Vegan Butternut Mac Cheese (Print Version)

A creamy, comforting pasta with roasted butternut squash and a luscious dairy-free cheese sauce.

# What You Need:

→ Pasta

01 - 12 oz elbow macaroni or small pasta shells

→ Vegetables

02 - 1 medium butternut squash (about 2 lbs), peeled and cubed
03 - 1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped
04 - 2 garlic cloves, peeled

→ Sauce Base

05 - ½ cup unsweetened plant-based milk (oat, almond, or soy)
06 - ¼ cup nutritional yeast
07 - 2 tbsp olive oil
08 - 1 tbsp lemon juice
09 - 2 tsp Dijon mustard
10 - ½ tsp smoked paprika
11 - ½ tsp ground turmeric (optional)
12 - 1 tsp salt, plus additional to taste
13 - ½ tsp ground black pepper

→ Topping (optional)

14 - ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
15 - 1 tbsp olive oil
16 - 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

# Preparation Steps:

01 - Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
02 - Place butternut squash cubes, chopped onion, and garlic on the baking tray. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to coat evenly. Roast for 25 minutes until squash is fork-tender and caramelized.
03 - Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
04 - Transfer roasted vegetables to a blender. Add plant-based milk, nutritional yeast, 1 tablespoon olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, smoked paprika, turmeric if using, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Blend until smooth and creamy. Adjust seasoning as needed.
05 - Return drained pasta to the pot. Pour the sauce over the pasta and stir thoroughly until coated. Gently warm over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes while stirring.
06 - Mix panko breadcrumbs with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle evenly over pasta in an ovenproof dish and broil for 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown.
07 - Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and serve hot.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It tastes indulgent and creamy without a single drop of dairy—pure plant-based magic that actually tastes better than the original.
  • The butternut squash roasts while you cook pasta, so everything comes together in under an hour with almost no babysitting.
  • Your non-vegan friends will ask for the recipe because they genuinely can't tell it's dairy-free.
02 -
  • The sauce will thicken a bit as it cools, so if you're serving it later, you might need to add a splash of plant milk when you reheat it to bring back that creamy texture.
  • Don't blend the sauce until your squash is completely soft—any firmness will show up as texture in what should be silky sauce, and that changes everything.
  • Nutritional yeast is absolutely essential here; it's what makes your brain believe you're eating cheese even though there isn't any.
03 -
  • The blender is non-negotiable here—a food processor will leave the sauce grainy, but a blender creates that silky, restaurant-quality texture that makes the magic happen.
  • Taste your sauce before combining it with the pasta and adjust everything then; it's much easier to fix seasoning in the blender than in the pot.

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