An easy recipe for creamy macaroni cheese made from a family recipe. Suitable for vegetarians.

Easy Vegetarian Macaroni Cheese

This vegetarian macaroni cheese is the first dish that my mum taught me to make and it is a real favourite in our house. 

A good homemade cheese sauce was the one thing I asked my mum to teach me to make before I left home to be a student.

My mum's mac and cheese was always superb.

It has been a real help to have that recipe over the years and it's much nicer than any bought cheese sauce.

Which pasta should I use for macaroni and cheese?

My favourite pasta for macaroni cheese has to be elbow macaroni. 

It's a classic for a reason. I

t fills up with sauce and the sauce clings to it beautifully.

I sometimes like to use short macaroni, which is small, short, straight tubes or for a more substantial dish I will serve it with penne or rigatoni, which are much bigger pasta shapes.

If I use penne or rigatoni I will usually add some vegetables to the mac and cheese too.

Cheddar Cheese

For the perfect mac and cheese you want to choose a good-flavoured mature cheddar.

Usually, I go straight for the strongest extra mature cheddar I can find, but it's not the best one for this dish as it can be overpowering and spoil the dish.

When choosing a cheddar, make sure you check the pack to be sure it is vegetarian. 

Most are these days, but some are made with animal rennet. 

Vegetarian Style Parmesan

I add a vegetarian parmesan-style cheese to this dish as my update to the family recipe. 

It adds flavour and a little bit of tang to the final dish.

Parmesan itself is never suitable for vegetarians. 

It always has animal rennet. 

An EU directive protected the name and withdrew rights for vegetarian and vegan parmesan-style cheese to use the name.

When looking for a vegetarian version of parmesan, look for the words pasta cheese or hard cheese.

It will be in the same triangular wedge and sold alongside the parmesan.

Heat the milk

Top tip, when making a cheese sauce, the trick is to heat the milk before you add it to the roux.

It helps prevent lumps and results in a much creamier and smoother sauce.

I add flavouring to the milk, but you can skip this is you like and just season the cheese sauce with salt and pepper once it's ready to stir through the pasta.

I often add half an onion, a bay leaf and a few peppercorns.

Cheese sauce made with a roux

This macaroni cheese is made with a homemade sauce made from a roux.

A roux is the base of a sauce where flour is cooked with melted butter and milk is added to make a sauce.

Don't be daunted, it's really easy to do, you just have to keep whisking and adding milk until you have a creamy cheese sauce.

Mac and cheese can be made and then baked in the oven topped with cheese, but I often like to serve it as it is, all creamy and cheesy and glorious.

If you have a slow cooker, try my luxury slow cooker mac and cheese.

Why is this mac and cheese so good?

Here's why I love this macaroni cheese so much.

1. Homemade
2. Family recipe
3. Easy to make
4. Super creamy
5. Very cheesy
6. Best kind of comfort food
7. Tastes fabulous

More vegetarian pasta dishes to try

Here are a few easy pasta recipes for you to try next.

1. Jamie Oliver's Happiness Pasta
2. Linguine alla Geneovese
3. Pepper & Mushroom Pappardelle
4. Spinach and Cheese Pasta
5. Vegetarian Lasagne

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Remember and say hi. I'm always happy to chat and answer questions.

vegetarian macaroni cheese, vegetarian mac and cheese, vegetarian pasta, veggie mac and cheese, veggie macaroni cheese

dinner

British

Yield: 4

Author: Jacqueline Meldrum

Easy Vegetarian Macaroni Cheese

An easy recipe for creamy macaroni cheese made from a family recipe. Suitable for vegetarians.

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 15 MinTotal time: 20 Min

Ingredients

• 500ml (2 cups) milk
• 25g (2 scant tablespoons) butter
• 25g (1 oz) plain flour
• 100g (1 1/4 cups) mature cheddar, grated
• 50g (1/2 cup) veggie style Parmesan, grated
• 1/2 onion, peeled
• 10 black peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper
• 400g macaroni

Instructions

1. Heat the milk in a saucepan with the peppercorns, onion and bay leaf. Bring to the boil and then remove the onion and strain off the peppercorns and the bay leaf.
2. In another saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour. Add a little milk at a time and whisk until mixture thickens, then add a little more milk and do the same until all the milk is used.
3. Bring the sauce to the boil and simmer for a couple of minutes, keep whisking. Add the grated cheddar and veggie-style Parmesan and stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Meanwhile, cook the macaroni in a large pan of salted water according to the packet instructions until al dente. Drain and return to the pan. Stir in the cheese sauce.
5. Enjoy!

Notes

• Don't use a really strong extra mature cheddar as it will overpower the sauce, a mature cheese is fine.
• You can warm the milk and skip the peppercorns and bay leaf, just season the cheese sauce with salt and pepper.
• You can add some dried or fresh parsley to the chees sauce and some chilli flakes can be nice to for a bit of heat.
• If the cheese sauce is a little thick add some of the pasta water towards the end of the cooking time.
• Want to add veg? Add spinach, small broccoli florets and corn to the cooking pasta for the last few minutes.
• You can also add the cooked macaroni cheese to an ovenproof dish and top it with more grated cheddar and slices of tomato, then cook under the grill (broiler) or in the oven until the cheese has melted and started to browned a little.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

673.12

Fat

22.52

Sat. Fat

12.76

Carbs

87.94

Fiber

3.68

Net carbs

84.26

Sugar

9.65

Protein

28.43

Sodium

508.12

Cholesterol

62.41

https://www.tinnedtomatoes.com/2007/05/giant-macaroni-cheese-presto-pasta.html