Nacho Mac and Cheese

Name: Nacho Mac and Cheese
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 8 ounces white or brown rice elbow noodles; 14 ounces silken tofu; 1/4 cup nutritional yeast; 5 tablespoons green chiles (divided); 1/4 cup tapioca flour ((or 2 tablespoons corn starch)); 1 teaspoon turmeric; 1/2 teaspoon chili powder; 1/4 teaspoon paprika; 1/4 teaspoon cumin; 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 1/2 cup salsa; 2 tablespoons Earth Balance buttery spread; Salt and pepper

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This simple nut free Nacho Mac and Cheese is rich, creamy, and spicy. Made on the stovetop, it is an easy meal. The nacho cheese sauce can be used on nachos and veggie burgers as well.

Nacho Mac and Cheese with green onions on top.

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This Nacho Mac and Cheese is rich and creamy, making it a perfect comfort food in my book.

My Tofu Nacho Cheese Sauce was the inspiration for my Tofu Macaroni and Cheese a while back, so I thought why not make a Nacho Mac and Cheese as well?

The creamy sauce clings nicely to elbow noodles. Made in about 20 minutes, it is a quick and easy meal.

Since I love spicy foods, I like this spicy mac and cheese even better than my previous mac and cheese recipe.

Speaking of spicy foods, a similar recipe is my Vegan Chili Cheese Dip. It is practically a meal in itself.

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❤️ Why You'll Love It
What Does It Taste Like?
🧾 Ingredients
🔪 Instructions
🍽 Serving
👩🏻‍🍳 Recipe FAQs
🍝 Other Vegan Pasta Recipes
🎥 Video
📋 Recipe
💬 Comments

❤️ Why You'll Love It

It is rich, spicy, and creamy.
It is the ultimate comfort food.
It is made on the stovetop in about 20 minutes.

What Does It Taste Like?

This Mexican mac and cheese is rich, creamy, and spicy. It has all the flavors of nacho cheese sauce, but it is dairy-free.

🧾 Ingredients

Pasta: I used elbow pasta, but you could use straight macaroni, penne, rotini, or another short pasta. I used brown rice elbow noodles to make it gluten-free. Use your favorite pasta.
Silken tofu: Adds the creamy texture. I used silken tofu found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store.
Nutritional yeast: Adds a cheesy taste. If you leave it out it won't taste as cheesy. You could use store-bought vegan parmesan, although I cannot speak to the results.
Tapioca flour or cornstarch: When I originally posted this recipe I used cornstarch, but found since then that I am intolerant to corn. You can use either, just note that you'll need twice as much tapioca flour.
Green chiles: Adds spice. You could leave them out.
Salsa: I used a medium chunky salsa. Use your favorite or make some homemade Restaurant Style Salsa. You could also use salsa verde.
Turmeric: Adds color. You can leave it out.
Chili powder, paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper: Adds spice and nacho flavor. You could also use taco seasoning.
Vegan butter: Adds a rich buttery flavor.
Salt and black pepper: Enhances flavors and adds flavor. I like to use sea salt.

To see the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions, see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

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🔪 Instructions

If you are using white or brown rice noodles, as I did, you may want to boil your noodles in a larger amount of water than you normally would for other types of pasta, and don't cook it in water that's high in arsenic. There are growing concerns about arsenic levels in rice.

Cooking process of macaroni noodles in a large saucepan with salted water and spoon.

Step 1: Stir the noodles as soon as the noodles hit the pot of water. You'll want to stir them as they cook so that they don't stick together. You can add a little olive oil as well so that they don't stick. I do that sometimes, but didn't for this recipe.

Step 2: Boil noodles as per directions, but cook about 3-4 minutes less since you'll be cooking the noodles in the sauce a little later. Add a lot of salt. It should be salty like the sea.

Reserve about ¼ cup of the pasta water. It is starchy, which will help the sauce to stick better to the noodles. Again, if you're concerned about arsenic levels, you may not want to do this for rice-based pastas.

Check your pasta! Taste it to see when it's ready. Again, you want it cooked for less time since it will cook some more in the sauce.

Ingredients in food processor before being mixed and after being mixed.

Step 3: Add silken tofu, nutritional yeast, tapioca flour (or corn starch), half the green chiles, and spice in a food processor.

Step 4: Blend the vegan cheese mixture until smooth and creamy. Taste it to see if you want more spices.

Keep in mind raw tapioca flour (or corn starch) doesn't taste as good as cooked. By tasting the mixture you'll at least have an idea of how spicy it will be, but remember there's still salsa and the other half of green chiles that will be added later.

Vegan Nacho Cheese in skillet with salsa and green chiles.

Step 5: Pour the nacho cheese sauce mixture into a pan, along with salsa, the other half of the green chiles, and vegan butter. Heat on medium heat. Cook until the vegan butter melts.