McMasteroni and cheese

By: Rebecca Murray

With exam season rearing its ugly head, it is easy to forget to treat ourselves to something new. Here is a must-try delicious and highly customizable vegan mac and cheese for those to help you get through those inevitable late nights.

Giving up cheese was the hardest part about going vegan for me. So naturally, mac and cheese was the first recipe I learned.

This recipe also has strength in that it’s really quick to make so if you’re having a long day and need fast comfort food this is a perfect go-to. I usually start the cheese sauce while I’m boiling the water for my noodles so by the time the macaroni is cooked the sauce is done. This recipe is all about the cheese sauce which is thankfully easy to make!

I’ve used it with a bunch of different noodle types and they are all equally tasty so just put the sauce on any kind of noodles you like.

The sauce (on medium heat in a pot/saucepan):

-1 tbsp of Earth Balance or vegan Becel, melted

-1 cup unsweetened almond or soy milk

-1 tbsp flour, whisked into the milk really well

-6 tbsp nutritional yeast, whisked in

-2 tsp dijon mustard

-½ tsp salt

-¼ tsp cumin

-¼ tsp onion powder

-¼ tsp garlic powder

-Ground pepper to taste

-Stir for about 5-10 minutes until the sauce thickens.

Once the noodles are cooked I add them to the sauce and then put in a couple small handfuls of mozzarella Daiya cheese for stretchy texture and then Frank’s Red Hot sauce to taste.

If you hate Frank’s, any vinegar-based hot sauce will work, or maybe even just a little apple cider vinegar to give it some tanginess.

Add-Ins:

Another great part of this recipe is its versatility. If you want more than noodles and cheese sauce you can add things into this recipe super easily.

My favourites include:

-Sauteed mushrooms, or onions, or both!

-Pan-fried smoked tofu

-Pan-fried veggies (I’m a fan of Broccoli, spinach, brussels sprouts, or asparagus)

-Chili (chili mac and cheese!)

-Veggies ground round or textured vegetable protein

My one recommendation with add-ins is to cook them in a separate pan and add them in at the very end. I’ve tried adding stuff into the sauce while it cooks with some bad results.