A savory and creamy chili mac and cheese that is ultra cheesy and meaty without the meat or cheese. This vegan chili mac and cheese is simple and easy to make and will win any vegan or non-vegan over.
I was sent a couple packages of Impossible Foods beyond beef a few days ago and I was so excited to get into the kitchen and start cooking up a recipe. I first tried Impossible Foods a year ago and was blown away with how similarly it tastes to meat. Now, that isn’t everyones forte, but it sure makes for some delicious vegan, meaty dishes.
This post isn’t sponsored by Impossible Foods I just am so impressed with their product and need to share. If you are turned off by the taste of meat, you can definitely substitute or omit it. I’ll list some possible substitutions later in this post.
If you want a vegan dish that will win over a non-vegan, this is definitely the one. It is so savory, cheesy, and meaty. It doesn’t taste like straight up cashew cheese and there isn’t the weird aftertaste of vegan meat.
The cheese sauce is made up of 6 simple ingredients: cashews, carrots, nutritional yeast, miso paste, non-dairy milk, and salt.
The cashews are soaked in boiling water, and the carrots are boiled simultaneously in the boiling pasta water. They are both added to a high-powered blender along with the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients. It is then blended until smooth and oh so creamy.
First, a chili base is prepared by sautéing red onion, garlic, and green red bell pepper in a bit of oil until soft. Then Beyond Meats ground meat is crumbled throughout along with tomato paste, cumin, smoked paprika, coriander, salt and pepper. The mixture is cooked until meat starts to brown and spices are fragrant.
Then comes the kidney beans and diced tomatoes. The mixture is brought to a low simmer and cooked until flavors mend together.
After the pasta has cooked and cheese sauce is prepared, the pasta is added to the chili pot and in goes the creamy cashew cheese.
Serve with fresh parsley and freshly cracked black pepper.
If you would like to substitute the vegan meat I recommend:
- crumbled tempeh
- more kidney beans
- lentils
This Vegan Chili Mac and Cheese is…
- Creamy, cheesy, meaty, and savory
- Easy and simple
- Vegan
- Perfect for any eater. vegan and non-vegan alike.
A savory and creamy chili mac n cheese that is ultra cheesy and meaty without the meat or cheese. This vegan chili mac and cheese is simple and easy to make and will win any vegan or non-vegan over.
- 1 tbsp neutral-flavored oil
- ½ red onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 16 oz. vegan ground beef such as Beyond Meat
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp coriander
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- One 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
- One 15 oz. can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 12 oz. pasta
- ¾ cup cashews soaked in boiling water for 15 min.
- 1 medium carrot, roughly chopped
- ½ cup non-dairy milk
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp miso paste
- ¼ tsp salt
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In a heavy-bottomed pot or dutch oven, heat 1 tbsp oil. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Cook for 4-5 minutes until onions are translucent and veggies are soft. Crumble in the vegan ground beef. Cook for 3-4 minutes until beef starts to brown. Add tomato paste, cumin, paprika, coriander, salt, and pepper. Stir and cook for 5-6 minutes to allow flavors to mend. Tomato paste should get deeper in color as well.
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Pour in diced tomatoes and kidney beans. Stir and bring to a simmer. Cook for 8 minutes. While chili is cooking, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions. About 1 minute before pasta is done cooking, add chopped carrot. Drain pasta and add carrot to a high-powered blender.
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Add cashews, non-dairy milk, nutritional yeast, miso paste, and salt into the blender along with the carrot. Blend until thick and creamy. Pour pasta into the chili along with the cashew cheese. Stir to combine. Season with salt and/or pepper if desired. Serve with fresh parsley and black pepper.
Easy to follow and delicious
The recipe came out very well, I didn’t want as heavy of a tomato flavour, so I reduced it to 1/2 a cup, I thought with the tomato paste it was plenty.
If you’re cooking for vegetarians and not vegans it can be modified by slowly pouring in around 1/4 cup of milk over a low heat, folding about 1 1/2 cups of your choice of cheese.
I went with a mix of Colby Jack and Cheddar. And I thought it was great, also I didn’t have cumin or coriander on hand so I used a mix of my favorite herbs, paprika for heat and sage sprinkled onto the beyond meat for a herbal light flavour.
I also had the idea, if I had more time to sprinkle a mix of parmesan (or the cashew cheese) over the top of the dish and bake it at 400 degrees for about 10 or so minutes to have that nice lightly brown golden layer over the top for that nice baked chili Mac and cheese…for next time!