This creamy, delicious Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese is the perfect cozy, fall recipe!
Can I just say something? I am darn tired of the complaints about how there is too much pumpkin in fall. I see so many articles online saying things like, “Whole Foods now carries pumpkin spice whipped cream…. are they going too far?”. In my opinion, the people have spoken – WE WANT PUMPKIN.
Now, in the interest of full honesty, I have to admit that I did not always feel this way. A few years ago I was surrounded by a group of people who made fun of (among other things) pumpkin spice lattes and the “basic girls” who liked them. I totally caved into this peer pressure, and deemed myself anti-pumpkin. But now being surrounded by my second-to-none boyfriend and amazing friends, I finally feel free to be myself (seriously). And I realized…. I LOVE pumpkin!! In our house we have pumpkin candles, pumpkin coffee, and even a soap dispenser shaped like a pumpkin holding pumpkin cinnamon soap. And I love it!!! So here’s to unabashedly expressing yourself, enjoying the things you like, and pumpkin everything.
I’ve got a LOT of pumpkin recipes coming your way this fall. I’m going to do some made from fresh pumpkins, but a lot of them will call for pumpkin purée. I don’t mind leaning heavily on the purée because I get this really great brand for it – link here (affiliate link). Farmer’s Market brand pumpkin purée contains only one ingredient – organic pumpkin. With a product like that, I don’t mind using it in all my recipes! (This is not sponsored by the way – I just really love this pumpkin).
This vegan pumpkin mac and cheese is so delicious and cozy, it’s absolutely wild. You blend up the creamy sauce then bake it in the oven until it’s hot and tasty. This mac and cheese would be PERFECT on a chilly night, enjoyed with a cup of hot apple cider. I hope y’all love this recipe!!
P.S. I recently reached 30,000 followers on Instagram, and I just wanted to reiterate my heartfelt thanks and gratitude for all of you that follow my blog and support me!! My Instagram not only showcases the recipes I post here on the website, but also everyday eats and plant-based meal inspiration. Thank you again so much for being a part of the Well and Full community! :)
Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cheese Sauce
- 1 1/2 Cups Pumpkin Purée 1 15-oz Can
- 1 Cup Cashews soaked and drained
- 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Plant Milk
- 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
- 1/3 Cup Nutritional Yeast
- 1 Tbs Soy Sauce or Tamari
- 2 Cloves Garlic chopped
- 1 Tsp Onion Powder
- Pinch of Turmeric for color
- 1 Tsp Salt or more to taste
The Pasta
- 1 lb Whole Wheat shell, rotini, or fusili pasta
Sunflower Crumble
- 1/3 Cup Sunflower Seeds salted
- 2 Tbs Nutritional Yeast
Other Toppings
- Chopped Parsley
- Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
- In your blender, add in all pumpkin cheese sauce ingredients. Please note that if you did not soak your cashews overnight, you can easily soak them in hot water for about 15-20 minutes prior to using. Be sure to drain well when done.
- Blend pumpkin cheese sauce until smooth and creamy. Taste, and adjust seasonings if you'd like.
- While the oven is still preheating, cook the pasta according to the package's instructions. The pasta should be al dente when done. Drain the water from the pasta.
- Mix cooked pasta with pumpkin cheese sauce until evenly coated. Pour into a glass casserole dish to bake in the oven. Bake at 425 degrees F for 25-30 minutes.
- While mac and cheese is cooking, make your sunflower crumble. Combine sunflower seeds and nutritional yeast into a food processor and process until the pieces are small and crumbly. Taste, and adjust salt if needed.
- When mac and cheese is done, take it out of the oven and add on a sprinkling of the sunflower crumble. Put mac and cheese back into the oven and broil for about 2-3 minutes, or until sunflower crumble is just toasty.
- Serve pumpkin mac and cheese in bowls with a sprinkling of parsley.
- Enjoy!
P.S.
If you make this recipe and post it on Instagram, be sure to tag me @wellandfull and #wellandfull so I can see! I love seeing your takes on my recipes :)
19 Comments
Jess @choosingchia
September 14, 2018 at 12:30 pmI’m so excited for all things pumpkin! I’ve definitely been converted as a pumpkin lover as well :) This looks delicious Sarah!
Sarah
September 15, 2018 at 3:38 pmThanks so much Jess! Pumpkin lovers unite!! ;)
Shannon
September 21, 2018 at 3:41 pmCongrats on 30K, Sarah!! When I saw your post on IG, I knew I had to try this recipe! It looks incredible and oh-so-cozy. Hooray for pumpkin recipes!
Sarah
September 21, 2018 at 7:25 pmThanks so much Shannon!! I hope you like the recipe :)
Shari Wexler
November 5, 2018 at 9:56 amThis was amazing! My boyfriend doesn’t like pumpkin so I didn’t tell him it was in there until after he ate it and loved it. It was easy and such wonderful comfort food on a chilly night. I will definitely be making this part of my repertoire. Thank you!
Sarah
November 5, 2018 at 11:10 amHi Shari, I’m so glad to hear you and your boyfriend liked this recipe! Hearing a review like this makes my day :)
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Brienne
November 7, 2018 at 1:16 pmThis mac and cheese was SO GOOD. I loved the sunflower topping!
Sarah
November 8, 2018 at 9:54 amI’m so glad to hear you liked the recipe, Brienne! The sunflower topping is my favorite too :)
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TB
December 31, 2018 at 12:50 pmSo, the other day I tried out this recipe and I wanted to be healthy and use black bean pasta and thought to myself it should work, but let me tell you, it did not. The pasta got SO dry, but it smelled so good while cooking so I needed to try it again. I just tried with regular pasta and it is SO good, I’ll never betray pasta and try and be healthy again!
Sarah
January 1, 2019 at 6:09 pmI’m so glad you liked the recipe with regular pasta!! I have also found that alternative pastas can get a little weird when baked ;) Thank you so much for leaving this kind note!! :)
Jamie
March 19, 2019 at 5:37 pmOhhh emmmm geeeeee…..this was AMAZING! I made 2 changes…I used broth instead of oil in the sauce, and I used Panko instead sunflower seeds in the topping (because that is what I had on hand). It was SOOOOO good. My boyfriend had 3 helpings! Thank you thank you thank you!
Sarah
March 20, 2019 at 10:13 amHi Jamie, I’m so thrilled to hear that you liked this recipe!! This pumpkin mac and cheese is one of my favorites :) Thank you so much for leaving a review, I really appreciate it! :)
Edith
September 27, 2020 at 2:30 pmHi! Making this soon, should the cashews be raw?
Sarah
September 27, 2020 at 9:01 pmIf you have a high speed blender, feel free to use raw cashews! If not, I’d recommend soaking overnight!
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