Vegan Mexican Mac and Cheese {vegan + gluten free}

This vegan mexican mac and cheese is dairy free and gluten free. Made on the stove top with a delicious cashew cheese sauce, sweet corn, black beans, tomatoes, and all the fresh garnishes. A healthy comfort food meal that is FULL of flavor.

Ever since we made this easy dairy free cauliflower mac and cheese, cashew cheese has become a VERY big part of our life, and I am here for it. After that recipe I took a dive into mexican style cashew queso cheese that is out-of-this-world delicious (and also happens to be Whole30 compliant!), and today we’re spinning off of that recipe and making VEGAN MEXICAN MAC AND CHEESE. It’s like a delicious cashew cheese rabbit hole that get’s more and more tasty with each recipe.

So yes this mac and cheese is as yummy as it sounds 😉

I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but the moment September hit here in the PNW it started to feel like fall. It’s been kind of fun putting on cozy socks in the morning and cozying up under the covers at night to get warm.

But that’s the best part about season changes, don’t you think? Enjoying the little things that you missed during the space between. Such a sweet feeling.

I still have some “summery” recipes coming your way, because I know it’s not feeling like fall everywhere just yet. And I’ve been known to milk summer for all it’s worth.. 😎but in the meantime let’s start settling into the fall vibe a little bit with this cozy vegan (and gluten free!) mexican mac and cheese.

This vegan and gluten free mexican mac and cheese is…

• Dairy free
• Creamy
• Flavorful
• Healthy
• Comforting
• So tasty

How to make vegan mexican mac and cheese

The most time consuming portion of this recipe is soaking the cashews to make the cashew cheese sauce. You need to soak raw cashews for at least 30 minutes in just boiled water prior to blending them into cheesy oblivian. Alternatively you could soak them in cold water overnight if you know in advance that you’re going to be making this recipe.

But one your cashews are soaked, it’s really a breeze to put together.

The ingredients are pretty straight forward, and all are healthy and wholesome.

Vegan mexican mac and cheese ingredients

• Dairy free mexican style cashew cheese sauce
• Your favorite gluten free pasta – I used chickpea pasta
• Sweet corn
• Black beans
• Cherry tomatoes
• Fresh garnishes like cilantro, green onions, and jalapeño

Once you have gathered all of the ingredients you can start making the mac.

Here’s the basic instructions:

1. Start by soaking the raw cashews in just boiled water for at least 30 minutes, or up to overnight. 
2. While soaking the cashews, prep the rest of the ingredients for the mac and cheese. 
3. Drain and rinse the black beans, halve the cherry tomatoes, measure the sweet corn or cut fresh off the cob, chop cilantro, slice jalapeño, and slice green onions. 
4. Set all prepped ingredients aside until ready to assemble the pasta. 
5. Once cashews have soaked and are soft and plump, drain and rinse them with cold water. Transfer to a high speed blender along with more just boiled water, mustard, lime juice, chili powder, nutritional yeast, turmeric powder, hot sauce, and sea salt.
6. Blend on high for a minute or two, until very smooth and creamy.
7. Once fully blended, add salsa and pulse a couple of times to mix in. Taste and add more salt or hot sauce if desired.
8. Cook pasta according to package instructions. You may want to slightly undercook it, since it will continue cooking a bit when you add the queso and heat it back up. Add the corn about 1 minute before the pasta is done, whether using frozen or fresh. 
9. Drain pasta, rinse, and move back to the pot you cooked it in. 
10. Turn heat on low and add tomatoes and black beans. 
11. Pour the cashew cheese sauce over pasta, corn, tomatoes, and black beans, and stir gently to combine and warm over low heat. Once warm, season to taste with salt and serve topped with cilantro, green onions, thinly sliced jalapeño, plus a little extra hot sauce if desired.
12. Serve warm and enjoy!

• 

• 

• 

• 

Is this vegan and gluten free mexican mac and cheese healthy?

Yes, absolutely!

Because this mexican style mac and cheese is made without dairy or gluten, it’s so much healthier for you than regular mac and cheese.

There’s fresh veggies, a lot of fiber and plant protein from the black beans and pasta, and plenty of healthy fats from the cashews in the cashew cheese sauce.

It’s comfort food that you can feel good about dishing up into your bowl and your families 😌

A few notes on this recipe

• This recipe for vegan mexican mac and cheese is dairy free + gluten free, but the sauce does contain nuts. If you’re looking for a dairy free cheese sauce made without cashews, you might want to give this vegan cheese sauce a try.
• Use a high speed blender. I personally haven’t tried making this cashew cheese sauce with anything but my vitamix, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be nearly as creamy without a high speed blender.
• For the best cheesy texture, start with raw cashews. I know they can be a little harder to find, but they will blend so much more smoothly than roasted cashews. Trader Joe’s carries them, and most natural food stores will have them in their bulk section. If you can’t find them in stores, or simply want to order online, you can find them HERE.
• I used an 8 ounce size box of pasta in this recipe, but the sauce could probably stretch for up to 12 ounces. If you’re making a whole pound of pasta, double the recipe for the cashew cheese sauce.

Print