Want a dinner that feels fancy and like comfort food all at the same time? Hello, vegan truffle mac and cheese!! Adding truffle oil to this creamy pasta adds an air of elegance but this recipe secretly super easy to prepare. It takes just 10 ingredients and only 20 minutes to make! The perfect dish for a special occasion without the stress of complicated cooking.
Valentine's day, anniversaries, celebrations, and date night are all fantastic times to serve vegan truffle mac and cheese. But once you taste it, it's so delicious that you're going to want to make it every night.
The simple dairy-free sauce is made using cashews for creaminess, white miso paste for an aged umami taste, and truffle-infused olive oil for the perfect creamy, luscious mac and cheese.
This sauce is so good, it would also be wonderful drizzled over cooked veggies such as cauliflower, broccoli, or baked potatoes.
If you're not into the truffle flavour you can omit the oil and make a simple creamy pasta. Or for the classic boxed mac & cheese taste, try making my homemade vegan mac & cheese powder.
To make Vegan Truffle Mac & Cheese:
If you have a high powdered blender such as a Vitamix, Blendtec, or Breville you can skip to the next step. If you don’t have a high-powered blender, you might want to boil the cashews first to ensure they are tender enough to blend into a smooth sauce. To do this add the cashews to a small pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes until the cashews are very tender. Drain and rinse with cold water. You can now proceed to make the cheese sauce.
Make the cheese sauce by adding 2 cups of water along with the cashews, nutritional yeast, cornstarch, miso paste, truffle oil, salt, garlic powder, and pepper to your blender until it is completely smooth. At this stage, the sauce will be quite watery. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and then cook the pasta according to package directions.
Drain the pasta and quickly rinse the pot to remove any leftover starch from the pasta water. Return the empty pot to the heat and pour in the cheese sauce. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pan with a spatula until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
Add the cooked hot pasta to the sauce and toss to coat for the most delicious vegan truffle mac and cheese ever! Serve hot.
I love to add a crack of fresh pepper to mine, but you could also garnish with some freshly chopped parsley, an extra drizzle of truffle oil, or just enjoy as is.
Bon appetegan!
Sam Turnbull
Vegan Truffle Mac & Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- ½ cup raw cashews
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon white miso paste
- 1 tablespoon truffle olive oil
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 cups short pasta such as shells or macaroni, (gluten-free if preferred)
Instructions
- If you have a high powdered blender such as a Vitamix, Blendtec, or Breville you can skip to step 2. If you don’t have a high-powered blender, you might want to boil the cashews first to ensure they are tender enough to blend into a smooth sauce. To do this add the cashews to a small pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes until the cashews are very tender. Drain and rinse with cold water. You can now proceed to make the cheese sauce.
- Make the cheese sauce by adding 2 cups of water along with the cashews, nutritional yeast, cornstarch, miso paste, truffle oil, salt, garlic powder, and pepper to your blender until it is completely smooth. At this stage, the sauce will be quite watery. Set aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and then cook the pasta according to package directions.
- Drain the pasta and quickly rinse the pot to remove any leftover starch from the pasta water. Return the empty pot to the heat and pour in the cheese sauce. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pan with a spatula until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Add the cooked hot pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. Serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
Donna Poco says
Easy recipe and delicious! Thank you!
kerry says
Made this tonight, added asparagus just to sneak a vegetable into it, outstanding! would actually serve this to non-vegans.
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
Yay!!
Candi says
Sam, One of your very best recipes I make frequently! Being Whole Food Plant based, I omit the OIL! I add truffle powder to the cashew mix to boost the truffle umami flavor. It still tastes delicious and my husband will ask me to make it at least every other week.
Colleen says
Absolutely amazing! I made this for thanksgiving a year or two ago, for my niece who is vegan, and it was a huge hit! It has become a staple in my house - and I’m not even vegan. It is my favourite starchy comfort food. Will definitely be trying more of your recipes. Thank you!
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
That's great!
Justine says
Wow wow wow. Creamy, peppery, cheesy, savoury shells. This was SO good. I couldn’t get any truffle olive like and it was still delicious. Will eat again. And again!
Jess @ IDTLC Support says
Fantastic!
Dee says
Good to know, thank you! The smell and taste of truffle oil makes me gag, so I was going to ask if the truffle oil was necessary.
Jill says
Wow! Fast and delicious Put it on top of chickpea pasta. This gets our top rating of 4 stars. Thanks for another great recipe.
Lisa says
I’ve made this several times now and I’m not sure if I’ve left a review or not… this has to be one of my all time favorite dishes. Not just vegan, but all dishes. It’s so flavorful and creamy. I have a really hard time sharing it with my husband and we never have any leftovers. I keep thinking I want to use this as a base for a spinach artichoke dip but then I crave the pasta when I make it 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Aww thank you so much Lisa!! What a compliment 🙂
Lynne says
I have been making this fabulous recipe for a year and thought it was about time to compliment you on how delicious it is. We make your Mushroom Bacon (doubled) and add it, which moves this recipe into the stratosphere! I make minor changes:
1) I use soy milk instead of water in order to increase the protein.
2) I don't use any cornstarch as we found that is was way too thick for leftovers.
3) I double the Truffle Olive Oil -- it's an amazing flavour boost.
We love your recipes and I am always excited to try them. This recipe is one we use for non-vegan guests and they are always blown away by how fabulous it is. Thank you for all the research, testing, and the amazing results you produce. You make being a vegan a delicious life choice!!
Sam Turnbull says
So thrilled you love it so much Lynne!
Korin says
Sauce is amazing!!!Can you freeze the sauce also?
Starsha Bingman says
This was DELICIOUS!! My whole family loved this !! Even my 3 year old! Easy to make and fun to try HIGHLY recommended! I added smoked paprika and broccoli to mine! Will make again and again
Taylor Tutkowski says
Hi! I'm planning on making this tomorrow, was wondering if the recipe calls for 3 cups noodles uncooked or 3 cups after cooking? Thanks, looks great!
Sam Turnbull says
3 Cups uncooked noodles 🙂
AW says
Really simple, thickens like magic! It reminded me of my gram's (non-vegan) mac n cheese soup. I added a bit of seasoning salt and omg it was so good! My hubby and I ate it all while waiting for our son to come down to dinner. You snooze you lose! No leftovers.
Rosemary Ripley says
Another ‘top drawer’ recipe from Sam. She is my go-to cook, always fails safe recipes and I really appreciate that she will answer any queries you have. (not all chefs take the trouble). Looking forward to your next book Sam!
Sam Turnbull says
Thank you so much, Rosemary! 🙂
Dawn W says
I made this tonight. OMG! Definitely won't be my last time making it. I love that it's so easy! I'm currently talking myself out of eating the portion I put away for tomorrow's lunch!