Vegan Mac N Cheese with a Crispy Bacon Sage Topping

This vegan mac n cheese has a creamy, cheesy sauce flavoured with fresh sage, wholegrain mustard and strong vegan cheddar. The macaroni and cheese sauce base is topped with a delicious crisp vegan bacon, garlic and sage breadcrumb crumble topping to give a dish that’s comforting and full of flavour.

Macaroni and cheese is a comfort food classic that’s easy to veganise with the incredible range of dairy free cheese and cream available in supermarkets today.

This version cooks on the hob, simmering the macaroni pasta in vegetable stock and dairy free cream flavoured with wholegrain mustard, nutritional yeast and fresh sage. When the macaroni is cooked a generous helping of grated strong vegan cheddar is stirred through to finish off the base for this creamy, cheesy and moreish Vegan Mac N Cheese.

To take this macaroni cheese up a notch, it’s then sprinkled with a vegan bacon, fresh sage and garlic breadcrumb crumble, along with more cheese of course! The whole dish is popped under the grill until crisp and golden.

What you’ll need to make this Vegan Mac N Cheese

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Refrigerated items: A strong flavoured vegan cheese such as Violife Epic Mature Cheddar is a key component to this dish, along with a dairy free cream of your choice (soya works well).

• Pantry items: You’ll need wholegrain mustard, vegetable stock, nutritional yeast, dry macaroni and coconut oil (or any other mild flavoured cooking oil).

• Fresh items: Garlic and fresh sage are used to flavour this dish. You can use dried sage however we recommend fresh if you have some in the garden or can get it from your local supermarket.

• Other items: Pick up a pack of your favourite brand of vegan bacon and you’ll also need some bread (preferably slightly stale) to turn into breadcrumbs for the topping.

Tips for making this Vegan Mac N Cheese

1. The first step is to add the dry macaroni to a large pan with some vegetable stock, dairy free cream, mustard, nutritional yeast and fresh sage. Bring this to the boil and then let it simmer until the macaroni pasta has soaked up all of the liquid. Different macaroni types may require different amounts of liquid so keep an eye on it and if the pasta is not quite cooked by the time the liquid has been soaked up, add a little more vegetable stock, cream and/or dairy free milk to the pan and test the pasta again once that has been soaked up.

2. Ideally use a cast iron or grill-proof pan so that your macaroni and cheese can go straight under the grill in the same dish. That way, you’ll only need two pans – one for the macaroni and one to fry off the bacon sage topping before adding it on top of the macaroni cheese.

3. Use a strong flavoured vegan cheese for this dish to give the best flavour – we like the Violife Epic Mature Cheddar.

4. When frying the bacon, sage and garlic for the topping, you want to do so over a medium-high heat so that its cooked through and the bacon is starting to go a little crispy around the edges.

More epic main meals to try

• Vegan Bacon and Cheese Quiche Lorraine

• Easy Vegan Katsu Curry

• Creamy Wild Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto

• Vegan Toad In The Hole

• Vegan Sausage and Bean Pasta Bake

I hope you LOVE this Vegan Mac N Cheese! If you try it be sure to leave a comment and rating below and tag @aveganvisit on social media – I love to see your re-creations! Enjoy 🙂 x

The Video Recipe:

The Vegan Mac N Cheese Recipe:

Vegan Mac N Cheese with a Crispy Bacon Sage Topping

This vegan mac n cheese has a creamy, cheesy sauce flavoured with fresh sage, wholegrain mustard and strong vegan cheddar. The macaroni and cheese sauce base is topped with a delicious crisp vegan bacon, garlic and sage breadcrumb crumble topping to give a dish that’s comforting and full of flavour.

5 from 3 votes

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Course: Lunch, Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Prep: 5 minutes mins

Cook: 20 minutes mins

Total: 25 minutes mins

Serves: 4

Calories: 754kcal

Author: Tara

Ingredients

 

MetricUS

 

1x2x3x

For the mac:

• ▢ 450-650 ml vegetable stock*
• ▢ 250 ml dairy free cream
• ▢ 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
• ▢ 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• ▢ 2 tsp fresh sage (finely chopped (or 3/4 tsp dried))
• ▢ 250 g dry macaroni
• ▢ 250 g dairy free cheese (grated (use a strong flavoured variety)**)

For the topping:

• ▢ 1 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
• ▢ 75 g vegan bacon (diced)
• ▢ 2 tbsp fresh sage (roughly chopped (or 2 tsp dried))
• ▢ 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
• ▢ 50 g breadcrumbs (fresh)

Equipment

• 30cm Cast Iron Casserole Pan

Instructions

 

• Add 450ml of the stock to a large pan along with the dairy free cream, mustard, nutritional yeast and fresh sage. Stir to combine.
  450-650 ml vegetable stock*, 250 ml dairy free cream, 1 tsp wholegrain mustard, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, 2 tsp fresh sage
• Add the dry macaroni pasta and simmer, stirring occasionally so that the macaroni doesn’t stick, for 12 minutes until the pasta has soaked up all of the liquid and is cooked through.
  250 g dry macaroni
• Depending on the variety and brand of macaroni you are using, you may need slightly more liquid and/or a few more minutes cooking time until the macaroni is cooked through. If it is not quite cooked at 12 minutes once the liquid has been absorbed, add another 100ml of the spare stock and simmer that until it is fully absorbed before testing again.*
• Whilst the macaroni is cooking, make the topping. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan and add the diced bacon, chopped sage and minced garlic. Fry for 5 minutes until the bacon is cooked through and then stir in the breadcrumbs and remove the pan from the heat.
  1 tbsp coconut oil, 75 g vegan bacon, 2 tbsp fresh sage, 2 cloves of garlic, 50 g breadcrumbs
• Once the macaroni is cooked, stir through 1/2 of the grated cheese (125g). Transfer the mixture to an oven/grill proof pan and sprinkled the rest of the grated cheese over the top. Add the bacon, sage, garlic and breadcrumb topping over the top and pop under a medium-hot grill for around 3 minutes until the cheese has melted and the topping is golden.
  250 g dairy free cheese

Video

Notes

Vegan / Dairy Free / Egg Free

* The cooking time of the macaroni can vary depending on the type and brand you are using. If after 12 minutes the macaroni has soaked up all of the liquid but is still not quite cooked, add 100ml more of the spare stock and cook until it has been soaked up. Alternatively you can use more dairy free cream or milk instead. As an example - in one of our tests we used rice macaroni which took 12 minutes and 450ml of stock, however in another test we used regular macaroni which took 16 minutes and 650ml of stock.

** We used Violife Epic Mature Cheddar for this recipe, which has a nice strong flavour.

Recipe inspired by:  Italy

Please check the allergens on the ingredients you purchase before use. The allergen information provided in this recipe is intended as a guide only and is based on the specific ingredients and brands used at the time of creating the recipe, therefore we cannot guarantee that the same will apply to the ingredients you use.

Prep time excludes any inactive time.

We highly recommend you use the metric and 1x options on this recipe card for the best results. Please note that this recipe has not been tested using US measurements or increasing ingredient quantities to 2x or 3x, therefore results may vary.

Nutrition

Calories: 754kcal | Carbohydrates: 79g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 40g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Sodium: 1182mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 4g | Net Carbohydrates: 72g

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