Dairy-free mac and cheese ain’t what it used to beand that’s a good thing. When I started fooling around with vegan mac and cheese a decade ago, I tried a million different methods. There was the crash course with dairy-free cheeses– an experience that, ten years ago, typically ended by gagging. In a medium saucepan with lid, melt oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions start to soften. Add garlic, stir and cook another 30 seconds to a minute or until garlic is fragrant. You can use half and half as a substitute for milk when making mac and cheese. In order to get the flavor closer to milk add a small amount of water to the half and half. If the recipe calls for one cup of milk you can use 3/4 cup of half & half combined with 1/4 cup of water. This creamy, dairy free mac and cheese is a quick and easy dinner recipe for those nights you’re craving something cheesy that actually tastes like the real thing. The sauce is made with nutritional yeast, cheese shreds, almond milk and a secret ingredient that makes this the best vegan mac and cheese recipe you’ll find!
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International food giant Kraft Heinz just launched a vegan version of its classic Kraft Mac & Cheese. The new Kraft Vegan Mac & Cheese was developed as a “contemporary” take on the classic boxed meal and is both gluten-free and vegan-certified with pasta made from rice flour and a dairy-free sauce. The new product is offered in the same classic blue box but with prominent vegan messaging throughout. Kraft even modified the cooking instructions to suggest using soy milk instead of traditional cow’s milk.
The new product has been spotted only in Australia at Woolworths grocery stores and online. VegNews has reached out to Kraft Heinz to inquire about whether its new Kraft Vegan Mac & Cheese will be available in other markets outside of Australia.
Kraft’s vegan ventures
While the Kraft vegan mac and cheese has yet to debut in markets outside of Australia, Kraft Heinz has made a number of investments stateside to support the growth of the plant-based industry.
In 2019, Kraft Heinz selected five vegan companies to support during its 16-week Springboard Brands program in Chicago: lupini-bean snack brand BRAMI; cold-pressed almond juice brand Origin Almond; vegan protein bar brand Blake’s Seed Based; coconut-based yogurt brand Tiny Giants; and Ka-Pop!—makers of ancient-grain based chips in flavors such as vegan Dairy-Free Cheddar. During the program, Kraft Heinz supported the startups in their endeavors with mentorship and networking opportunities, access to the Kraft kitchen and production plants, and $50,000 in starting capital.
Kraft Heinz also participated in a $35 million funding round raised in 2019 by Silicon Valley-based startup New Culture which is using precision fermentation to create dairy-identical mozzarella without exploiting cows. The company’s groundbreaking vegan cheese is set to debut in 2023.
Heinz goes beyond beanz
Last year, the condiment portion of the Kraft Heinz brand expanded its vegan offerings in the United Kingdom with the launch of [Seriously] Good Vegan Mayo and Vegan Salad Cream, which underwent extensive research to remove eggs from their formulation.
Heinz also leaned into Beanz as its hero vegan product. For it’s 150th anniversary in 2019, Heinz revived Heinz Beanz Pizza, a cult classic product it discontinued in 2003 and gave it a vegan makeover. In partnership with delivery service Deliveroo, Heinz offered the vegan pizza (along a non-vegan version) to customers in the United Kingdom for a limited time. During January last year, the company changed its long running “Beanz Meanz Heinz” slogan to a more vegan-centric message “Beanz Meanz Vegan” in honor of the Veganuary campaign in the United Kingdom.
The Heinz brand is also going beyond “beanz” and exploring other possibilities in the plant-based realm. The brand recently filed trademarks under a new “VBQ” label for 29 new plant-based meats and barbecue sauces. “Beans are already a vegan product, so we are looking to take beans as a base for a new plant-based range,” Kraft Heinz Ireland head David Adams told The Checkout after the launch of its vegan mayo and salad cream. “We are working through a few ideas at the moment and we are excited about the possibilities in the plant-based arena.”
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Dairy Free Mac And Cheese Box Recipe
When I think of mac and cheese, I’m not thinking of those 99 cent boxes of wacky mac sitting on the shelves of Walmart or Pricechopper. I dream of a mac and cheese that is a decadent and elegant dish with a variation to excite every palate. Living a dairy free of gluten free lifestyle doesn’t mean living without, and using this dairy free mac and cheese recipe as a base, you can recreate your favorite version of this traditional casserole. Image Credit: esimrapim
My all-time favorite variety is a chipotle mac and cheese topped with garlic bread crumbs. The creaminess of Gruyère and Cheddar make this dish, and it’s become my benchmark for measuring the success of any dairy free mac and cheese dish. When I reviewed Kathy Hester’sThe Vegan Slow Cooker last year I fell in love with the idea of making mac and cheese with a home made cashew based cheese, but never did as it seemed complicated. Let me share a little secret. It is not complicated at all.
Most of my “cheese” dishes use daiya cheese, and as much as I love this ingredient, the cashew based cheese I share with you today is simple to make at home and reminds me of the self-indulgent, rich cheesy flavor that my daiya cheese sauce has often lacked.
Cashew cheese really delivers makes the dairy free mac and cheese experience as authentic as possible. This recipe does need you to plan ahead a little, soaking cashews for the best part of a day before you make the cheese, but if you are the plan-ahead type of cook, or can soak the cashews before leaving for work and complete the prep when you return home, this dish is worth the effort. My wife is the one that took the plunge and made this cashew cheese – and as we begin a shift that will cut our meat consumption I expect this dish will become one we share often. You can serve it as a main dish, or smaller portions in mini ramekins will make excellent side dishes.
Dairy Free Mac and Cheese
- 1 1/2 cups cashews
- 1 diced bell pepper
- Juice of 1-2 limes (to taste)
- 3 cloves garlic
- Teaspoon salt
- Dash of red chili flakes
- Dash of chipotle hot sauce
- Teaspoon olive oil
- 1 package of pasta – elbow, or spirals work best.
Begin by soaking 1 1/2 cups of cashews in water for seven to nine hours. Once they have soaked, discard the water and rinse. Put the cashews in to a blender, vitamix or food processor along with all of the other ingredients except for one lime and olive oil. Blend the ingredients until smooth, pulse if you prefer. Taste, and add the juice of the second lime if you’d like to add a deeper citrus tone. It’s a subtle addition, but I think it makes the dish. Add a teaspoon of olive oil if your cheese is too thick.
Allow your cashew cheese to sit while you boil your pasta in salted water. Drain and rinse your pasta, then put it back in the pot and return over a low light. Gently stir in the cashew cheese, folding to make all the pasta gets coated. Resist the urge to this straight from the bowl – this dish doesn’t need any upgrade, but if you desire peas, tuna or tempeh bacon, I’d add it at this point. Mix again.
Spoon your mac and cheese into ramekins, or a large oven-safe dish and sprinkle with garlic breadcrumbs. Toast of a few minutes in the toaster oven, or under the broiler. It won’t take more than five minutes before there is a golden brown glow atop your vegan deliciousness.
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