Vegan Chili Mac and Cheese

Hello, my chickpeas! What do you get when you cross mac and cheese with chili, and then make it vegan? This Vegan Chili Mac and Cheese of course! This weeknight dinner is hearty and filling, filled with cheesy flavor, AND stuffed with nutritious veggies. It is sure to become your new comfort meal!

This one also reheats great as leftovers. Feel free to make a big batch over the weekend and then reheat for easy meals throughout the week!

Inspiration for Vegan Chili Mac and Cheese

Back when I was vegetarian, I attended a friend's potluck-style wedding. Someone at the wedding had brought a vegetarian chili mac to share, and I was instantly obsessed with it. Unfortunately I wasn't able to track down the secret chef behind this dish, but I still think about it years later. So I decided to tackle a vegan version, and here we are!

If you've ever had my Taco Pasta, this is kind of like the cheesy cousin of that recipe. This recipe combines pasta, tons of fresh veggies, hearty beans, and tomato sauce for a chili-flavored pasta. Then we mix in my Quick Vegan Queso to make it ultra cheesy and delicious. YUM. It's even fully oil-free!

Ingredients

This recipe has lots of fresh veggies packed in, as well as a ton of chili flavor. Let's take a look at what we are working with today.

• Onion, bell pepper, and garlic: the classic veggies. These bring chili vibes and make our meal more wholesome!
• Chili powder, smoked paprika, & cumin: our chili seasonings! These will add a bit of smokiness and of course a bit of spice.
• Veggie broth & tomato sauce: these are our main liquids to cook our pasta & give it flavor.
• Fire roasted diced tomatoes: for more chili vibes!
• Frozen corn: for just a little pop of sweetness.
• Kidney beans & black beans: important for any vegan chili recipe!
• Elbow pasta: I use elbow here because it's the classic "mac & cheese" pasta, but you can use whatever you'd like!
• Quick Vegan Queso: this is what turns our chili-flavored pasta into Chili Mac and Cheese! This pairs BEAUTIFULLY with all of our chili flavors.

How to Make Vegan Chili Mac and Cheese

This one is pretty simple, making it perfect for a weeknight meal! As always, full recipe can be found down below. But here are the basics.

1. Sauté the onion, bell pepper, and garlic.
2. Stir in your seasonings.
3. Add in the veggie broth, tomato sauce, diced tomato, beans, corn, and uncooked pasta. Stir and bring to a simmer.
4. Allow to simmer until pasta is cooked.
5. Remove from heat and stir in Quick Vegan Queso.
6. Serve and top with cilantro, green onion, and vegan sour cream or coconut yogurt!

Tips & Tricks

I'm obsessed with this Vegan Chili Mac and I can't wait for you to try it. Here are my best tips on how to make and enjoy this delicious recipe!

• The beans in this recipe are super easy to swap out. Feel free to use whatever beans you prefer or have in your pantry!
• If you want to keep this recipe more wholesome, you can use whole wheat pasta! I tested once with this and it worked well. It just takes a couple extra minutes to cook your pasta in step 4.
• This recipe already provides us some protein from the beans. However, you can also toss in some cooked tofu or tempeh for even more protein! I would personally cook these separately, then toss them in towards the end of step 4.
• Looking for another vegan mac and cheese? Check out my Baked Vegan Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese next!

Enjoy!