Healthy, From-Scratch Versions of Your Favorite Vegan Junk Food

— 3.5 stars —

Along with pizza, mac & cheese is one of my favorite, go-to, if you were stuck on a deserted island and could only eat one food for the rest of your life, vegan foodstuffs. Unlike pizza, though, there are precious few cookbooks devoted entirely to its delicious cheesy goodness.

If you’re thinking, well duh, how many ways are there to make macaroni and cheese, then clearly you don’t read my blog. (Spoiler alert: there are currently twenty-two posts tagged “macaroni and cheese,” representing a small fraction of the recipes I have sampled and/or created, ranging from the classic Creamy Mac & Cheese with Daiya to the less traditional Mac & Pepperjack Pizza.)

So you can imagine my excitement when I got a whiff of Robin Robertson’s latest cookbook, VEGAN MAC AND CHEESE – MORE THAN 50 DELICIOUS PLANT-BASED RECIPES FOR THE ULTIMATE VEGAN COMFORT FOOD.

My anticipation was tempered a bit once I finally had the book in my hungry little hands: all of the recipes tip toward the health food end of the scale. Not that I have a problem with healthy vegan food, but you gotta live a little, you know? Throw a few unabashedly junky recipes in there to liven things up, or else let us know right in the title that this isn’t ONE OF THOSE kinds of cookbooks. Anything else feels like a total Bad Place kind of move.

The recipes I tried were a bit of a mixed bag, ranging from “pretty yummy” to “more trouble than it’s worth” (full rundown below). The cheese sauces utilize a variety of “bases” (if you can call them that; perhaps “key ingredients” is more accurate?), ranging from cashews to tofu to carrots and potatoes. With few exceptions, the ingredients are pretty common and easy to find in American grocery stores. (Pro tip: if a recipe calls for miso and you don’t feel like buying an entire container just for a teaspoon, tahini is an okay substitute.) The recipes are pretty straightforward and easy to follow, and not terribly labor intensive (though some do create an undogly amount of dishes).

There’s a nice variety of dishes here; the recipes are grouped under five subheadings, including “Basic Vegan Mac & Cheese,” “Global Cheesy Macs,” “Mac and Veggies,” “Meaty Macs,” and “Fun with Mac & Cheese” (which isn’t so much new recipes as some interesting ideas of how to repurpose leftovers, like making mac omelets, waffles, and cheese balls). I can honestly say, as a self-proclaimed expert whose life goal is to try every vegan mac & cheese recipe ever published in any major cookbook, there are some inspired and singular recipes in here – as well as some that are merely “meh” (even accounting for my strong preference for junk food mac & cheese).

Roasted Butternut Mac Uncheese

This is the first recipe in the “Mac and Veggies” section, and for good reason – it’s forking amazing. The cheese sauce is a mix of roasted butternut squash (yum!) and soaked raw cashews. It doesn’t taste much like melted Daiya or Follow Your Heart cheese (few-to-none of the recipes in this book do), and that’s okay! It’s its own thing.

Pro tip: if you don’t have any soy milk on hand (thanks, Corona virus), water works just fine too. Throw a few extra cashews into the mix to compensate.

Bonus points if you roast the squash seeds and use them as a garnish. (The recipe calls for pumpkin seeds, which seems … kind of silly?)

Cashew Cheesy Mac

Another winner! Roasted red peppers lend this dish both a distinct taste, and its eye-popping, boxed mac & cheese, neon orange color.

Blushing Baked Ziti

This is where things started to spiral for me (metaphorically, not literally, though – good eye! – I did swap out the ziti for fusilli). Despite my initial skepticism, I decided to give this casserole a whirl, mostly because I had a brick of tofu with a close expiration date. At first blush (lol), it reminded me of spaghetti pie: just with a differently shaped macaroni, and more layers (read: steps). Rather than the classic configuration of pasta-tofu-red sauce-optional shredded cheese, it goes red sauce-pasta-red sauce-tofu-pasta-red sauce-tofu.

So many layers! So much long division! So much work! So much mess everywhere! All for a dish that just left me wishing I’d made spaghetti pie instead (insert sad face here).

Honestly, this recipe is way more complicated than it needs to be, and I don’t think the many (so many!) extra layers do anything for it. If anything, I felt like the ricotta tofu didn’t bake as thoroughly, and with the sauce and pasta in such close proximity, you may as well just mix them from jump street.

Fwiw, the nut parm (made with ray almonds and nutritional yeast) is seriously amazing. I am putting it on all the things now.

Free Mac

Last and sadly least (SO SAD!), we have the Free Mac. The sauce is mix of onions, carrots, and potatoes boiled in a vegetable broth, then run through a blender to create a mock cheesy sauce. I actually don’t think this would be bad if not for the broth: with three cups of the stuff, this mac & cheese ends up tasting a lot like vegetable soup. Not bad, necessarily, but disconcerting: you have a dish that looks like one thing (macaroni and cheese) but tastes like another (veggie soup).

My suggestion: use water in place of broth, in whole or part, and add extra spices to taste.

This is the rare macaroni and cheese dish that improves as leftovers: once the sauce has had a chance to soak into the pasta, the taste of veggie soup isn’t quite so overwhelming. It’s also really good mixed with a mildly flavored couscous in a 1:1 ratio. (I like preparing it on the stovetop with a little vegan chicken broth, carrots, and corn.)

So there you have it: two A recipes, two C minuses. Not my most glowing cookbook review. Blame the sky-high expectations that accompany any mention of vegan mac-n-cheese.

BUT, if you’re half the vegan mac & cheese fan I am, you probably want to take VEGAN MAC AND CHEESE for a spin anyway. There are some neat ideas in here, and I can’t wait to try the Cheesy Mac Muffins (but probably using my own junk food mac & cheese concoction; there’s no beating Daiya, mkay).

I love mac and cheese in any form. These just takes it to a new level and allows me to provide options for my vegetarian and vegan friends. Would suggest for any library looking to expand their vegan collection, and provide a comfort food option for those patrons.

Great cookbook of vegan mac and cheese recipes. Robin Robertson is one of my favorite cookbook authors. I first got one of her books in 2002 as a brand new vegetarian. She writes clear and easy to follow recipes.

Mac and cheese are favorite to many people. As the vegan diet is increasingly popular , most want to have their favorite food in the vegan way..... This book has numerous recipes for vegan mac and cheese......

Vegan macaroni cheese was one of the first things I tried to make when I went vegan a few years ago and it did take me a while to get it right but now thankfully I can make it numerous ways, from the traditional cashew sauce route to simple vegan cheese and soy cream. I did love the photography within the book and the various flavour combinations but I think it was a little too simple - maybe it would be best suited to someone who was new to vegan recipes.

The definitive book on mac and uncheese

There are three basic uncheese sauces used in this book: ground cashew, whipped tofu, and pureed vegetables. These are staples of vegan cooking and offer no surprises. What is best about this book is the many ways that Ms Robertson uses these sauces in variations of pasta and uncheese. The recipes include basic mac and uncheese, a dry version to keep in the pantry like commercial boxed mac and cheese, international versions of mac and uncheese that draw on Thai, Mexican, and Italian influences. There are also recipes for some staples and add ins like vegan sausage and vegan bacon so you don't have to buy them.

I think that this will be the only vegan mac and uncheese book that you will need. Start with the basics and adapt on your own.

Two notes: 1) I have never seen a vegan Thai red curry paste. Red curry paste starts with fermented shrimp paste. Read the ingredients on the pack. 2) While firni, Middle-Eastern noodle pudding with cardamom is one of my absolutely favorite foods, it has no business being in a book about mac and uncheese.

This a good book for those looking to introduce vegan mac and cheese into their diet ( a healthier version for all purposes) and probably satisfy children as well.
It is not for those with a wider range of vegan cooking already under their belt ( since they might already be doing most of it) but for those who want to specialize in it.

Okay. First off, I freaking loved that Vegan Mac and Cheese was dedicated to the animals. How amazing is that?! I mean, unless you have dietary reasons, most people are vegan because of their love for animals and this was a cute way to pay homage to that fact.

If you have tried to adopt a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle at any point in your life, you have a first hand experience of just how difficult it can be. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been surrounded by a less than supportive network. When I was younger and tried to eat vegetarian, more than one family member would frequently try to get me to eat meat… and then laugh it off as some sort of joke.

Add on the fact that we’re giving up many traditional comfort foods and it makes sticking with it almost impossible. Which is one of the reasons that I love that there have been so many new vegan cookbooks written recently!

Vegan Mac and Cheese was amazing! I’ve never wanted to try so many recipes from one book before! I cannot wait to make my first mac uncheese (and yup, that pun legit made me laugh out loud).

The book begins with a bunch of really amazing information about everything from different pastas to use all the way to the difference between stove-top and oven baked macs. Robertson even included the history of mac and cheese, dating back to the 1200s! All of the information really prepares the reader for diving into making some mac uncheese.

Here are somethings that were included that I thought were amazing. She included recipe options for people with soy and nut allergies. She included ideas for creating a gift basket so that you can share a recipe with friends. She included some recipes that wouldn’t take a lot of time. In fact, one even claimed that the sauce would be done before your boiling pasta would be. I can’t wait to try the creamy curry mac recipe. And the roasted garlic mac recipe! Or the Cheese-steak mac and the crabby mac! And a recipe for mac and cheese in a mug?

She even included two recipes that will legit be game changers in my kitchen; mushroom bacon and vegan sour cream! What?!?!

The only thing that I noticed that could be a bit of a hindrance, was the amount of ingredients that a lot of the recipes called for. The issue was easily rectified by Robertson and her assurance and tips on reheating for leftovers, but I can see the amount of ingredients seeming a little daunting to some readers.

I can’t wait to dive in deeper into Vegan Mac and Cheese and try out all of the recipes.

Robin Robertson's Vegan Mac and Cheese is a celebration of my favorite comfort food. Divided into five chapters -- basic, global, mac & veggies, meaty macs, & fun with mac & cheese -- her creativity with whole foods makes mac & cheese a food that vegans & omnivores can enjoy together.

So far I've tried the Cashew Cheesy Mac (page 34). I served it over a defrosted mix of broccoli/cauliflower/carrot. It came together in less than 20 minutes and both my husband & I devoured it. Next on my list to try are Mac & Thai and Jerk Tempeh Mac.

Robin's recipes are always reliable and delicious, & I'm so happy that she decided to get creative with mac & cheese. Thanks, Robin!

I wanted to like this cookbook a little more than I actually did. I am a longtime fan of vegan author Robin Robertson and one of her cookbooks is a family favorite (Vegan Unplugged, which is all kinds of vegan recipes for camping, hotel rooms, power outages, dorm rooms etc. when you may not be able to cook in traditional ways). I cook vegetarian, as one of my kids has been vegetarian for 8 years and I also do so for moral, financial and health reasons. I am always looking for ways to cut down on cheese in cooking. It's expensive, not healthy, and I also don't want to support factory farming. Besides that, I suspect at least some of our family have quiet dairy allergies (dairy seems to exacerbate some health problems and seems to make one of my teens extra moody). That said, I have kids who love it. I am always looking for great dairy-free recipes.

There are things I really liked about this book: Robertson uses whole foods for the most part instead of just telling you to cook up fake cheese with non-dairy milk (though she does tell you how to do that too). I also love that there's a variety of ways she gets her cheesy tastes and textures. She has some recipes that are the classic nutritional yeast type but others use things like potatoes and carrots for some of the color and creaminess. She also has lots of varieties, giving a chapter of international twists on macaroni and cheese, a chapter on fun variations (the breaded and fried macaroni and cheese balls looked pretty awesome) and so on.

What could be better: There are not that many photos of the recipes and those ones aren't particularly inspiring. Most of the dishes look like pale beige imitations of macaroni and cheese. The styling and colors could be much better. These aren't photos that make me want to go try these dishes. The recipes aren't particularly healthy either. Obviously that's not the goal of a macaroni and cheese cookbook but you can make some pretty healthy variations.

It's not designed for gluten free folks, and just says to use GF pasta to sub. Some recipes call for flour. No nutritional information is provided. Soy is used in some recipes but plenty are soy-free. Allergy information is not provided for things like nuts (which are used often) and soy. Large quantities of nutritional yeast are often called for. I'm not a great fan of that stuff. The imitation boxed macaroni and cheese sounds interesting but it calls for something like 3/4 cup of nutritional yeast. I'm sad just thinking of what that much NY would taste like. I don't have high hopes.

Sometimes when I get a temporary ARC of a cookbook to review, I try to make a bunch of the recipes before it's deleted so I can try them while I can. In this case, I'm not sure I'm inspired to buy the ingredients for the recipes that sound tasty, and the ones I have the ingredients for don't sound tasty enough to make. I imagine it would be very different if our family was already vegan, in which case this would be a great primer of all kinds of recipes to try to find some new favorites.

I've had good success in my kitchen making up my own cheesy sauces with tapioca starch for stretch and some creative additions. I'm going to keep experimenting with that and try to figure out my own healthy but satisfying non-dairy cheese sauce for now, but I'll definitely keep her recipes in the back of my mind for inspiration.

Disclaimer: I was given an advance reader copy of this ebook from Quarto Publishing Group – Harvard Common Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As a vegetarian that eats mostly vegan and loves pasta, this cookbook is a winner! I love that there are so many different ways that the sauce is made and doesn't rely on just one sauce that changes some of the other ingredients. There are so many different recipes that I want to try and I will definitely be buying this book for my shelf! I think this would be good for just about anyone because there are so many different types of mac that will be good for just about any tastes!

I would highly recommend this cookbook!

This is a great recipe book with over 50 variations of vegan Mac and Cheese. There are several base recipes, catering for different food allergies and intolerances. There are many variations in terms of toppings, cooking and serving styles. The book is nicely presented with plenty of mouth-watering pictures.

I’m not currently a vegan so I didn’t have some of the ingredients in my cupboard but I was pleasantly surprised to find my local supermarket did stock all I needed to make the first base recipe. So far I have only tried the first recipe and it was very tasty. My dad, who isn’t even a vegetarian, also thought it tasted good! It didn’t really taste ‘cheesy’, but it certainly had taste; I think it was tastier and more interesting than all the dairy mac and cheeses I’ve tried.

This is a lovely recipe book with lots of tasty vegan variations of a classic dish, making Mac and Cheese an accessible meal for many.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harvard Common Press for the opportunity to read and review this title.

What better comfort food is there than mac & cheese?? It was fun to learn a bit about the history of mac & cheese and various pasta shapes and toppings are discussed. There is a good variety of recipes to suit any taste and I love that there are so many inspired by cultures around the world. My only hesitancy is that nearly every recipe calls for nutritional yeast and I'm not the biggest fan of the flavor. My favorite vegan mac & cheese recipe I've tried to date has a macadamia nut/cashew/potato/veggie sauce so it is possible to have a great vegan cheese sauce without nooch. If you love nutritional yeast though, this is the book for you!

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group – Harvard Common Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Harvard Common Press for Vegan Mac & Cheese – More than 50 Delicious Plant-Based Recipes for the Ultimate Comfort Food by Robin Robertson. Mac & cheese has long been a comfort food that vegans could not enjoy due to the dairy component, but not anymore this book is filled with many different varieties of mac & (un)cheese to enjoy.

The book starts with a timeline of macaroni and cheese, moves on to a list of vegan cheese makers, then a list of restaurants that serve vegan macaroni and cheese dishes, and finally to the recipes of how to make your own mac and uncheese. I was surprised at how different each recipe could taste when each one is for the same basic dish. I enjoyed Chapter 5 – Fun with Mac & Cheese the most. It was full of recipes that use leftover Mac & Cheese as an ingredient.

Some of my favorite recipes are: Free Mac, Cashew Cheesy Mac, Mac and Thai, Greek Spinach Orzo Bake, Cheesy Spaghetti Squash Mac, Cheesy Broccoli Mac, Buffalo Cauliflower Mac, Roasted Garlic Mac and Cheese, Shepherd’s Mac, Mac Uncheese Omelet, Cheesy Broccoli Mac Soup, and Mac Uncheese Balls.

This book is great! It includes lots of variations on a traditional comfort food. There are lots of pictures, many helpful tips, and a great index that italicizes the pages with pictures. Most of the ingredients are easy to find and the recipes were all easy to follow.

If you like mac and cheese and want to try something different, get this book. If you don’t like mac and cheese…well that is your problem.

I was skeptical, 50 mac and cheese vegan recipes ? How is that possible ? Amazingly it is, and the ones I tried were satisfying in that way a good home style mac and cheese can be. The basic sauces are fabulous and the author encourages creativity with additions and combinations as the book progressed. My favorite sauces were the cashew based ones, I really enjoy that creamy texture the nut adds. I've been a vegetarian for over 27 years and cheese is the food keeping me from going vegan. While reviewing this book I went a month cheese free and didn't miss it at all. There is hope for me yet.
This book is more than just plain mac and cheese with different sauces. There is a lot of idea on what to do with leftovers. Wonderful creative examples that will get you started on something just to fit your taste. I think that was what I enjoyed most about this book was the authors exploration of the dish.
I plan on buying a few copies for holiday gifts for my vegan friends.
I was lucky to receive a copy of this from the publisher for an honest review and test cooking.

I love this cookbook!

We made the One-Pot Macaroni and Cheese and it was DELICIOUS!! There are at least ten more recipes that I want to try!

The author gives a lot of tips for different toppings for mac and cheese! We tried toasted breadcrumbs and it tasted like the crust on baked macaroni and cheese!!

I will admit that it was harder me to switch from vegetarianism to veganism than from omnivore to vegetarian. (Something I still grapple with!) The reason? Dairy… and more specifically… cheese. One of the things it is so easy to miss when you go vegan is the creamy meltiness of dairy. It is hard to replicate, and it is a common component of many comfort foods. Well, at least now with this cookbook, vegans can have their mac and cheese back. Or, as the author says, “mac uncheese.” However, for simplicity, I will just be going it mac and cheese in this review.

The book is divided into several chapters, starting with basic recipes and ending with some creative ideas for leftovers. In between, the author travels the globe mac-n-cheese style, highlights vegetable versions, and provides some dishes that may in some way mimic people’s previous meaty favorites. The book is full of inspired mac and cheese recipes. The sauce recipes I found to be quite fun. The author is very creative, mimicking the flavors and textures reminiscent of dairy mac and cheese. Nutritional yeast is in most recipes, and miso is common as well. As I have made the Happy Herbivore’s vegan nacho cheese, I can attest to the fact that these two ingredients impart flavor and complexity that is reminiscent of dairy cheese. The author often incorporates vegetables in the sauces, too, which would give both body and flavor. Vegetables used in sauces include red bell peppers, carrots, rutabagas, and potatoes.

The basic chapter is just what it sounds like–several basic sauces highlighting different approaches to vegan uncheese sauces (tofu, nutritional yeast, or cashew based) and even an allergen-free sauce. She even had a powdered version you can pre make to have on hand so you could whip up a homemade mac and cheese dish almost as quickly as that little blue box you get at the store. By the way, she doesn’t use store-bought vegan cheeses in these recipes, though she does talk about them in the introduction. If you like them, though, she recommends adding some to your sauce for another flavor/texture note.

What’s fun about a lot of these sauces (the basics and the other in the book), I think, is that you could mix and match them. Once you find a couple of sauces that you like, you could experiment with them. Use different add-ins, use different pasta shapes, or even use the sauce in a completely different recipe. When I experimented with vegan cheese sauces before, I actually found them very versatile. They make an excellent base for a pizza or something to toss vegetables in.

I thought the global cheesy mac chapter was a lot of fun. Some recipes don’t really come across to me as real mac and cheese type recipes, like the Greek Spinach Orzo Bake or the Blushing Baked Ziti (but it does sound tasty!). However, this is just a minor quibble. I thought that the aforementioned Blushing Baked Ziti and Salsa Mac and Queso sounded particularly good. The next chapter is about incorporating more vegetables into your mac and cheese, both into the sauce and added into the dish. There was even one creative dish that uses spaghetti squash instead of pasta. Where I think the author got the most inventive was in the final chapter, where she gives some fun ideas about what to do with pasta leftovers. She does provide some more “normal” suggestions in the introduction, but in this chapter, she gives you ideas of how to use your leftovers to make mac and cheese balls, mac and cheese pizza, and mac and cheese quesadillas amongs other yummy-sounding delights. I love a cookbook that pushes the boundaries of expectations like that and fires the imagination.

I’ve enjoyed this author’s cookbooks for years, and this book will soon become another favorite, I’m sure. All my family, even the confirmed omnivores, loves the chili recipe from one of her slow cooker cookbooks! I wonder if I could find another such recipe in this cookbook?

If you’re vegan and have loved mac and cheese, this book will be right up your alley. If you’re a mother who would like to add more vegetables to her children’s diets, you may very well appreciate the sauces that incorporate vegetables right into them. If they’re whizzed into a sauce, the kids may never know. Of course, if they’re like some of my younger relations, they don’t want any mac and cheese unless it’s from that little blue box!

Some really interesting takes on mac and cheese. Nice set up of the recipes - and if there is something extra or a sauce it is right after the recipe and not in its own section that you would have to flip through. They had a mac and cheese timeline at the front which was a nice surprise and fun to see. Great for those who love mac and cheese or want to try at least one variation.

Who knew there were so many varieties of this delicious comfort food mac and cheese to try let alone this is all vegan mac and cheese. My mouth is really going to celebrate now!
So many plant based sauces and vegan cheeses to try, it'll be fun and delicious trying these.
Especially nice these are easy to make and quite nutritious!

Published September 17th 2019 by Harvard Common Press.
I was given a complimentary copy. Thank you!
All opinions expressed are my own.

Finding the perfect vegan macaroni and cheese recipe is no easy task. Do you like it straight off the stovetop with just a creamy sauce, or do you prefer it baked with a breadcrumb topping? Is the simplicity of noodles and cheesy goodness your ideal, or do add-ins like vegetables make it more interesting for you? No matter how you like your mac and cheese, Robin Robertson’s Vegan Mac & Cheese cookbook is sure to make you happy.

The introduction includes the story and timeline of macaroni and cheese; a list of restaurants around the world that serve some version of vegan macaroni and cheese; a discussion of vegan cheese, including incredients and tips for making your own; all kinds of info about pasta options; and plenty of ideas for toppings and add-ins.

Chapter 1: Basic Vegan Mac and Cheese offers recipes for mac and cheese made with your choice of tofu, cashews, or vegetable broth. There’s also a baked version topped with Ritz crackers, a classy version with truffle oil, and a clever dry mix that would make an excellent addition to any care package.

Chapter 2: Global Cheesy Macs features fusions with other cuisines like Thai, German, Greek, Mexican, and Ethiopian

Chapter 3: Mac and Veggies suggests mac and cheese made with anything from squash, spinach, broccoli, or asparagus, to name a few. I loved the Roasted Garlic Mac and Cheese and have bookmarked "Brussels and Tempeh Bacon" for my next attempt.

Chapter 4: Meaty Macs is a variety of hearty dishes made with mock meats like crab, BBQ jackfruit, Philly cheesesteak, or bratwurst. Recipes for many of the mock meats themselves are included, though of course you can use store-bought instead.

Chapter 5: Fun with Mac & Cheese offers instructions for serving in a mug, folding some inside an omelet, turning into a waffle, or cooking in a muffin tin.