Magickal Mac ‘N Cheeze

I have tried many vegan macaroni and cheeze recipes, but none of them turned out just right. For me, a perfect mac ‘n cheeze must be close enough to the “real” thing to fool non-vegans, and should be baked with a crumb topping. All of the versions I have tried until now missed the mark and dried out way too much while baking, no matter how much extra sauce I used.

This time, I adapted my pre-vegan recipe that had used a white sauce with melted cheese plus additional grated cheese that was not melted in. So, I used my Magickal Cheeze Sauce and chopped up Daiya slices to add little bursts of melty goodness. Oh, my! This is so good and I have finally found vegan mac ‘n cheese perfection! Here is what you need to make your own Magickal Mac ‘N Cheeze:

Turn your oven on to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, then get the crumb topping ready. Add the vegan parmesan to the bread crumbs (I used gluten free), and mix together. Melt 2 TBS of Earth Balance and add it to the bread crumb mixture. Mix well, then set the bowl aside. (If you don’t like your mac ‘n cheese baked, you can skip the topping and serve the mac ‘n cheese without baking it.)

Cook one pound of pasta shells or elbows in well-salted water according to the package directions, except undercook them by several minutes. (If you are not going to bake your mac ‘n cheese, then you do want to fully cook it now.) Rinse well with cold water to stop the cooking process, then drain well and set aside. I used Tinkyada gluten free shells:

For baked mac ‘n cheese: cut up one 7 oz package of Daiya vegan cheese into 1/4″ cubes. Make one pile with the cubes from three slices and another with the cubes from the remaining eight slices. Put the eight slice pile in the fridge, and set the three slice pile aside at room temperature.

If you are not baking your mac ‘n cheeze, only cut up 3 slices of the vegan cheese and keep it at room temperature.

I used half cheddar and half provolone, but will use all cheddar next time. The combination was really good, but I preferred the stronger flavor of the cheddar in the mac ‘n cheeze. I also made a second batch with all Swiss, and it was fantastic! I would also like to try it with the American slices, but I haven’t found them yet. Also, be sure you are getting the new & improved slices. They look like this:

Spray a 9″ x 13″ pan with non-stick spray:

Now you are ready to make the cheeze sauce. Start by adding the So Cheezy seasoning to the water and whisking them together.

Add the mustard and miso, then whisk again:

Get all the sauce ingredients ready:

Melt 3 TBS of Earth Balance over medium heat:

Add the oat (or all-purpose) flour and whisk it in:

Cook for several minutes until it is nice and bubbly:

Gradually add the unsweetened soy milk, whisking well after each addition, until all the milk is added:

Add the liquid cheezy mixture, and whisk it in:

Bring the sauce to a low boil and cook for several minutes until it is thickened.

If you will not be baking your mac ‘n cheese, let the sauce thicken to a good sauce consistency. If you will be baking your mac ‘n cheese, don’t thicken it quite as much. This photo shows it thickened for using without baking, and I had to add a little more milk after taking the photo to thin it back out for baking.

Add the three diced slices of Daiya, and mix until it is melted. Turn off the heat.

Add your cooked and drained pasta. Gently fold together:

It is really good just like this, and you can eat it now without adding the topping and baking (as long as you fully cooked your pasta):

If you are baking your mac ‘n cheese, add the remaining eight diced Daiya slices and fold them in gently. In this photo, you can see the sauce is a little thinner as I had added a bit more milk to get it back to this consistency. You don’t want the sauce so thin that it won’t stick to the pasta, but you do want to allow for additional thickening during baking. It really should have been a little thinner yet than is shown in these photos:

Add the mixture to your prepared pan, and spread it out:

Sprinkle the crumb topping on evenly, then gently press it down:

Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, then cool on a rack for 15 minutes before serving:

This is my first batch:

Just look at that creamy, cheezy goodness! It is so delicious!

I then made a second batch with all Swiss style Daiya slices, and I also added cooked sliced mushrooms before adding the cooked pasta. (I thinly sliced 12 oz of mushrooms and cooked them with 1 tsp of Magical Seasoning Blend until all of the liquid had cooked off.)

I used Tinkyada elbows for this batch, and this is what it looked like:

Here are some close-ups:

I love both versions, and will make Magickal Mac ‘N Cheeze often. It is creamy and luscious, and not dry at all. It also reheats very well uncovered in the microwave, and also in the oven if it is kept covered to prevent drying. I hope you will give this recipe a try very soon because it really is amazing and truly deserves its magickal name!