Serves 8
Time: 1 hour || Active time: 30 minutes
I don’t think vegans ever get sick of Mac & Cheese, or, “Cheeze” or whatever. One of the first recipes I ever tried was from one of my all time favorites, the New Farm Cookbook. It was great for me back then because I always had a ton of people over, and you could make it for a crowd at the drop of a hat. So if you were all sitting around watching Evil Dead 2 on repeat, it was only a matter of time before a magical pot of Mac & Cheese would appear and swallow your soul.
That recipe is still the prototype for many a vegan Mac & Cheese recipe: lots of nooch, garlic, onions and, wait, what’s that? Half a cup of margarine?! This was the 80s and so it wasn’t even non-hydrogenated margarine. It was the real deal – a bright yellow log of pure processed fat. Today we have less ungodly ingredients to work with, but still, I can’t shake the feeling that when I eat those types of Mac & Cheese, I’m eating melted margarine.
So I’ve been toying with different ingredients for the past few years and I’ll probably continue to mess around with it. It’s all about developing flavor and creaminess with ingredients that are still really accessible and really delicious, but also way less processed, and, well really real.
To keep things from being one note, I wanted to build flavor with a few simple methods and ingredients. Like all great Mac & Cheese recipes, this one begins with a roux. Flour is cooked in olive oil, lending a toasty flavor and giving the finished sauce extra body and creaminess. If you’ve never made a roux before then this will be a great skill to add to your repertoire! And speaking of creaminess, cashews are given their standard vegan treatment: a long soak in water and then a horrifying (for them) trip in the food processor, to be pureed until they’re silky smooth.
So I’ve been playing with various ratios and ingredients, and it always comes out good and creamy, but I wanted something different, tangier, more interesting. Cheese is aged, giving it flavor and nuance. There’s always mustard (an ingredient even in the New Farm recipe), miso, lemon…but I hit upon an ingredient that really gave me the depth I was looking for…sauerkraut! Since the average home cook (myself included) isn’t really set up for aging stuff, I wanted something that’s already fermented, and sauerkraut really works.
This mac is my favorite yet! (But that still doesn’t stop me from adding some Frank’s Red Hot.) And of course I don’t totally break with tradition, I used a little turmeric and a touch of nutritional yeast for that telltale yellow that tells you you’re eating “cheeze” not “cheese.”
Recipe notes:
~You really need to blend the beejeezus out of the cashews and sauerkraut. Although it won’t be completely creamy until after it’s cooked, it should still be relatively smooth, with absolutely no chunks, when it comes out of the food processor. I think a Vitamix type thing would work here, too, but I don’t have one myself.
~Make sure that the roux is cooked and toasty before streaming in the veggie broth. It really makes a difference in the final flavor, so get your roux a really beautiful gravy color.
~You can use any smallish pasta. I love to use chiocciole because it can hold plenty of sauce, and I just find the shape pleasing. Small shells or traditional macaroni are both great choices, too.
~To soak cashews, just place them in a bowl and submerge with water. Soak for at least an hour, preferably two, or up to overnight.
~And lastly, the type of veggie broth you use makes a huge difference. If I use my own homemade broth, I make sure it’s super assertive. If you use the type of broth that comes from a powder or concentrate, that is totally cool, just make it a bit stronger than you usually do.
1 lb small pasta like shells, macaroni or chiocciole
1 1/2 cups cashews, soaked (see recipe note)
4 cups broth, divided
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
2 cups sauerkraut
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
Several dashes fresh black pepper
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
First boil salted water for the pasta. Cook pasta and drain. In the meantime, prepare the rest of the recipe.
Place the soaked cashews and 2 cups of the vegetable broth in a food processor and blend until smooth, scraping the sides of the food processor with a spatula occasionally to make sure you get everything. This could take 5 minutes.
In the meantime, preheat a large pan (preferably cast iron) over medium heat. Saute the onions and garlic and a pinch of salt in a tablespoon of the oil, until onions are softened.
Drain the sauerkraut in a sieve, pushing it into the sieve to remove as much moisture as possible. Add to the pan just to heat through, a minute or two.
Transfer sauerkraut mixture to the food processor with the cashew mixture. Once again, puree until relatively smooth. There will be some texture, just make sure it’s not chunky.
Wipe out the pan that you sauteed the onions in and preheat it over medium heat once again. Add 3 tablespoons of oil, along with the flour. It should become a gooey clump. You’re now making a roux! Add a little bit more olive oil if necessary. Toast the roux for about 15 minutes, until it smells toasty and turns a medium brown. Stir practically the whole time so that it cooks evenly.
Now stream in remaining 2 cups of broth, whisking constantly so that it doesn’t clump. Whisk until thick and smooth, about 2 minutes.
Stream in the cashew sauerkraut mixture, and whisk until well incorporated. Add the tumeric, black pepper, nutritional yeast if using, salt and fresh lemon juice. Heat through and stir occasionally, allowing the mixture to thicken.
Preheat oven to 350 F and lightly grease an 11 x 13 casserole with olive oil.
Add the cooked pasta back to the pasta pot and pour in the sauce. Taste for salt and pepper. Mix to coat, then transfer to the casserole dish. Cover casserole with tin foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove tin foil and bake an additional 5 minutes. Serve hot!
Yes! So good! I’m so excited you posted the recipe!
Chiocciole is the bomb for mac & “cheese.” Thanks for sharing this new approach; I’ll give it a try next time!
Thank you for creating this recipe! As someone who can’t eat soy or yeast, I’d given-up on finding a good cheezy sauce. This sounds amazing (I love saurkraut!), I’ll have to try it tonight!
Sauerkraut?? OK, I trust you.
I can’t wait to try this one!
Do you have a recommendation for a sauerkraut recipe or a brand of prepared sauerkraut? I don’t have much experience with it but would like to try these Mac & Shews. Thanks!
Suddenly I’m so glad I have a jar of sauerkraut in my pantry. I was wondering what your secret ingredient was going to be!
Stupid cashew allergy getting in the way of enjoying tasty mac cheeziness.
What do you suggest using instead of cashews? I’m allergic to cashews unfortunately. 🙁
You can try slivered almonds, but they don’t get as creamy.
Isa I agree with you the new farm cookbook is one of my favorites cookbooks,
along with all your books which I very much enjoy. The new farm’s recipe uses half a cup of oil
but one and a half cups of cashews in a pound of pasta scare me too!
Have you tried to make this recipe with just half a cup of cashews? Or do you think it would be good?
I really like your idea with cashews but maybe make it with a smaller cashews amount?
I’m not sure what scares you about 1 1/2 cups of cashews? They are a whole food with nutrients and minerals. This recipe serves 8 so it’s not even 1/4 cup of ‘shews per person. But of course you can try it with less.
I trust you too but I HATE sauerkraut… Is it sauerkraut ish?
I don’t know, don’t make it if you don’t like sauerkraut. I can’t be in everyone’s tastebuds so it’s really up to your own judgment.
Sauerkraut, what an awesome idea! I am totally trying this. I love that you don’t own a Vitamix…just love it. As I don’t either! Not that I don’t want to own one, but so many veggie gurus have one and proclaim it as a must. Thank you, Isa!
P.S. Just ordered Appetite for Reduction. Can’t wait until it arrives!
I bet that shiz is f’ing delicous. I recently made a mac N cheez with similar ingredients, minus the kraut and it was AMAZEBALLS. Thanks for posting!
DUDE. I’m gonna make this on the weekend. Damnnnn. I’d love it if the tanginess of sauerkraut shines through. Cant wait!
thanks Isa for your reply 🙂
I loooove cashews
I would be scared for 1.5 cups of cashews since
a pound of pasta for me would be a meal for 4 not 8…
it is an issue of portion control though ….
I will definitely try it; the sauercarut idea is great too 🙂
Oh, ok, well this was really really filling with all the sauce and stuff, and serve with some broccoli, then I bet 1/8th of the recipe would be enough! Or try 1 cup cashews.
You are the best about sharing recipes. If you mention some food you made, it’s really likely that we’ll end up with the recipe a couple days later. And I appreciate that, wholly. Thank you!
This is crazy pants. Last night I wanted Alfreda from VwaV and didn’t have pinenuts so I used cashews instead. It was delicious of course, so creamy and mild. I thought, this could be tweaked into mac somehow, I know it. And then the clouds parted, I signed on my laptop the next day, and there by the grace of nooch Isa shared this recipe. Sauerkraut is GENIUS, I cannot wait to try this.
Interesting . . . I’m a saurkraut hater. I wonder if I could find room in my kraut-hating heart to try this.
So excited to try this! Sauerkraut! Brilliant!
This looks awesome, I love creamy cashew based sauces. I’ve never eaten sauerkraut before but I think this’d be a great way to try it!
I’m about to make this right now. In the ingredients it says the veg broth is divided. In the directions, it says to add the veg broth with the cashews. Should that say 2 cups of the broth?
What do you do with the onions and garlic that you have sauteed?
Is it blended into cashew/sauerkraut mix?
Or is it tossed with the sauce and the pasta before baking?
I just made the mac & cheese from Happy Herbivore last night…had the leftovers for lunch and wishing I could have seconds. I love your idea of adding sauerkraut….just one more reason you’re the goddess of veganism. 🙂
Sauerkraut?!?! Sign me up.
This sounds amazing and I can not wait to try it. I have been avoiding soy for the past few months, so this will probably go into heavy rotation in my dinner repertoire!
This looks awesome! I’ve noticed melomeals posted a bunch of different cheezes on the Food Porn forum using sauerkraut. Looks like it’s gonna be the new hot thing for bringing that tangy quality to vegan cheese!
Holy balls, Isa! I just tasted the sauce before I put it in the oven! So frickin GOOD!
Do you taste the sauerkraut? I HATE sauerkraut.. but kind of want to try the recipe anyway. 🙂
may be a stupid question but the cashews raw or do you toast them first?
They work raw or roasted. I don’t roast them, just buy em that way.
This is awesome. I actually have a jar of sauerkraut in the fridge that I’ve been trying to find a use for. I am totally making this over the weekend. And maybe I’ll even put on Evil Dead 2 with it. 🙂
My mind mistook sauerkraut for cole slaw and I was very confused.
YUM! An anecdote for those of you who hate sauerkraut but are still willing to try:
I hated, I mean H-A-T-E-D tarragon before I tried the recipe Lotsa Veggies Lentil Soup in AfR. I hesitated when I saw the dreaded herb, but then reasoned, if anyone could change my mind about tarragon (ack, phooey) as an ingredient, it’s Isa! Well, needless to say: Best. Soup. Ever. In fact, the second time I made it, I ran out of zucchini so I substituted chopped fennel root to highlight the anise-y flavor of the tarragon! Thank you, Isa, for expanding my flavor horizons. :o)
That was meant to be a smiley face not an “oh no” face.
Maccheroni….no macaroni….it looks delicious….
Sauerkraut is such a great ingredient! I love using it to culture nut cheese too.
Try it in a cashew cream frosting.. it’s so good and you can laugh knowing that your guests are eating sauerkraut on their cake.
Wow, you did sauerkraut, too? That is too funny. Have you tried a chocolate sauerkraut cake? I remember that being amazing.
This sounds very interesting, but if I don’t like mac & cheese can I make something else? What do you suggest?
Hmm, let’s see, do you like apples? Have an apple.
I almost skipped this post in my news feed because I’ve got a bunch of vegan mac ‘n’ cheese recipes in my collection. This could be the only one I need, though. I’m glad to find a vegan mac and cheese that doesn’t rely on nutritional yeast. I rarely like nutritional yeast and don’t agree that it tastes like “cheese”, no matter how many vegan books try to convince me that it does. (Different taste buds, perhaps.) I do, however, have a vegan alfredo recipe that’s cashew based. I’m intrigued by the sauerkraut idea.
I’ll try this the next time I’m in the mood for a vegan mac ‘n’ cheese. Thanks for posting it.
I can’t wait to try this, thank you so much for sharing!
Wow this looks AMAZING and I LOVE LOVE LOVE saurkraut which I usually just eat right out of the jar so it will be great to actually do something with it 🙂 Just got AfR as well so will get stuck into that this weekend as well.
Thanks for another amazing recipe 🙂
Interesting. I wonder if umeboshi could be used to a similar effect? Some “uncheese” recipes contain it for this reason (and I already happen to have ume vinegar…)
Uhoh… no I have to find out if they have Sauerkraut at all in France 😉 Sounds really interesting!
I made this last night since I have been jonesin for some good mac. I did not tell my family about any of the ingredients because they generally don’t like vegan mac and cheezy recipes. I am happy to say that everyone liked it! Not a single complaint. I’m the mom of 2 teenagers. A meal without a complaint is a small miracle. I think I could detect the kraut since I knew it was in there but no one else seemed to think about it in the least.
Thanks for the recipe, Isa!
my friend and i made this (very labor intensive!) and it’s fantastic. i am not a fan of sauerkraut at all but the end result is great. we added truffle oil, smoked paprika, and tempeh bacon.
(and lots of sriracha!).
YUMMMMMM!
I stink at the pureeing of the cashews. Is there a trick to it? The smoothest I could get it still have tiny little niblets of cashew. Everything else seemed to go well and according to the recipe, but my pan definitely is not the same consistency/texture as the picture. Any tips for how I can get a smoother consistency on the cashews? The flavor was delicious. My 4 year old who refuses to eat pretty much anything I give to him asked for more, so that was a positive sign!!
You just have to do it for a long time until it’s smooth and make sure you soak them first. No trick to it, just patience!
@kelsey: good call on the truffle oil and smoked paprika. nice way to tweek something good into something gooder. my husband and i love “Bubbie’s” sauerkraut. it doesn’t have vinegar, however. might have to add a splash to the sauce to give it the true sauerkraut zip.
This looks amazing! Thanks for sharing! I’m so excited to try it tonight.
And depending on how the sauce turns out I’m hoping to tweak it in the future to make vegan scalloped potatoes – my other seriously missed cheesy comfort food.
Thanks Isa! You rock!
PS I love your responses to the ridiculous comments 🙂
Well, my current fave veg M&C involves combining soy sauce, soy milk, noosh, mustard and well, it seems like a bad idea until you taste it all blended together! So based on that and previous experience with the awesomeness that is the PPK and Ms. Chandra, I’m gonna take a deep breath and try this. Today. Saurkraut. Would never have thought of it. xD
Thanks so much for sharing this! I’m a little nervous, but I can’t wait to try it. (Aw just realized I can’t make it immediately because of cashew soaking. Tomorrow then! I have a potluck tomorrow anyway.)
this has renewed my love for sauerkraut!
awesome : )