Kelly JensenVegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese Bake is a healthy and fun twist on a classic comfort food – creamy, flavorful, vegan, and gluten free! Great as a make ahead holiday side dish, everyone at the table will want seconds… or thirds.
This Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese Bake Is:
- Creamy
- Earthy
- Bright
- Loaded with Flavor
- Decadent
- A great make-ahead vegan holiday side dish!
- Vegan, gluten free, vegetarian, and dairy free
One of the BEST Pantry Staple Vegan Pasta Recipes
This vegan pumpkin mac and cheese recipe is a fantastic pantry-staple meal! It uses almost all ingredients you would have in your dry pantry or cupboards. You probably already have a lot of these ingredients on hand! Keeping a well-stocked pantry makes it easy to come up with delicious and healthy meals using a few staples you can rotate. I made a list of my Top 125 Plant-Based Pantry Staples that always keep on hand. And you can check out all my favorite pantry staple recipes on TheHerbeevore.com here. By stocking up on healthy whole ingredients you can cook delicious recipes without a trip to the store!
Make Pumpkin Mac and Cheese Gluten Free for a Healthy Version
This gluten free pumpkin mac and cheese recipe is a simple meal to make without the wheat. I’m all about making recipes gluten free when I can. Gluten free cooking does NOT have to be bland, boring, or flavorless… It’s quite the opposite when done right. By building meals around gluten free pantry staples and swapping in a few wheat-less ingredients you can make healthier meals for you and your family. I made a list of my 125 favorite gluten free pantry ingredients that we use on a weekly basis, and check out all my gluten free recipes here that are on The Herbeevore. These easy and healthy recipes are fantastic meals for everyone at your table.
What’s In This Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese Recipe?
- Macaroni noodles, you can use a gluten free variety if you avoid wheat, or any other small to medium pasta shape of your choice.
- Pumpkin Puree: not even going to lie, I have been stocking up on these giant cans of pumpkin puree so I can enjoy them all year. There are 5 in my pantry as I type this, I LOVE this pumpkin – its great in both sweet and savory pumpkin recipes!
- Garlic
- Coconut Milk: unsweetened is best! I’ve been using this amazing coconut milk powder lately which is great for when I can’t always get to the store for canned coconut milk.
- Mustard Powder: for a sonderful sharp flavor, I like this mustard powder best!
- Salt: We like to use pink himalayan sea salt which has more minerals that normal table salt (and is a great value for the price!)
- Pepper: like salt, I only use really good pepper corns, I like these tellicherry pepper corns because they have a fresh spicy taste when they are ground. There are a lot of varieties but I like Amazon’s generic tellicherries best for the value.
- Nutritional Yeast: not to be confused with bread baking yeast, nutritional yeast has a cheesy nutty umami flavor which is great in all kinds of dishes – I even sprinkle it on fresh popped pop corn and WOW! Also great in soups and sauces of all kinds.
Meal Prep Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
You can easily meal prep this vegan pumpkin macaroni and cheese recipe by following the below recipe and dividing it into a few equal portions to enjoy throughout the week. I love having a healthy homemade meal ready in my fridge during the busy weekdays. By meal prepping this recipe, you can cook once and have perfectly portioned meals ready to go. I rely heavily on meal prepping and created a whole section of the site to recipes you can meal prep, batch cook, or make ahead. Heat + eat, you’re all set!
How Do I Make this Vegan Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese Recipe?
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 13×9 baking dish.
- In a large pot, cook pasta according to package instructions, drain and set aside in a bowl to cool.
- In a high speed blender, add the pumpkin puree, garlic, coconut milk or almond milk, mustard powder, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast. Blend on high for 1 minute until a thick sauce blends together.
- Pour sauce over noodles, and mix. Add pasta to baking dish and bake for 30 minutes until hot and bubbling.
Other Healthy Vegetable Pasta Recipes You’ll Love!
Caprese Pasta Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette (Vegetarian, GF, Vegan Option)
Roasted Carrot Mac and Cheese (Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free)
Creamy Vegan Mushroom Tetrazzini (Dairy Free, Vegetarian)
Vegan Mediterranean One Pot Pasta (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)
Spicy Peanut Sesame Noodles (Vegan Pantry Staple Recipe, Gluten Free)
Get the Same Ingredients I Use for My Vegan & Gluten Free Pumpkin Mac and Cheese!
As always if you make this vegan & gluten free pumpkin macaroni and cheese recipe be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe, and tag me @theherbeevore on Instagram so I can feature you. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!
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Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese Bake
Ingredients
- 1 lb macaroni or pasta of choice
- 1 13 ounce can pumpkin puree
- 3 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 3 cups unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground Tellicherry Black Pepper
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 13x9 baking dish.
- In a large pot, cook pasta according to package instructions, drain and set aside in a bowl to cool.
- In a high speed blender, add the pumpkin puree, garlic, coconut milk or almond milk, mustard powder, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast. Blend on high for 1 minute until a thick sauce blends together.
- Pour sauce over noodles, and mix. Add pasta to baking dish and bake for 30 minutes until hot and bubbling.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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A great twist to a favorite
Thank you! I loved adding the pumpkin 🙂
Mac and cheese is one of my favorites and this is scrumptious
Same here, any version of mac and cheese that has veggies is a real winner in this house!