Vegan Chili Mac and Cheese

This vegan chili mac and cheese recipe has a delicious butternut squash and cashew cheese sauce that’s loaded with nutritional yeast, and a spicy, and smoky black bean chili with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Add the cooked macaroni, and it’s the perfect hearty vegan meal for any time of year!

On top of it’s incredible flavor, it’s easy to execute (no baking!) and yields a lot of food (~6 servings).

Two things...

• ・This has a thick vegan cashew cheese sauce. Prefer a thinner sauce? Add the entire can of tomatoes without draining off the juice. It will make the sauce a bit thinner.

• ・To make this recipe gluten free, use gluten free elbow macaroni and you’re good to go.

Please enjoy this tasty vegan chili mac recipe! Check out additional UVK recipes, like Vegan Truffle Mac and Cheese, Chipotle Lime Jackfruit, Butternut Squash Spinach Soup, Arugula and Butternut Squash Salad, or White Bean Jackfruit Chili. Lots of deliciousness to go around 💚

Vegan Chili Mac and Cheese

4 cups (or a 16 ounce package) elbow macaroni

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped and divided

2 1/2 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash (OR a 10 ounce package of frozen)

1 cup fake chicken broth (I used 1/2 cube of Edward & Sons Not-Chick’n Bouillon dissolved in 1 cup water)

1 1/2 cups raw whole cashews (see note above if using a regular blender)

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce + 3 Tbsp adobo sauce

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried Mexican oregano

15 ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed

14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes, drained of juice (see note above, if you prefer a thinner chili cheese sauce)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 scallions, chopped

1. Cook the elbow macaroni according to the directions on the package, and then, drain it, rinse it and set it aside until later in the vegan chili mac recipe.

2. Next, it’s time to work on the chili cheese sauce. In a very large pot, add 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 of the chopped onion, and a dash of salt. Saute over medium heat for ~7 minutes or until the onions are golden. Add the butternut squash and broth. Simmer for 5 minutes or until the butternut squash is cooked through.

3. Spoon the entire content of the very large pot into a high speed blender, like a Vitamix or Ninja. Set the very large pot aside, because you will use it again.

4. To the high speed blender, also add the cashews, nutritional yeast, dijon mustard, lemon juice, garlic powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 chipotle peppers, and 1 Tbsp adobo sauce. Blend until completely smooth. Taste the vegan chili cheese sauce, and make any adjustments (more salt? another chipotle pepper? more adobo? etc). Set aside.

5. Now, it’s time to make the black bean chili. Return the very large pot to the stove. Add 1 Tbsp olive oil, the remaining onion, the garlic cloves, green pepper, and a dash of salt. Saute for ~7 minutes or until the onions are golden and the green pepper is tender enough to enjoy eating.

6. Next, add the cumin, oregano and 2 Tbsp adobo sauce. Stir around over medium-low heat for a minute.

7. Stir in the black beans and drained tomatoes. Stir around over medium-low heat for 2 minutes or until everything is cooked through.

8. Add the cooked elbow macaroni, the chili cheese sauce from the blender, the cilantro and the scallions to the very large pot. Stir everything together. Taste the vegan chili mac and cheese, and make adjustments to the flavor, if needed (more adobo sauce? more salt? etc.). Serve immediately.