Nut-Free Vegan Mac and Cheese (Gluten-Free)

Today we are excited to share with you an allergen-friendly version of our easy vegan mac and cheese recipe. It’s creamy, cheesy, and pretty darn healthy, too! This nut-free vegan mac and cheese recipe is super simple to make and requires just a few simple ingredients. You may already have most of the ingredients in your pantry.

Instead of using cashews like in our other Easy Vegan Mac & Cheese recipe, we are using sunflower seeds, which are a rich and creamy alternative. This mac and cheese is the perfect meal to make for someone who has a nut allergy. Honestly, it may even be better than our original recipe.

I made this recipe for our recent dollar store challenge video and was able to find just about all of the ingredients there, which I think is pretty amazing. The one thing the dollar store didn’t have was raw sunflower seeds, so for the video, I used roasted seeds. This resulted in a more nutty flavor than ideal, so we prefer using raw sunflower seeds if possible.

Now, this may sound crazy, but the three key ingredients in this recipe are sunflower seeds, potatoes, and carrots. These ingredients, combined with the additional spices make for the perfect cheesy flavor. We promise you will be amazed!

As I mentioned earlier, this nut-free vegan mac and cheese recipe is part of a dollar store challenge that Jasmine and just released on our Youtube Channel. She made an Easy Vegetable Gnocchi dish, and I have to admit it’s the bomb! We only spent a total of $10 at the dollar store which made 12 servings of food, pretty amazing right?

If you want to get creative, you can use this sunflower seed cheese sauce as a dip, as a topping on vegetables, or even on pizza.

Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you recreate any of our recipes, we love to see your photos!

Nut-Free Vegan Mac and Cheese

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5 from 1 review

• Author: Chris Petrellese
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 8 servings

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Description

An allergen-friendly vegan mac and cheese recipe that is creamy, cheesy, and pretty darn healthy, too! This nut-free vegan mac and cheese is easy to make and requires just a few simple ingredients that you may already have on hand!

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Ingredients

• 1 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1 lb. elbow (macaroni) noodles, gluten-free as needed
• 1/2 white onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons vegetable broth
• 1/2 large or 1 cup steamed russet potatoes, peeled
• 1/2 cup carrots, steamed
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• Black pepper, to taste

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Instructions

1. Soak the raw sunflower seeds in water overnight. If you need to speed things up, you can boil water and soak the sunflower seeds in hot water for about 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until soft. Drain and set aside.
2. Cook the noodles according to the packaging directions.
3. In a medium cast iron skillet, add in 2 tablespoons of vegetable broth. Add in the onions and garlic, and for 2-3 minutes, or until fragrant and the onions become translucent. Set aside.
4. In a small steamer, steam the potatoes and optional carrots until fork tender, about 8 minutes.
5. Add the cooked onions and garlic, soaked sunflower seeds and the steamed vegetables to a high-speed blender along with the remaining ingredients and blend until completely smooth. Add additional vegetable broth or water if too thick or cornstarch if too thin, and blend again until smooth. Adjust seasonings to taste.
6. Add the noodles into the cast iron skillet (used above) and then pour over the cheese sauce. Carefully mix until all of the noodles are coated and uniform.
7. Now all that’s left to do is enjoy!

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Category: Entree, Pasta, Lunch
• Method: Stovetop, Blender
• Cuisine: Vegan

Nutrition facts label provided by Nutri Fox.

Disclaimer: The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional’s advice. This page may contain affiliate links, which simply means that we earn a commission if you purchase through those links, but your price remains the same. Thank you for supporting Sweet Simple Vegan!