Nutrition
Calories: 457kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 11g | Fiber: 9g
30% protein Mac & Cheese?! Silken Tofu, Nutritional Yeast and TVP really put in the work for this one! The Silken Tofu makes a great, creamy sauce; could also be great for dairy intolerant people, even if you’re not vegan! Subbing the TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) for breadcrumbs is an absolute game changer - it makes the macros way better! This recipe would be great to take to potluck or family gathering or to just make and eat throughout the week! The macros could be improved if you used a red lentil or chickpea pasta as well.
Servings
Ingredients
Mac & Cheese
- 2 package Extra Firm Silken Tofu (Mori-Nu 12.3oz package) I used Mori-Nu
- 1 1/4 cups Nutritional Yeast
- 3/4 cup Soy Milk unsweetened
- 1 onion diced
- 1 bulb garlic minced
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 cup shredded vegan cheddar I used Violife
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
- 16 oz elbow macaroni
"Breadcrumb" Topping
- 1/2 cup vegan shredded cheese
- 1 1/2 cups TVP Textured Vegetable Protein - I use Bob’s Red Mill
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter melted (I use Miyokos)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 375 F
- Cook pasta per package instructions
- In a medium-low heat skillet, saute onions until translucent. Add in the garlic and saute for another 2 - 3 minutes (stirring regularly to avoid burning)
- In a blender, mix onion/garlic, tofu, nutritional yeast, milk, lemon juice, 1 cup of the shredded cheese and all of the spices listed in the Mac & Cheese ingredient section
- Once sauce mixture is super creamy, combine with the cooked macaroni noodles. Put in a large casserole dish
- Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese
- For the “breadcrumbs” - in a smallish bowl, mix together the TVP, melted butter, salt, onion powder, garlic powder and smoke paprika
- Once well combined, evenly spread the breadcrumbs on top of the mac and cheese
- Bake in the oven for 15 - 18 minutes
Equipment
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Notes
You can also use regular breadcrumbs or panko breadcrumbs instead of TVP; this will change the calories and macros a bit!
Did you make this recipe?Mention @proteindeficient.vegan
Additional Information:
- You could easily make this recipe gluten-free if you substituted macaroni pasta with a red lentil or chickpea pasta
- If you don’t have TVP on hand, feel free to use Panko or standard breadcrumbs; this will change the calorie and macros a bit though!
Ingredients
Mac & Cheese
- Extra Firm Silken Tofu – make sure you’re using silken tofu for this recipe, otherwise the texture and taste will be very not what I intended 🙂 Silken tofu can be found at most grocery stores and can also be purchase online. I like the brand Mori-Nu – it’s shelf-stable.
- Nutritional Yeast – this is a shelf-stable ingredient used often in vegan cooking to give food a savory and cheesy flavor. You can find it at most grocery stores and also buy it online. Nutritional Yeast also has a decent amount of protein!
- Soy Milk – this is my preferred plant-based milk, because it is the most protein dense. Other plant-based milks will work as well. I would try to use a more creamy one like Oat Milk if you plan on not using Soy Milk though.
- Onion, garlic – I think these add a lot of flavor to the sauce (and some hidden veggies). Unless you really hate one of these, I would keep them.
- Lemon – I use fresh lemon juice, but bottled lemon juice works too! One lemon has about 2 tablespoons of juice, for reference.
- Garlic powder, onion powder, salt, turmeric, ground mustard.
- Shredded vegan cheddar – I really prefer the brand Violife for shredded cheese, but you can use your favorite!
- Elbow macaroni – I used normal elbow macaroni, but if you’re gluten-free or just trying to get more protein, you could use a red lentil or chickpea pasta here instead.
“Breadcrumb” Topping
- Vegan Shredded cheese – I use Violife for this too.
- TVP – Textured Vegetable Protein – this is a shelf-stable protein that is used often in vegan cooking. You can find it at most grocery stores near the gluten-free flour options, and you can also purchase it online. If you don’t have TVP, you could also just use normal breadcrumbs or panko – this will change the calories/macros from what’s lited in the recipe card.
- Vegan butter – I used Miyokos, but any brand will work.
- Salt, smoke paprika, onion powder, garlic powder – this is to season the “breadcrumbs” so that they add some flavor to the meal.
Directions
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 F.
- Cook the pasta per package instructions.
- In a medium-low heat skillet, saute onions until translucent. This will take 3 – 5 minutes. Stir regularly to avoid burning/sticking.
- Add in the garlic and saute for another 2 – 3 minutes (stirring regularly to avoid burning).
- In a blender, mix onion/garlic, tofu, nutritional yeast, milk, lemon juice, 1 cup of the shredded cheese and all of the spices listed in the Mac & Cheese ingredient section.
- Once the sauce mixture is super creamy, combine with the cooked macaroni noodles.
- Put in a large casserole dish. (If you are concerned with the food sticking, you can spray the casserole dish with oil).
- Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese
- For the “breadcrumbs” – in a smallish bowl, mix together the TVP, melted butter, salt, onion powder, garlic powder and smoke paprika.
- Once well combined, evenly spread the breadcrumbs on top of the mac and cheese
- Bake in the oven for 15 – 18 minutes. I prefer baking with aluminum foil on top to get the vegan cheese to melt better.
- Side note: if you have leftovers, re-heating in the microwave will result in the breadcrumbs being much more soft. I would recommend re-heating in the oven so that they keep that crispy texture.
Silly Little Haiku
Tofu Mac and Cheese
Is there anything better?
TVP breadcrumbs
Author
Protein Deficient Vegan
I made this with regular panko and banza pasta and really enjoyed it! The sauce was creamy and makes me want to cook more with silken tofu. Thanks for sharing!
That’s awesome; I bet it’s even tastier with panko breadcrumbs! Silken tofu is great for pasta sauces! I’m so glad you liked it!! ?
Also separately, it looks like salt is listed twice in the breadcrumb ingredients.
????? Great catch! Thank you; it’s been fixed!!
I made this with protein/high fiber macaroni and omitted the shredded cheeses to reduce the calories. The silken tofu/nutritional yeast sauce tasted plenty cheesy regardless and this was delicious with great macros! Thanks for posting.
You made this recipe too?! This is so exciting; thank you!! I’m glad to hear it was still good without the shredded cheese! I really appreciate you sharing the substitutions you made too; I think that’s so helpful for others that might want to make it! 🙂