[Note: unfortunately Teese® creamy cheddar is no longer available. To my knowledge, no other brand of vegan cheese has a creamy style. Please comment if  you know of an alternative.]

Most of the time I just make macaroni all in one pot by boiling noodles and dumping in a bag of Daiya Cheddar but it’s always lacked that creaminess of the kind mom used to make. So, in my quest for the perfect vegan macaroni and cheese, I decided to try a different brand of vegan cheese and make it as a casserole this time. It turned out so well that it will go in my regular dinner rotation.

They key to this great version of mac ‘n cheese is using Chicago Soydairy’s Teese® Creamy Cheddar cheese and blending in some additional spices and soy milk in a saucepan BEFORE mixing with the noodles in a casserole.

You may also notice from the photo that I didn’t use actual macaroni noodles. I thought I had a few bags of macaroni but had accidentally picked up ziti noodles instead. Anyway, it’s all good since noodles are all just wheat, water and salt with only shape variations. Next time though, I’ll be using macaroni noodles just to get the texture right.

Of course, the REAL test is if DH eats it and goes back for sections. Which he did and did.

SnarkyVegan’s Macaroni and Teese® Cheese Casserole

  • 1  16-ounce package of noodles

Sauce:

  • 1 tube of Teese® Creamy Cheddar
  • 1/2 t. garlic powder
  • 1/4 t. nutmeg, fresh if you can
  • 1/4 t. cayenne
  • 1/2 t. ground mustard
  • 1/2 c. soy milk, this can be adjusted if the sauce is too thick

Topping:

  1. Boil noodles until al dente, drain and set aside in either a big bowl or the casserole dish. But it’s easier to stir in a bowl and then transfer to the casserole unless your casserole is deep.
  2. In a small saucepan, mix the sauce ingredients and whisk while simmering until very well blended. About 10 minutes. Test flavor and add salt if you wish but mine had sufficient saltiness.
  3. Pour hot sauce over noodles and stir to coat.
  4. Transfer noodles and sauce to casserole and spread evenly.
  5. Mix topping in small bowl then crumble on top of casserole.
  6. Bake at 350° F for 35 minutes. If you bake too long, the noodles will start to dry out and you don’t want that.

NOTE: Teese® Creamy Cheddar is made for macaroni and cheese. It’s creamy straight from the tube and blends with other ingredients very easily which is key to get to the right consistency and spunky flavor for this dish. Be careful cutting the tube open with a knife because the contents are under some pressure and will spew on your person. Best to open the package inside the saucepan.

BTW, the noodles really are as yellow as they are in the photo once coated with sauce. Chicago Soydairy did a great job getting this to mimic the old Kraft stuff you may have grown up with, but without the guilt.