This vegan sweet potato mac and cheese is rich, creamy and completely plant-based, made without cashews or any nuts at all. The ‘cheese’ sauce comes together in a blender with just a handful of ingredients and is ready in under 30 minutes. It might just become your new favourite weeknight comfort meal!
If you ask me, there is nothing more comforting than a big bowl of mac and cheese. And while I absolutely love my best ever dairy free mac and cheese recipe, sometimes you want something a little healthier and nutritious.
This recipe yields a velvety sauce without the dairy and without cashews or any nut as a substitute. The secret is to use sweet potato. When combined with nutritional yeast, it means we can achieve a rich and creamy cheese sauce without any actual cheese.
If you’re not familiar with it already, nutritional yeast is an absolute essential pantry staple for any dairy free kitchen. The options for using it are endless, and I have a whole post with a bunch of my favourite dairy free recipes using nutritional yeast that you can explore.
So if you have a sweet potato sitting on you bench that you’re unsure of what to do with, give this recipe a try.
Key Ingredients
This vegan mac and cheese is made without cashews (or cheese!) using the following ingredients, all of which you’ll find at your local grocery store.
Note all ingredients and their quantities are laid out in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Sweet potato – this is the star of the sauce adding creaminess, flavour, and vibrance.
- Nutritional yeast – this adds the cheesy taste without the cheese. Plus it gives the meal some added nutritional value which is a little bonus.
- Coconut milk – just enough to make it super creamy without giving it any ‘coconut’ flavour. You could also use oat milk or soy milk if coconut wasn’t an option due to allergies.
- Dijon mustard – to balance out the sweetness of the sweet potato and give the meal that classic mac and cheese flavour.
- Soy sauce – this ‘cheese’ sauce really needs a strong hit of salt to balance out all the flavours and soy sauce is where that’s at. Use a gluten free option if needed.
- Paprika – for a little spicy, smoky flavour that just elevates the whole dish. Seriously do not leave this out.
- Garlic powder and onion powder – essential for flavour! I like using powder in this recipe as it eliminates a step of cooking the onion and garlic first that you’ll find in other recipes.
- Pasta – I’m using elbow pasta for that classic look, but any small pasta like shells or spirals work well. You can also use gluten free pasta as a substitute to make this a gluten free mac and cheese.
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Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Start by peeling and chopping up the sweet potatoes into smaller cubes. This helps speed up the cooking time and makes them easier to blend up later. Add the cubes to a saucepan with water and bring to the boil, cooking until the potatoes are soft and tender. Drain and set aside.
Step 2: Cook the pasta according to the package instructions while you make the sauce. Once cooked, drain and set aside, reserving a little of the cooking water.
Step 3: Add the cooked and drained sweet potato to a blender along with the other sauce ingredients.
Step 4: Blend until the sauce is super smooth and creamy.
Step 5: Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta and mix through, adding a little of the pasta water if needed to ensure the pasta is fully coated.
Step 6: Taste and season with salt as needed before serving immediately.
👉Tip! Blend the sauce for 2–3 minutes as the longer blending time is what gives the sauce that incredibly smooth, velvety texture. Keep in mind that the exact time will depend on your blender as a high speed blender will get there faster, while a standard blender may need a little longer to get the sauce completely smooth.
Serving Suggestion: Serve as is for a simple weeknight dinner, or pair it with a simple green salad or some air fryer broccolini on the side if you’d like to add some extra veg. If you want to bulk it out a little more, you can add protein such as tofu nuggets or even chicken schnitzel if you’re not vegan/vegetarian.
Storage Instructions
This sweet potato mac and cheese is best enjoyed fresh while the sauce is at its creamiest. If you do have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
When reheating, add a splash of plant-based milk to the pasta before warming it gently in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave. This helps bring back a creamy consistency to the sauce as it thickens quite a bit once cooled.
I don’t recommend freezing this one as the pasta tends to become soft and the sauce can separate after thawing.
Recipe FAQs
There are so many options for making a vegan mac and cheese with the most common having a base of either cashews or root vegetables such as potatoes, pumpkin or carrots. To get that truly cheesy taste, most recipes including this one will also use nutritional yeast, or ‘nooch’ as it’s commonly called to get that rich, savoury, cheesy flavour without the dairy.
This version is nut free, so it’s made without cashews and instead uses a base of sweet potatoes and other flavour additions to create a luscious creamy ‘cheesy’ sauce.
Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast that has a naturally cheesy, nutty and savoury flavour. It’s a staple in vegan and dairy free cooking and is amazing for adding a cheesy flavour to sauces like this one. You can find it at health food stores, some supermarkets and on Amazon.
Not as written, but it’s easy to make this mac and cheese gluten free. Simply swap the regular pasta for your favourite gluten free pasta and use tamari in place of the soy sauce.
If you do make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below! And tag any of your creations on Instagram with @eightforestlane as I would love to see.
More vegan pasta recipes:
Vegan Pumpkin Pasta
Kale Pesto Pasta
Vegan Cauliflower Alfredo
Lentil Bolognese
Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 350 grams sweet potato peeled and diced. Approx. 2 cups or 1 medium sweet potato.
- 400 grams (14 oz) elbow pasta
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup coconut milk
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
Instructions
- Peel and chop your sweet potato into 2 cm cubes and add them to a small saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until the sweet potato is completely soft and tender.
- While the sweet potatoes are cooking, bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain and add pasta back into the saucepan, reserving a little of the pasta water. Set aside.
- Drain the cooked sweet potato and tip it into a blender along with the coconut milk, water, nutritional yeast, dijon mustard, soy sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and salt. Blend for 2–3 minutes until the sauce is completely smooth and silky.
- Pour sauce over the cooked pasta and stir until all pasta is completely combined, adding a little of the reserved pasta if needed. Taste and adjust salt as necessary. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a guide only and is calculated using automated online tools, therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
This recipe was originally published in April 2019 and has been updated in 2026 with new photos and more helpful information. The recipe remains the same.
Robyn says
I love the sweet potato idea, it’s naturally so creamy. I think my toddler will love this!
Sally says
Thanks Robyn 🙂 This would be perfect for toddlers – they would never know it’s actually a vegetable!
Sylvie says
This is comfort food at its best, and everyone can enjoy it!? Yes Please!! The use of sweet potato is seriously genius – who would have thought of that!!
Sally says
I love that sweet potato can be so versatile!