If your kids (or you) love mac and cheese, but you want them to eat their veggies, you have to make this Hidden Veggie Mac and Cheese. It’s perfect for the holidays. It’s decadent and rich so it makes a great comforting family dinner. If you want more nourishing pastas, check out All Your Greens Pasta, Beauty Beet Pasta, and Vegan Pesto Pasta.
Why I Love This Recipe
- Crowd Pleaser: I mean, who doesn’t love mac and cheese? This homemade vegan version is always a winner–with kids and adults alike.
- Five Hidden Veggies: A mac and cheese that packs in FIVE different hidden veggies?! That’s a win! You can’t even taste them.
- Dairy-Free: Most creamy mac and cheese is laden with dairy and can make you feel pretty icky afterwards. This version is 100% dairy-free and plant-based.
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Notes on Ingredients
- Cashews: Use raw cashews. If nut-free, you can substitute with hemp seeds (just don’t roast them, instead add them to the blender when it’s time to blend the sauce!).
- Sweet Potato: Peeled and cubed. No need to cut your veggies perfectly even because they will all get blended!
- Soy Milk: Use plain and unsweetened soy milk or any non-dairy milk.
Please take note that this is important information about the ingredients used in this recipe and the FULL recipe with measurements and details can be found DOWN BELOW (scroll to it) in the recipe card.
How do you make Hidden Veggie Mac and Cheese?
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add bell pepper, sweet potato, onion, cashews, carrot, garlic, oil, salt and pepper into a 9×13 roasting pan. Toss to combine.
- Roast for 30-40 minutes until potatoes are fork-tender.
- During the last 10 minutes of roasting, boil the noodles. Chop the broccoli and add it to the pasta in the last few minutes of cooking. Strain once done cooking and set aside.
- Add roasted ingredients to a high-speed blender (Vitamix) with the rest of the sauce ingredients. Blend until smooth.
- Pour sauce over noodles and broccoli and enjoy!
- Step 1: Preheat oven to 350F. Add bell pepper, sweet potato, onions, garlic, cashews, olive oil, salt and pepper to a roasting dish and toss.
- Step 2: Then, roast for 30-40 minutes until potatoes are fork-tender.
- Step 3: Boil the noodles.
- Step 4: Next, add in the chopped broccoli to the pot during the final few minutes of cooking the pasta.
- Step 5: Add all of the roasted ingredients along with miso, remaining spices, nutritional yeast, and soy milk.
- Step 6: Lastly, strain the pasta/broccoli, pour the cheese sauce over top, stir well, and enjoy!
Commonly Asked Questions
Store the mac and cheese leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave!
Yes, you’ll need a high speed blender like a Vitamix. I would avoid using a food processor or immersion blender as it probably won’t get smooth and creamy enough.
You can use any shape/type of noodles you want! Elbows work well. If you want to make this dish gluten-free, use gluten-free noodles. I used the Goodles protein noodles here.
I like a light salad, like my Longevity Kale Salad. For dessert, I’d serve Gluten-Free Cherry Cobbler. So yummy!
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“I made this for dinner tonight, my 6-year-old son is gobbling it up right now for dinner (so am I). Thank you for another great recipe!”
– Julian
Extra Helpful Tips
- To make this nut-free, replace the cashews with hemp seeds. Don’t roast the hemp seeds and just add them to the blender when it’s time to blend the sauce.
- Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Kids don’t like broccoli? Feel free to steam it on the side and serve it as a side dish instead!
- Make my Creamy Vegan Nut-Free Alfredo or One Pot Pumpkin Orzo next!
If you tried this Hidden Veggie Mac and Cheese or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 5-star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Hidden Veggie Mac and Cheese (vegan!)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 bell pepper quartered
- 1 sweet potato peeled and cubed
- ½ yellow onion roughly chopped
- 1.5 cups cashews raw
- 1 carrot large, sliced
- 1 head garlic cut in half
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon white miso paste
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 pinch cayenne optional for spice
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 3 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 cups soy milk plain and unsweetened
- 16 oz pasta gluten-free if needed
- 1 head broccoli
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add bell pepper, sweet potato, onion, cashews, carrot, and garlic into a 9×13 roasting pan and coat in olive oil. Mix to combine and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Roast for 30-40 minutes until potatoes are fork-tender. Squeeze garlic out!
- During the last 10 minutes of roasting, boil the pasta. Chop the broccoli and add it to the pasta in the last few minutes of cooking. Strain once done cooking and set aside.
- Add roasted ingredients to a high-speed blender (Vitamix) with the rest of the sauce ingredients. Blend until smooth.
- Pour sauce over noodles and broccoli and enjoy!
Notes
- To make this nut-free, replace the cashews with hemp seeds. Don’t roast the hemp seeds and just add them to the blender when it’s time to blend the sauce.
- Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Kids don’t like broccoli? Feel free to steam it on the side and serve it as a side dish instead!
Jordan Stacy says
The most insanely delicious vegan mac and cheese. LOVE how many veggies are packed into the cheese sauce.