Nutrition
Calories: 434kcal | Carbohydrates: 51.9g | Protein: 31.5g | Fat: 8.2g | Fiber: 9g
I took this to work the other day and I got "Wow, you brought bacon mac & cheese" for lunch?! So anyways, the point is, people can't tell this one is vegan! And it tastes incredible! This one is 31% protein and 9 g of fiber! The "bacon" part is made with TVP and the creamy cheese sauce is from extra firm silken tofu!
Servings
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 High Protein Vegan Bacon Bits
- 1 package elbow macaroni 16 oz package
- 1 1/2 cup Nutritional Yeast
- 3/4 cup Soy Milk unsweetened
- 2 package Extra Firm Silken Tofu (Mori-Nu 12.3 oz package)
- 1 onion diced
- 1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 bulb garlic minced
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp ground mustard
- 1 1/2 cup Shredded vegan cheddar (I use Violife)
Instructions
- Make 1 1/2 of the High Protein Vegan "Bacon" Bits Recipe per the link above
- Pre-heat oven to 350 F
- Cook pasta per package instructions
Making the Mac & Cheese
- In a medium-low heat skillet, cook onions until translucent, Add in the garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes (stirring regularly to avoid burning)
- In a high-powered blender, mix onion/garlic, tofu, nutritional yeast, milk, Apple Cider Vinegar, 1 cup of the shredded cheese and all of the spices
- Once the mixture is super creamy, combine with the cooked (and drained) macaroni noodles. Put in a large casserole dish.
- Top with remaining shredded cheese, put aluminum foil over the dish and place in oven for 15 minutes. If you want the cheese to be extra gooey and melty, spray some water over top of it (no more than like a couple of tablespoons) and then cover it with the aluminum foil; this will provide humidity in the dish which will melt the cheese better (vegan cheese can be weird to work with and difficult to melt)
- Once the cheese is nice and melted, add the bacon bits to the top and cook for another 10 minutes or so
Equipment
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1 Blender
Did you make this recipe?Mention @proteindeficient.vegan
This High Protein “Bacon” Mac & Cheese is one of my favorite recipes of all time! It’s so good cozy food and does not taste like it should be helping you hit your protein goals, but here we are!
The protein for this recipe mostly comes from the silken tofu and nutritional yeast that is used to make the “cheese” sauce, and the TVP that’s used to make the “bacon”. Pasta with silken tofu sauce is actually my go-to for an easy high protein meal, because it’s so easy and who could get bored with having pasta every day?
Ingredients
- High Protein Vegan Bacon Bits – these are made with TVP and some other ingredients you probably already have at home. I know a lot of people use liquid smoke in their “bacon” recipes, but I don’t really like the taste of it and this is just a really simple recipe that still packs in a lot of flavor!
- Elbow Macaroni – I just used normal macaroni for this recipe, but if you want even more protein, you could use red lentil, chickpea, or plant protein macaroni instead! I typically will use red lentil pasta but I’ve noticed it doesn’t always hold up texture-wise for multi-day leftovers; this lasted me and my partner four days which is why I used regular pasta in this case.
- Nutritional Yeast – affectionately known as Nooch – this is the most important ingredient for getting a really cheesy taste! I see a lot of recipes where they only add a couple tablespoons. That is not my vibe; I go hard on the nutritional yeast – for taste and also because it has incredible macros! If you’re new to nutritional yeast, it’s a shelf stable ingredient that can be found at most grocery stores and can also be purchased online.
- Soy Milk – I prefer to use Soy Milk when I have the option because it has the best protein on a calorie basis. If you’re going to sub it, I would recommend using a thicker milk like Oat Milk, to maintain the creamy sauce texture.
- Onion, Garlic – I guess this isn’t necessary if you hate onions or garlic, but I like the flavor it adds and it’s also an easy way to sneak some veggies into this recipe!
- Apple Cider Vinegar – if you don’t have ACV, a different mild vinegar could work too. I really like using White Wine Vinegar as well. This adds a sharpness to the sauce that you would normally get from dairy cheese.
- Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Salt, Ground Mustard – this is what we’re using to get the cheesy flavor just right. Feel free to adjust any of these if there’s a spice you don’t like.
- Salt – adjust to taste as needed.
- Shredded Vegan Cheddar – I really like using Violife for this, but there are plenty of other great vegan cheeses as well, so choose your favorite! If you’re trying to make this recipe Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB), you can omit this ingredient and it will still turn out great!
Instructions
- Make 1 1/2 of the High Protein Vegan “Bacon” Bits recipe per the above link.
- Dice the onions, and mince the garlic.
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
- Cook the past per the package instructions.
Making the Mac & Cheese
- In a medium-low heat skillet, cook onions until translucent. Add in the garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes (stirring regularly to avoid burning).
- In a high-powered blender, mix the cooked onion/garlic, silken tofu, nutritional yeast, soy milk, Apple Cider Vinegar, 1 cup of the shredded cheese and all of the spice.
- Once the mixture is super creamy, combine with the cooked (and drained) macaroni noodles. (Do not combine in the blender lol)
- Put in a large casserole dish.
- Top with the remaining shredded cheese, put aluminum foil over the dish and place in oven for 15 minutes. If you want the cheese to be extra gooey and melty, spray some water over top of it (no more than like a couple of tablespoons) and then cover it with the aluminum foil; this will provide humidity in the dish which will melt the cheese better (vegan cheese can be weird to work with and difficult to melt)
- Once the cheese is nice and melted, add the bacon bits to the top and cook for another 10 minutes or so.
Silly Little Haiku
Never enough Nooch
I could eat this every day
TVP Bacon
Author
Protein Deficient Vegan
