If you love pimento cheese, you're going to love this easy, creamy, dairy-free pimento mac and cheese! It's packed with the same flavors you love in a cheesy casserole dish.
Table of Contents
This pimento cheese mac and cheese recipe has the same delicious flavors that you find in my vegan pimento cheese dip, but I've converted it into a creamy cheese sauce that works with elbow macaroni or your bite-sized pasta of choice!
For the cheese sauce, I'm starting with nutritional yeast cheese sauce as the base but adding all of the zippy flavors of pimento cheese. The result is a rich, creamy vegan mac and cheese that you are going to LOVE!
✓ Ingredients and substitutions
- miso - Adds umami to give the pimento mac and cheese and even cheesier flavor.
- lemon juice - Adds tang.
- pimento - You can find this in glass jars, usually either with the pickles or with pasta sauces at the grocery store. They come packed in water, which you will drain off and discard.
- garlic - Fresh garlic gives the pimento cheese sauce an amazing flavor!
- vegan butter - This is the base for your pimento cheese sauce.
- flour - To thicken the sauce. You can use chickpea flour, if needed, for gluten-free. Just make sure to toast the mixture until it doesn't smell like chickpeas, otherwise it will impact the flavor of your finished mac and cheese.
- ground spices - Smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, ground mustard, salt, black pepper, and ground turmeric season the cheese sauce even more. If you like some extra heat, add a little crushed red pepper to the sauce, too! A little garlic powder also seasons the topping.
- nutritional yeast - Makes the vegan pimento cheese sauce taste cheesy!
- Ritz cracker crumbs - For the topping. You can use Ritz crackers or any Ritz-like cracker, or use panko breadcrumbs instead.
- vegan parmesan - Makes the topping melty and zesty as well as crunchy.
- olive oil - Helps the cracker topping get nice and crisp.
🥣 How to make pimento mac and cheese
Add the water, miso, drained pimentos, lemon juice, and garlic cloves to your blender.
Puree until smooth.
Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse. Preheat the oven to 325° F.
In a small saucepan, melt the vegan butter over low heat, then add the flour, salt, garlic, and spices and whisk until they're well combined.
Whisk in the nutritional yeast. At this point, you'll have an even more crumbly mixture, but don't panic. It's going great!
Slowly add the miso-water mixture from the blender while whisking constantly until you have a smooth mixture. You can add more water by the tablespoon, if needed, if the sauce is looking too thick.
Add the macaroni to the pimento cheese sauce and mix well. Then, taste and adjust the flavors. Add more salt, if needed. If you want more tang, add lemon juice. You can also add crushed red pepper if you want some heat.
Transfer to a greased 8x8" baking pan, and even out the top of the casserole.
In a bowl, combine the crushed crackers, garlic powder, and olive oil.
Mix well.
Sprinkle this all over the top of the casserole.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden on top.
💡 Helpful tips
- When you add the flour and then nutritional yeast, the cheese sauce will get extremely crumbly, but don't worry! It will smooth out as you whisk in the water.
- Whisk that water in slowly, until the sauce gets nice and smooth and creamy.
- If the sauce is seeming thick and/or gummy, don't panic! Just add more water, stirring when you add, until it's smooth and creamy. How much you'll end up needing depends on your pot, your stove, and how you measured the flour and nutritional yeast.
- Don't be shy about adding more water, if needed! If the sauce gets too thin, you can always cook it down to your desired thickness.
🫙 Storage directions
Leftover pimento mac and cheese will keep for three to five days in a closed container in the refrigerator. Reheat in the oven or in the microwave.
💬 Frequently asked questions
A pimento (aka pimiento) is a variety of chili pepperwith a very low rating on the Scoville scale, meaning that it isn't spicy. You can usually find it in cans or little jars alongside the pickles or canned vegetables at your grocery store.
When they're not featured in pimento cheese, they're often stuffed into green olives.
There are green and yellow pimentos, too, but they're not as common at regular grocery stores around here. You definitely want red pimentos, so your finished cheese will have that lovely, vibrant color.
You definitely can, just bake in a greased loaf pan! You can also double it, and use a 9x11" pan to bake.
🍴 More creamy vegan pasta dishes
📖 Recipe
Pimento Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 cups macaroni or other bite-sized pasta
For the pimento cheese sauce
- 1 ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons chickpea miso
- 4 ounces pimento drained
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¾ teaspoon onion powder
- ¾ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ⅔ cup nutritional yeast
For the casserole
- ½ cup crushed Ritz crackers or Ritz-style crackers, or use panko breadcrumbs
- ½ cup vegan parmesan grated
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse. Preheat the oven to 325° F.
Make the pimento cheese sauce.
- Add the water, miso, drained pimentos, lemon juice, and garlic cloves to your blender. Puree until smooth.
- In a small saucepan, melt the vegan butter over low heat, then add the flour, salt, and spices and whisk until they're well combined. Things are going to get crumbly. It's ok! Whisk in the nutritional yeast. At this point, you'll have an even more crumbly mixture, but don't panic. It's going great!
- Slowly add the miso-water mixture from the blender while whisking constantly until you have a smooth mixture. You can add more water by the tablespoon, if needed. If the sauce is seeming thick and/or gummy, don't panic! Just add more water, stirring when you add, until it's smooth and creamy. How much you'll end up needing depends on your pot, your stove, and how you measured the flour and nutritional yeast.
Make the casserole.
- Add the macaroni to the cheese sauce and mix well. Then, taste and adjust the flavors. Add more salt, if needed. If you want more tang, add lemon juice. You can also add crushed red pepper if you want some heat. Transfer to a greased 8x8" baking pan, and even out the top of the casserole.
- In a bowl, combine the crushed crackers, garlic powder, olive oil, and vegan parmesan, mixing well. Sprinkle this all over the top of the casserole. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden on top.
Got a question? Tried this recipe? Leave a reply!