Creamy, cheesy, cozy Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese is the perfect quick and easy vegan dinner option (especially for fall and winter!). It’s absolutely delicious and it is actually healthy, but no one will notice because it’s so good!
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Hey Internet, want a cozy yet healthy fall meal? You’ll love this vegan pumpkin mac and cheese.
I am really developing quite a few vegan mac and cheese or cheesy pasta recipes, aren’t I? This recipe was one of the first I published, and many others have joined it including nut-free vegan mac and cheese without cashews, baked vegan mac and cheese, soy-free vegan mac and cheese, vegan white cheddar mac and cheese with mushroom bacon, vegan cacio e pepe (which is like adult mac and cheese), vegan hamburger helper (vegan cheese sauce with vegan ground meat!), and even Instant Pot Vegan Mac and Cheese. Yeesh!
This dish is insanely easy to make (cook up some pasta and whiz up the sauce in the blender). Better yet, double the sauce and store it in the fridge to use all week on pasta, steamed or roasted veggies, potatoes, etc.!
The vegan pumpkin cheese sauce is jam packed full of nutrition, including a ton of vitamin A, vitamin K, copper, vitamin E, protein, fiber, iron, magnesium, potassium, and more. Mixing it with your favorite pasta is a very healthy meal, especially when you use a bean or legume based pasta, whole wheat pasta, or pair it with another vegetable like broccoli or cauliflower.
But more importantly in my opinion is FLAVOR. Healthy food is very important, but if it doesn’t taste good, it’s hard to get everyone to eat it.
This is what I call a hidden veggies meal. Although it’s obvious to the cook that there’s pumpkin in it, it’s not neon orange or anything, and it just tastes like a warm, rich cheese sauce. And dang, it’s good.
Keep reading to learn how easy this pumpkin-packed vegan mac and cheese without cashews is!
Why This Recipe Works
Vegan mac and cheese is always my favorite thing to make. Probably why I'm obsessed with making vegan cheese recipes lol.
This 6-ingredient recipe (plus spices) is so simple and so delicious that you'll want to be making my vegan pumpkin mac and cheese year round. I like to stock up on pumpkin purée whenever I see it on sale so I can make this pumpkin cheese sauce all the time.
Canned pumpkin is also great as an oil replacement in baking! I also love it in chia pudding and oatmeal.
And yeah, this vegan pumpkin cheese sauce is incredible and you can (and should) put it on anything and everything. I love it with air fryer Brussels sprouts and broccoli. It's also great in this strange vegan pumpkin lasagna bake (lol I was trying to be unique?).
Anyway. How to actually make vegan pumpkin mac and cheese? It's easy!
While your pasta cooks, just dump everything for the vegan pumpkin cheese sauce into the blender and blend until smooth.
After you drain the pasta, return the pot to the stove. If you want it super hot, you can certainly turn the stove back on to low heat. But usually the residual heat from the pasta is enough to warm the sauce enough for us.
Pour the sauce into the pasta, stir well, and there you go! Delicious vegan pumpkin mac and cheese.
This vegan mac and cheese without cashews would be great with any veggie side, or a protein side like panko tofu or crispy tofu, Beyond Meat meatloaf, tofu schnitzel, soy curls, vegan sausage crumbles, seitan chicken, or a store-bought plant based protein.
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Ingredients and Substitutions
- 16 ounces pasta of choice: You can really use any pasta you like for this! We used cellantini because it’s fun, but any pasta that holds onto sauce well should work, including (but not limited to): fusilli, elbow macaroni, small or medium shells, pipe rigate, or orecchiette if you want to be fancy. If you are gluten-free, choose your favorite gluten-free pasta—I like the brown rice and quinoa blends a lot! If you’d like more protein, try a legume-based pasta like chickpea pasta or red lentil pasta.
- 16 ounces silken tofu: This is the creamy base of our sauce and it’s incredibly low in fat. If you don’t mind a higher fat option and can’t have soy or can’t find silken tofu, you can substitute this with 1 cup of soaked raw cashews, raw sunflower seeds, or even white beans (lower fat) and enough unsweetened non-dairy milk to get it to blend.
- 15-ounce can of pumpkin purée: This recipe uses a whole 15 ounce can of organic pumpkin puree. You want to use pumpkin purée, NOT pumpkin pie filling which comes with extra spices and often with sugar.
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice: Maybe I’m a snob but fresh lemon juice is so much better than bottled. The juice of 1 smallish lemon (about 2 tablespoons of juice) is perfect for this recipe.
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast: This helps with our cheesy factor but you can omit if you prefer. Try adding a pinch of onion powder if you omit this.
- 2 cloves garlic: I like to use fresh peeled garlic (I throw it right into the blender) but granulated garlic will also work (use a half teaspoon or more to taste)!
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (more or less to taste)
How to Make Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
- Start by cooking your pasta according to package directions. Many people salt their pasta water (add less salt to the vegan pumpkin cheese sauce if you intend to do this). Also, if you want to salt your pasta water but aren't sure how, first bring the pot of water to a boil, then add the salt and stir so it dissolves easily. The bubbles will slow at the introduction of something room temperature, so then return it to a boil before adding the pasta.
- While the pasta cooks, make the cheese sauce by combining the silken tofu, pumpkin purée, nutritional yeast, garlic, spices, and lemon juice in a blender. Blend until completely smooth. Taste and adjust any seasonings if necessary.
- Drain your pasta and leave it in the colander for a moment.
- After you drain the pasta, return the pot to the stove. If you want it super hot, turn the stove back on to low heat. But usually the residual heat from the pasta is enough to warm the sauce enough for us.
- Add the pasta back and stir to combine. Season with fresh cracked pepper if desired, and serve immediately.
- Refrigerate leftovers for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! Use a fresh pie pumpkin (large carving pumpkins don’t have much flesh or flavor), and roast it. Scoop out the flesh (after discarding membrane) and blend until smooth. Use about 15 ounces of purée for this vegan pumpkin mac and cheese recipe.
Yes, you could use butternut squash (or other winter squash) or even pureed sweet potatoes (canned or fresh).
Instead of silken tofu, you can use any other type of tofu (except super/extra firm). Just blend it until smooth—you may need to add a little unsweetened non-dairy milk to get it to blend. If you want to avoid soy altogether, try using soaked raw cashews, sunflower seeds, or white beans. With those options, you will need unsweetened non-dairy milk or water to get the sauce to blend.
Yup, just use your favorite gluten-free pasta. I like the brown rice and quinoa based pastas, or the chickpea or red lentil pastas are good too.
I like to make vegan mac and cheese without cashews for a few reasons. Cashews are very expensive, a lot of people are both vegan AND allergic to nuts so they can’t even have cashews, I feel cashews are a little on the sweet side, and also I just feel they’re really overused in vegan recipes. Even raw cashew pieces are pretty expensive, and I usually find raw sunflower seeds for less than a third of that. I also sometimes like to make my sauces with silken tofu as I do in this recipe. It lowers the fat content, it’s very easy to blend (great if you don’t have a high powered blender), it’s inexpensive, and it makes a recipe creamy without making it heavy.
More Recipes Like This
- Vegan Creamy Pasta
- Vegan Buttered Noodles
- Pasta with Vegan Vodka Sauce
- Vegan Creamy Mushroom Pasta
- Vegan Tahini Pasta
- Baked Vegan Brie Pasta
- Vegan Baked Feta Pasta
- Vegan Carbonara
- Vegan Cacio e Pepe
- Vegan Sun-dried Tomato Pasta
More Vegan Pumpkin Recipes
- Vegan Pumpkin Risotto
- Vegan Pumpkin Curry
- Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup
- Vegan Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread
- Vegan Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Pie Vegan Custard
- Vegan Cheesy Pumpkin Lasagna
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Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese (Nut-Free)
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This creamy, cheesy, cozy Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese is the perfect quick and easy vegan dinner option (especially for fall and winter!). It’s absolutely delicious, but it’s low fat and packed with vitamin A and other micronutrients, but no one will notice because it’s so good!
Ingredients
- 16 ounces dry pasta of choice (use gluten-free if needed)
- 16 ounces silken tofu (see note 1 for substitutions)
- 15-ounce can pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast (see note 2 for substitutions)
- 2-3 cloves garlic (about 2 teaspoons minced, or use around ½ teaspoon garlic powder)
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, more or less to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta: Start by cooking your pasta according to package directions. Many people salt their pasta water (add less salt to the vegan pumpkin cheese sauce if you intend to do this). Also, if you want to salt your pasta water but aren't sure how, first bring the pot of water to a boil, then add the salt and stir so it dissolves easily. The bubbles will slow at the introduction of something room temperature, so then return it to a boil before adding the pasta.
- Blend the vegan pumpkin cheese sauce: While the pasta cooks, make the cheese sauce by combining the silken tofu, pumpkin purée, nutritional yeast, garlic, spices, and lemon juice in a blender. Blend until completely smooth. Taste and adjust any seasonings if necessary.
- Drain your pasta and leave it in the colander for a moment.
- Add the sauce: After you drain the pasta, return the pot to the stove. If you want it super hot, turn the stove back on to low heat. But usually the residual heat from the pasta is enough to warm the sauce enough for us.
- Add the pasta back and stir to combine. Season with fresh cracked pepper if desired, and serve immediately.
- Storage: Refrigerate leftovers for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
Notes
- Note 1: Instead of silken tofu, you can use any other type of tofu (except super/extra firm). Just blend it until smooth—you may need to add a little unsweetened non-dairy milk to get it to blend. If you want to avoid soy altogether, try using soaked raw cashews, sunflower seeds, or white beans. With those options, you will need unsweetened non-dairy milk or water to get the sauce to blend.
- Note 2: Nutritional yeast helps with our cheesy factor but you can omit if you prefer. Try adding a pinch of onion powder if you omit this.
- Note 3: Why no cashews? I like to make vegan mac and cheese without cashews for a few reasons. Cashews are very expensive, a lot of people are both vegan AND allergic to nuts so they can’t even have cashews, I feel cashews are a little on the sweet side, and also I just feel they’re really overused in vegan recipes. I like silken tofu because it lowers the fat content, it’s very easy to blend (great if you don’t have a high powered blender), it’s inexpensive, and it makes a recipe creamy without making it heavy.
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Cheese, Ingredient, Entree
- Method: Blender
- Cuisine: Vegan Cheese
Kathy
This was such an easy, quick recipe to put together and absolutely delicious! It’s definitely going on the rotation! I made the sauce first, before committing to the amount of pasta to cook in case I didn’t care for the sauce. I cooked the entire box of penne so there would be leftovers. So good!
Nancy
This is literally the best recipe ever. I make it regularly (I leave out the garlic b/c I hate it and add some dehydrated onions (just a pinch) instead, but that is it. It is wonderful and perfect for meal prep as it just gets better in the fridge (have not tried to freeze it).
Thank you!