Ezra Cohen Montreal nut butters make great substitutes for a lot of our favorite classic comfort foods, and this scrumptious vegan mac and cheese is definitely no different!

Cashew butter provides a creaminess to this vegan mac and cheese that you’d normally get from whole milk and butter, plus a uniquely nutty flavor that serves as a perfect backdrop to the cheesy nutritional yeast. The result is a luxuriously smooth mac and cheese with just the right balance of flavor—plus a healthy vegan twist on a normally indulgent staple.

Is Vegan Mac and Cheese with Nut Butter Healthy?

Yes! Our vegan mac and cheese with cashew butter recipe is free of the things that serve to make traditional mac and cheese so unhealthy, including regular butter and lots of processed cheese. And there are added nutritional benefits from the cashew butter itself, which is an excellent source of healthy fat, magnesium, and amino acids. If you want to make it an even healthier option, swap out the standard dried pasta for gluten-free pasta and stir some veggies like peas or broccoli into the finished dish.

Vegan Mac and Cheese with Cashew Butter

Serve this vegan mac and cheese alongside fresh veggies for a complete meal that offers a ton of savory goodness and essential nutrients.

Ingredients:

16oz dried pasta (we like cavatappi or fusilli for this recipe)
1 cup Ezra Cohen Montreal Natural Cashew Butter
2 tbsp vegan butter
1 leek, green part removed and white part chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
¼ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp turmeric
2 cups oat milk (or other dairy free milk)
½ cup nutritional yeast
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup vegan parmesan
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Cook dried pasta according to package directions. When cooked, drain and set aside.
2. While pasta is cooking, place a large pot over medium heat and add your vegan butter. Once butter is hot, add leek, garlic, paprika, and turmeric. Allow to cook until leek is soft—about 3 minutes—then add oat milk and bring to a simmer.
3. Once your sauce mixture is simmering, stir in nutritional yeast, salt, red pepper flakes, and black pepper; then remove sauce from the heat.
4. Add Ezra Cohen Montreal Natural Cashew Butter to the sauce and use an immersion blender to combine. Alternately, you could put the sauce and the cashew butter into a blender, though you don’t want to put hot sauce right into a blender so let your sauce cool for at least 4-5 minutes first before blending.
5. Add sauce back to pot and stir in cooked pasta and vegan parmesan. Top with parsley and enjoy!

There are lots of different ways to make this vegan mac and cheese recipe your own, so if you’re up for it, follow the basics and then add in some additions as you choose after it’s fully cooked. Some of our favorites include chopped and charred vegan sausage bites, diced green chiles, and spicy baked tofu, all of which bring a touch of something unexpected to the bowl. You also can’t go wrong drizzling this dish with a dash or two of hot sauce.

Nut butters are a staple of vegan cooking and can open up the door to delicious takes on a ton of different recipes. Check out our recipe blog for more inspiration, including this vegan cashew butter soup with roasted garlic and pumpkin that’s perfect for fall and this truly unbeatable vegan cashew butter cheesecake!