We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
While you might be searching for the best plant-based cheese for vegan mac and cheese, milk is just as crucial an element. We consulted Nisha Vora, vegan recipe developer at Rainbow Plant Life and author of “Big Vegan Flavor,” for the best and worst plant milks to use in your next batch. In Vora’s opinion, the best plant milk to use for mac and cheese is lite coconut milk. She explains, “It’s rich enough to give that luscious, velvety texture we all crave in mac and cheese, but since it’s the lite version, it’s not overly heavy or overpowering in coconut flavor.” Coconut milk has a reputation for instilling tropical tastes but, Vora says, “It doesn’t make your pasta taste like a piña colada! It blends right in with the savory flavors, especially when you add umami-packed ingredients like miso paste and nutritional yeast.”
As for the plant-based milks to avoid, chef Vora told us, “Steer clear of sweetened plant-based milks, unless you want dessert pasta.” So look for plant-based milks with the “no sugar added” label. Vora also recommends avoiding plant based milks that negatively affect the texture and flavor of the sauce. She told us that low-fat or thin milks, like rice milk, can result in a watery sauce that doesn’t coat the noodles well.” Lastly, Vora thinks that robustly flavored hemp and flax milks won’t do a vegan mac and cheese any favors. According to chef Vora, “They can overpower the cheesy goodness we’re going for.”
More tips for vegan mac and cheese
Now that you know the best plant-based milks and those to avoid for the best vegan mac and cheese, chef Vora leaves us with one more crucial cooking tip: “Don’t overdo it on the liquid. You can always add more liquid later if your sauce is too thick, but it will be harder to creamify your sauce if it’s too liquidy.”
That said, if you have added too much milk to your mac and cheese sauce, there are plenty of vegan-friendly ways to thicken a sauce with a liaison. For example, you can finish off the sauce with a tablespoon or two of vegan butter; we ranked Miyoko’s vegan butter as our favorite brand of vegan butter. You can also add a thickening agent like a corn-starch slurry, arrowroot, or a few tablespoons of flour if you don’t want to mess with the flavor of the sauce. Depending on the type of vegan cheese sauce you’re making, you can always add pureed cooked vegetables such as butternut squash, like we do in our dairy-based butternut squash mac and cheese recipe. Carrots and potato puree are other great thickeners that will also bring nutrient-rich and hearty upgrades to vegan mac and cheese sauce. Unlike many plant-based milks that you find in the refrigerated section in cartons, lite coconut milk is often sold in cans in the Asian foods section of major grocery stores. We like this Organic 365 Light Coconut milk.
