This Dairy-Free Mac and Cheese is the ultimate macaroni and cheese -- without the cheese! Check out my recipe video and print the recipe to make this for dinner tonight!
I've been working on making a dairy-free mac and cheese since becoming dairy-free several years ago. You can read about my food allergy and intolerance testing and get some of my first fave allergy-friendly and intolerance-friendly recipes.
With two kids, macaroni and cheese has been in my dinner recipe rotation regularly for years. It's also one of those family-friendly recipes that I prefer to make from scratch, because a) it's SO easy to make from scratch and b) takes just as much time to make from scratch as it does from a box.
Although, rest assured, we still have a box of Annie's Mac and Cheese in our pantry. You never know when you'll need it, am I right, fellow parents?
Now that I'm dairy-free, I end up making two different pots of mac and cheese: one with full dairy for the kiddos and my husband, and one that's dairy-free for me.
How Do You Make Mac and Cheese Creamy Without Dairy?
This ultimate dairy-free mac and cheese happened thanks to a lot of trial and error.
How can macaroni and cheese be so rich and creamy and, well, cheesy, without the - you know, the most important ingredient: the cheese?
There are so many different ways you can make macaroni and cheese without dairy. The trick is finding one that suits your personal tastebuds.
I've tried using butternut squash, and while I liked the results, I can't always find fresh butternut squash year-round.
What has worked for me time and time again is a combo of these ingredients.
What you need to make dairy-free mac and cheese
- Vegan butter. I've tried making dairy-free macaroni and cheese without butter, and it's just not the same. I love the velvety rich base that vegan butter lends to this dairy-free mac and cheese recipe.
- A mix of cheddar-style shreds AND mozzarella-style shreds. I use Daiya, but you can also use dairy-free cheese options from Follow Your Heart and other non-dairy products.
- Almond milk. For many dairy-free recipes, I often use coconut milk. However, I've found that coconut milk just doesn't work if you want a traditional, sharp, cheesy mac and cheese flavor. Almond milk, however, works beautifully with mac and cheese.
- Nutritional yeast. I use these nutritional yeast flakes in most of my dairy-free pasta recipes, including my Dairy-Free Fettuccine Alfredo (a reader fave!). It adds a nice nutty flavor that slightly mimics parmesan cheese, which adds to the cheesy texture and taste.
Optional (non-vegan) secret ingredient
What REALLY sets this dairy-free mac and cheese recipe apart is my secret ingredient weapon: bacon.
Now, if you're here because you're looking for a great vegan mac and cheese, go ahead and skip the bacon entirely. It is delicious without it.
However, if you're dairy-free because of a dairy intolerance or milk allergy like me, and you still eat meat, try this. Trust me: it adds SO much flavor! A little bit of bacon grease and crumbled bacon on top goes a LONG way.
Watch the YouTube Video:
The Ultimate Creamy Dairy-Free Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 12 oz macaroni pasta
- 6 slices bacon plus 1 TBSP reserve bacon grease
- uncooked macaroni
- ½ cup vegan butter
- 1 tsp garlic, minced
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 ½ cup almond milk
- 2 cups dairy-free cheddar-style shreds
- 1 cup dairy-free mozarella-style shreds
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp chopped thyme leaves (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with foil. Place bacon slices on foil and bake at 400°F on the second top rack of your oven for about 8-10 minutes, just until crispy to your liking.
- Meanwhile, when the bacon is in the oven you can cook pasta according to package directions and begin making the sauce.
- Add butter to a large saucepan or deep skillet over medium heat. Once butter is mostly melted, add the garlic and sauté just a minute or two until softened.
- Sprinkle flour and whisk into the garlic butter mixture, then whisk in almond milk.
- The bacon should be done about now, so remove from the oven and add about a tablespoon of the bacon grease to the butter garlic mixture. Stir to combine and set aside bacon to cool at room temperature. NOTE: you can also add the bacon grease later on if it's not yet done cooking at this stage. In the video, I add it after the cheese shreds have melted and before I add spices.
- Add your dairy-free cheddar-style shreds, whisk until some of it melts, then add dairy-free mozzarella shreds and whisk until smooth. Add in the nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, and paprika, and whisk all together until the mixture is creamy and smooth.
- Drain pasta, then slowly add the pasta and combine until pasta is coated in the cheesy mixture.
- Chop cooked bacon into small crumbly pieces. Top dairy-free mac and cheese. Sprinkle optional chopped thyme if you like. Serve immediately.
Notes
More Dairy-Free Recipes
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Beth Pierce says
This was such a quick and easy recipe! A restaurant worthy dish, indeed!
Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) says
This is comfort food at its very best!!
Vicky says
This looks so yummy and I love that those who are sensitive to dairy can enjoy it as well. I use nutritional yeast in lots of things and find it very versatile.
Pam Greer says
I don't have to eat dairy free, but this looks amazing! I will definitely be adding the bacon because bacon makes everything better!
Erin @ Platings and Pairings says
This dairy-free mac and cheese really looks so creamy and decadent, and who can resist those bits of bacon on top?!
Kathi says
So many great non-dairy options out there now and you did a great job using the best ones for this delicious mac and cheese! Yum!
Pech says
This looks amazingly cheesy and creamy for being dairy free! I agree that nutritional yeast and mixing up cheeses are important secret weapons that shouldn't be secret
Mary says
I cannot wait to try this with my kids! I do mac and cheese with butternut squash sometimes, but they're not big fans. I'm sure they'll loooove this. It looks so creamy and delicious. And we'll definitely be adding the bacon ;)
Catherine @ To & Fro Fam says
YES to nutritional yeast in all dairy-free recipes! I'm totally going to try this, since I'm about 95% DF but my kids still eat mac n cheese multiple times a week. Also, have you tried Hey Babe vegan cheese? I bet it'd be AWESOME as a cheese substitute in macaroni and cheese!
Susana says
I have tried many different diary free cheeses and didn’t really enjoy the taste or texture. My favorite vegan cheese is Violife and it’s so tasty and it melts beautifully. My son couldn’t believe how they can make vegan cheese taste just like real cheese.
Asma says
Hi, very good article thanks for sharing.
You are excellent blogger
Aish Manu says
I like cheese recipes, this is looking so yummy, i will try it for me, i will definitely enjoy it.
Kelli says
I mixed the bacon into the Mac n cheese. OMG so yummy!!!
Debra says
This looks great, but I am confused about the directions. How much Nutritional yeast? What size pasta package? 12 or 16 oz? Other than that it looks great and I can't wait to try it for my dairy/gluten free kid. Thank you!
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Hi Debra! I usually use a 12 ounce package of pasta, and 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast flakes. Thanks for the note - I made an update recently and those details somehow got left out. Sorry about that! Hope you & your kid love it as much as I do! :) A note on gluten-free pasta, and you probably already know this if you are used to cooking with it: gluten free pasta textures can vary greatly, depending on the brand and shape, so you may need to play around with the liquid measurements and/or the timing, compared to regular pasta. If you do, please let me know what works for you with gluten-free pasta so others who need to use GF pasta can try it too!
Karen Bell says
Wow, this turned out SO great! My little kids loved it and my husband who is very picky about alternative things tasted it and said it was amazing and just as good or better than the Annie's boxed macaroni and cheese. We left out the Bacon and the bacon grease since we didn't have any on hand, and just added another Tb of vegan butter. Two of my children have a dairy allergy so I've avoided mac and cheese because it made them sad not to be able to eat it when they siblings could. Now Mac and Cheese is back on the menu in our house!
Bruce L says
Very Tasty! Very easy to make! Yummy! Thanks!
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
So glad to hear it turned out so well, Bruce! Thanks! Happy cooking! :)
Emily Carlsen says
Can I use soy milk instead of almond milk?
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Yes, you should be able to substitute soy for almond milk. I have also used coconut milk.
Sherrie says
Can almond flour be used in place of regular flour since I am gluten free?
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
I've never used almond flour instead of regular flour in this particular recipe, but in general, you should be able to substitute the same amount. Because almond flour has a little more moisture than all-purpose flour, you *might* need to add a bit more. Start with a 1:1 ratio to substitute, and then if you find it needs more flour as you mix it in, add a 1/2 teaspoon more to start. Let me know how it goes if you try it!