric, dijon mustard and a pinch of cayenne pepper) to your blender or food processor. Blend/process until smooth. It should be thick when it's ready.
- Once your pasta has finished cooking, drain, reserving ⅓ cup or so of the cooking water, then add back to the pot, with the cooking water. Mix in the cheese sauce until all of the sauce is evenly distributed.
- Serve, with some fresh parsley and more paprika sprinkled on top, if desired.
Notes
*I prefer elbow macaroni, but you can use whatever noodles you have on hand.
*Use gluten-free pasta to make this dish gluten-free.
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Hello, my friends. I’d like to introduce you to my new favourite pasta. This one is made with pesto – but not just any ol’ pesto.
No, this one is loaded with basil, sun-dried tomatoes and walnuts. Otherwise known as: some of the best ingredients ever. I actually went back for seconds of this dish, which I never do, because it really was incredible.
If you end up with leftovers (hahaha!), they taste just as good the next day.
Pasta with Basil, Sun-Dried Tomato & Walnut Pesto
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There's nothing like a plate of pasta to satisfy your hunger, and this dish is sure to please!
Author: Vegan Insanity
Recipe type: Pasta
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
- Pasta of choice
- 1 large or 2 small garlic cloves
- ½ cup fresh basil
- 7-8 sun-dried tomatoes*
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp walnuts
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
- ¼ cup water + more if needed
Instructions
- Prepare pasta according to package instructions.
- While pasta is cooking, you can prepare the pesto. In a food processor or high-powdered blender, add garlic, basil, sun-dried tomatoes, nutritional yeast, olive oil, walnuts, salt, pepper, and ¼ cup water.
- Processed until smooth, scraping down the sides of the processor/blender and adding more water as necessary.
- When pasta has finished cooking, drain, and return to pot. Mix in the pesto, plate, and serve, topped with vegan parmesan cheese, if desired.
Notes
*If using sun-dried tomatoes that aren't packed in oil, you will need to soak them for at least one hour, or until soft.
