Name: Nut-Free Vegan Mac and Cheese
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 16 ounces dry macaroni or gluten-free pasta of choice; ½ cup raw sunflower seeds; 2 ½ cups water; 3 tablespoons old fashioned rolled oats (Or sub 1 tablespoon tapioca starch.); 2 cloves garlic, peeled; small piece of roasted red pepper (the type from a jar), about a 1-inch strip of a pepper (Start with less then increase to taste.); ¼ cup nutritional yeast; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; 1 ½ tablespoons white or chickpea miso; 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar; 1 teaspoon rice vinegar; 2 teaspoons fine sea salt; ½ teaspoon mustard powder (Or 1 teaspoon dijon mustard.); ½ teaspoon onion powder; pinch of nutmeg; white pepper, optional, to taste; 2 to 3 tablespoons vegan butter, optional (Add directly to the pot in step 5. )

This creamy nut-free vegan mac and cheese is a hit with kids and adults alike! Made with raw sunflower seeds and whole-food ingredients like nutritional yeast and roasted red peppers, this vegan cheese sauce is impressively rich and satisfying, even without cashews!

This recipe is also pantry-friendly, oil-free (or add vegan butter for extra richness), and easily made gluten-free with your favorite gluten-free pasta.

small pot full of pasta covered in a creamy nut-free, dairy-free cheese sauce.

"Just made this recipe. Excellent vegan mac & cheese - taste is top notch. I'd wanted a cashew-free recipe and this one delivers! This recipe is going into regular rotation. Thank you!!!"

- Julie

If you're looking for the best vegan mac and cheese without cashews, you've found it! The flavor of this cheesy sauce was inspired by our popular Stovetop Vegan Mac and Cheese recipe, but this one is made without oil or cashews.

Actually, if you're ever in the mood for a more decadent vegan mac and cheese, but still nut-free, the other recipe can be made with sunflower seeds instead of cashews. It's seriously delicious. I even won a local mac and cheese cook off with the recipe.

But today's recipe has a few things going for it that the other recipe does not have.

This nut-free vegan mac and cheese is:

oil-free
significantly lower in fat
budget-friendly
pantry-friendly
and ridiculously quick and easy to make!

Jump to:

Ingredient Notes
Instructions
Variations
Helpful Tips
How to Store
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Recipe
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labeled photo of ingredients needed to make nut-free mac and cheese.

Ingredient Notes

raw sunflower seeds - these are the base for our nut-free vegan cheese sauce. I've been using seeds more often in some of my favorite cheesy recipes, like this pimento macaroni salad. They're widely available, affordable, and I've found that soaking them first helps soften the naturally nutty flavor.
rolled oats - instead of using a starch like tapioca or potato (or the starch naturally present in cashews) to give our cheesy sauce an extra boost of creaminess, I've included a small amount of rolled oats, similar to this no-cook cheese sauce recipe. If you avoid oats, feel free to use a tablespoon of tapioca starch instead.
nutritional yeast - I recommend a non-fortified nutritional yeast like this one by Sari Foods.
miso - just a touch of white miso or chickpea miso adds an authentic, cultured flavor to the sauce.
roasted red pepper - a magical ingredient for boosting cheesy flavor in dairy-free cheese recipes!
garlic - adds savory, umami flavor. Adjust the amount to suit your palate.
lemon juice + vinegars - these combine to create a tangy, cheesy flavor without the flavor of any one acidic ingredient coming through too strongly.

See the recipe card below for amounts and full instructions.

looking down into blender with dairy free cheese sauce and oats.

Instructions

Making this healthy nut-free mac and cheese is as easy as boiling water and operating a blender. Seriously!

First, place sunflower seeds in a bowl and cover with hot water. Soak for about 30 minutes, then drain and rinse.
Cook pasta according to package directions.
In a blender combine the drained sunflower seeds with 1 cup of the water and the remaining sauce ingredients. Blend until smooth. I mean really blend it! This helps release the starch in the oats AND makes the sauce ultra creamy, of course. Add the remaining 1 ½ cups water, and blend to combine.
With the pasta draining in a colander, cook the cheese sauce over medium heat for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the pasta, and stir to coat.

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Voila! You're ready to eat. Isn't that super easy? No veggies to cook in advance, and ready in 25 minutes (not counting soak time).

heating sunflower seed cheese sauce with cooked macaroni noodles.

Variations

You can take the flavor of this easy vegan macaroni in so many different directions:

Cooking for kids? Reduce the garlic to 1 clove.
Love garlic? Include several cloves of roasted or sautéed garlic.
Make it smoky with a touch of smoked paprika and a few drops of liquid smoke.
Add roasted and chopped poblano pepper or jalapeños for irresistible Tex-Mex flavor!
Make it fresh and herbaceous by stirring in pesto or zhoug sauce.
Turn it into a full meal with sautéed kale, broccoli, or asparagus, green peas, beans, or cubed tofu or seitan.

Helpful Tips

As the mac and cheese cools the sauce thickens and the pasta tends to soak up quite a bit of the sauciness. Simply add a few splashes of water or non-dairy milk to make it lusciously creamy again.

I haven't tested the sauce using a standard blender, but achieving a smooth texture shouldn't be too difficult. If you're concerned your blender won't get the job done, feel free to soak the seeds a little bit longer.

You can also pour the sauce through a fine mesh strainer to catch any unblended oat or seed bits.