This vegan pumpkin mac and cheese is creamy, cheesy, satisfying and absolutely delicious. It’s an incredible comfort food, especially for the autumn months. The cheesy sauce is bursting with flavour thanks to a good quality vegan cheese, creamy pumpkin and an addition of smoked paprika. I roast the pumpkin first so that the flavour of pumpkin is even more enhanced.
First step in making this mouth-watering vegan pumpkin mac and cheese is to roast the pumpkin. Cube the pumpkin, coat it with some melted coconut oil and roast it in the oven for 20 minutes. Then mix roasted pumpkin along with cashew milk, vegan cheddar cheese, vegan butter, arrowroot powder and spices into a smooth and silky sauce. Thicken the sauce by heating it on the stove then mix it with the pasta. Transfer half the pasta and sauce into the baking dish then add additional grated vegan cheese on top. Repeat the same with the other half. For the crunchy topping sprinkle some crushed walnuts and fresh sage leaves. Bake in the oven until top is golden brown and the pasta sauce is bubbling.
Since I’m using arrowroot powder as a thickener for the sauce and walnuts as a crunchy topping (instead of breadcrumbs), this dish can also be made completely gluten-free if you use gluten-free pasta. For the cheese I’m using Violife Epic Mature Cheddar Flavour Block that truly lives up to its name – it really is epic! Try it also in vegan grilled cheese sandwich, it tastes just like the real thing and it melts heavenly.
Have you made this recipe? Let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear your feedback.
More delicious pasta recipes:
Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese (GF Option)
Ingredients
Sauce:
- 250 g pumpkin (hokkaido, red kuri squash) deseeded and cubed with skin on
- 3/4 tsp coconut oil melted
- 150 g vegan cheddar cheese sliced; I used Violife Epic Mature Cheddar Flavour Block
- 15 g (1 tbsp) vegan butter I used Naturli' brand
- 200 ml (3/4 cup + 4 tsp) unsweetened cashew milk
- 0.4 tsp salt or to taste
- a pinch of black pepper
- 1/8 tsp smoked paprika
- 9 g (1 tbsp) arrowroot powder
Other ingredients:
- 200 g vegan macaroni pasta gluten free if needed
- 2 tsp salt for cooking the pasta
- 40 g additional vegan cheddar cheese grated
- a few leaves of fresh sage
- 15 g walnuts crushed
Instructions
- Chop pumpkin into bite size pieces and put them into a bowl. Drizzle melted coconut oil over cubed pumpkin and mix together so the pieces are coated with oil. Arrange pumpkin pieces on a baking tray lined with baking paper and roast them at 200 °C for 20 min.
- While the pumpkin is roasting put all other ingredients for the sauce (from vegan cheddar cheese to arrowroot powder) in a blender. After pumpkin is roasted, leave it to cool a little bit, then add it to a blender as well. Mix together until you get a smooth sauce. Set aside.
- Boil 2L of water in a larger pot then add 2 tsp of salt and pasta into the boiling water. Wait until it starts boiling again then turn the heat to medium and cook for one minute less than what it says on the pasta box.
- Discard the pasta water, putting cooked pasta aside and return the empty pot on the stove. Pour sauce in it and cook on high until it starts to thicken. This will take 2 minutes. Mix while you cook.
- Turn the heat off and add pasta to the sauce. Mix together.
- Transfer half of pasta and sauce into a greased baking dish (I used 19 x 10.5 cm). Top with grated vegan cheese. Top with other half of pasta and sauce. Top again with grated vegan cheese. Crush walnuts with a back of a fork and sprinkle them on top of pasta. Place also some smaller sage leaves on top.
- Bake on the middle rack at 190 °C for 20 min.
- Place the baking dish on the high rack for 5 minutes for the topping to get crispy.
- Divide between two plates and serve warm.
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