This Vegan Jalapeño Popper Mac and Cheese has a mildly spicy kick and crave-worthy, cheesy bites! Baked with buttery breadcrumbs on top, it’s a quick and easy comfort food any jalapeño popper fan will love.
If you’re looking for even more vegan mac and cheese recipes, check out this Vegan Buffalo Mac and Cheese, this Sharp White Mac and Cheese with Broccoli, and this Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese.
I officially can’t get enough of this Jalapeño Mac and Cheese. As a HUGE mac and cheese fan, it has everything I could ever ask for: all the cheesy, carby goodness of my Vegan Baked Mac and Cheese but with flavors inspired by my Vegan Jalapeño Poppers.
Not a huge fan of spicy food? I’ve got you! The jalapeño spice is quite mild here. And if you want to make it even spicier, you can always leave some of the jalapeño seeds intact or add in an extra pepper.
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“Wow! This is so good! Spicy but not so much that your mouth felt like it was on fire. Nora, we love all your recipes. Thank you so much for another smash hit!” – Petria
Why you’ll love this jalapeño popper mac and cheese
- Comfort food with a kick – It’s like biting into a jalapeño popper, but in pasta form. Vegan comfort food doesn’t get much better than that!
- Not super spicy – My kids can’t handle a lot of heat, but even they love baked mac and cheese with jalapeños. 🌶️
- Shockingly easy – Blend the cheese sauce, cook the pasta, and throw it all together in a casserole dish. Bake with breadcrumbs on top, then you’re ready to dig in.
How to make vegan jalapeño mac and cheese
Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
To make the cheese sauce, add the soaked cashews, fresh water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt, and vegan cheese shreds (optional) to a blender. Blend until smooth, then set aside.
Next, cook the pasta in a pot of boiling water until the noodles are almost al dente. Drain and set aside.
In a small pan on the stove, sauté the onion and jalapeños until soft. Remove from heat.
To assemble, add the cooked pasta to a casserole dish, along with the cheese sauce and the cooked vegetables. Stir to combine.
Make the breadcrumb topping by stirring the panko breadcrumbs and melted vegan butter together in a small bowl. Sprinkle it evenly over the pasta.
Bake the mac and cheese until the sauce has thickened and the breadcrumbs are golden.
Serve it hot in bowls with pickled jalapeño slices or vegan parmesan cheese on top. Enjoy!
Customize it with add-ins
If you want to put your own spin on this easy mac and cheese, sauté mushrooms or red bell peppers with the other veggies, stir crumbled tofu bacon or tempeh bacon in with the pasta and sauce, or stir in frozen and thawed corn kernels or peas.
Frequently asked questions
I promise this won’t set your mouth on fire! Yes, this recipe calls for 5 jalapeños, but by removing their seeds and veins and cooking them with the onions, most of their heat is toned way down. Plus, the creamy cheese sauce mutes any overwhelming heat.
If you don’t want to bake the mac and cheese, just omit the breadcrumb topping and stir the pasta, cheese sauce, and vegetables together in the pot you used to cook the pasta. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens.
I haven’t tried making the cheese sauce without cashews, but you could try omitting them or replacing them with a block of silken tofu so you don’t miss out on the creaminess.
I wouldn’t assemble the mac and cheese ahead of time because the noodles will absorb the sauce as they sit. Instead, make the sauce and cook the pasta, then store them separately in the fridge for up to 1 day. Assemble and bake the next day.
Vegan Jalapeño Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
Cheese Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups raw cashews
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice about 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- optional: 7 ounce bag vegan mozzarella cheese
Vegetables
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 small white onion diced small
- 5 jalapeños seeds removed and diced small
The Rest
- 12 ounces elbow pasta
- 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons melted vegan butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9×13 inch casserole dish.
- Soak the cashews: Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Pour the hot water over the cashews and let soak for 5 minutes.
- Make the cheese sauce: Drain the cashews and discard the soaking water. Add them to a blender along with 1 1/2 cups of fresh water, lemon juice, salt, and optional vegan mozzarella cheese. Blend until very smooth, and set aside.
- Cook the pasta: Cook the pasta according to package instructions, but one minute less. The noodles will continue to cook in the oven. Drain and set aside.
- Sauté vegetables: In a small pan on the stove, sauté the onion and jalapeños in the vegetable oil for about 5 minutes, until softened. Remove from heat.
- Add the drained, cooked pasta to the casserole dish. Pour the cheese sauce on top and add the vegetables. Stir to combine right in the dish.
- In a small bowl, mix the panko breadcrumbs and melted vegan butter, then sprinkle the mixture on top of the pasta. Bake for 20 minutes until warm and bubbly, and the sauce has thickened. Do not over bake or the sauce will dry out. Enjoy!
Notes
- Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, but it does not freeze well.
- Gluten free: Use gluten free pasta and breadcrumbs to make this gluten free. You could also use almond flour in place of the breadcrumbs.
- I prefer to remove the seeds from the jalapeños as it would be super spicy if you included them. Cooking them with the onion and garlic tame the spice a bit as well.
- If you don’t want to bake it, omit the panko topping and add the drained pasta back to the pot, along with the cheese sauce and vegetables. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens.
- Increase the protein by adding a bag of cooked vegan chicken such as Daring, or some rehydrated soy curls.
This is a great Mac recipe. Yes, use five peppers.
I started with three, then added the fourth, it needed the fifth one!! This recipe was not hot,
I do slice them very thin and then chop very fine. Next time
i will make it the way Nora said to make it! I did add the soy curls, soaked in hot water with two non-chicken bouillon cubes for maybe ten minutes – it added a lot of nice flavor. Then
I put the Soy curls in the food processor to chop them up. All in all it was easy and a very good mac. but use all five if not more, it was not hot.
I’ve tried a lot of vegan Mac and cheese recipes over the past 20 years…and I think this is the best one yet. It’s amazing and simple to make. Thank you!!!!
Loved this. We sprinkled some vegan feta crumbles on top and Wow!
This looks so good, can’t wait to try it tonight! I noticed that there isn’t any nutritional yeast in the cheese sauce, does it have a pretty cheesy flavor anyway?
Yes, I found that the sauce didn’t need the nutritional yeast because it’s already quite creamy and savory as-is! It’s closer to a white cheese sauce, which I think goes better with the spicy jalapenos.
Absolutely perfect! Family favorite
I’m so glad your family is loving the Mac and cheese! Thank you for sharing your positive feedback and review!
Best Mac n’ Cheese as voted by my family. We’re vegan and sometimes the flavors can taste redundant. Not this!! What a nice change. I subbed sautéed cauliflower for the pasta and omitted the butter. Delicious!! Thanks, Nora, I love your recipes!
Hi Sarah. I love that this was voted best by your family! Thanks for sharing your great review and ideas!
I love this recipe!! It is by far my very favorite Mac n cheese and I’ve tried many 🙂 I rarely make the same recipe twice; I’ve made this several times. Yum!Yum!! Thank you for all of your amazing creations, Nora!!
Hi Rachel. I am so glad you are loving the recipe! Thank you for sharing your great feedback! It so encouraging! Happy cooking!
Wow! This is so good! I only had diced jalapeños and used 3 tablespoons which turned out to be perfect. Spicy but not so much that your mouth felt like it was on fire. Nora, we love all your recipes. Thank you so much for another smash hit!
LOVE this recipe!!
Have you ever made it the night before and baked the next day? I was thinking of prepping it Wednesday for thanksgiving. Thanks!!
I’m glad you love it! I wouldn’t make it the day before and then bake, because the noodles will absorb the sauce, making it dry when you finally bake and serve it. You could keep the noodles and sauce separate but ready to go in the fridge, and then bake it a day later. Hope that helps!
Thank you!!
You are welcome! Happy holiday cooking!
I make this meal once a week or two and we LOVE it. The only difference I make is that I add a tonne of mushrooms to the onion, garlic and chilli and cook it all until it starts to caramelise. Such. A. Great. Meal! Will be a family favourite for time to come. Thanks again, Nora!
Hi Sarah. I’m thrilled the Mac and cheese is part of your weekly meal rotation, and that you love the recipe! Thanks for taking your time to share! Happy cooking!
Hi Nora! I’m curious if it would work to make the cashew sauce ahead of time and store it in the fridge for a day or two? I’m making your BBQ tofu and cheese grits for dinner tonight and would like to prep the mac to save myself some time later.
Yes, that works! Hope you enjoy it all! ?
We loved this! Three adults (vegan and non-vegan) thought this was GREAT! Fun to make, too! I used an immersion blender (because I don’t have a high-speed blender), and blended thoroughly, and it was just fine. No cashew lumps. The flavor and texture are delightful, and I wanted to eat more and more! The kind of thing you nibble on as you put away the leftovers. Well done, Nora!
Thanks so much for the comment! I’m so glad you all enjoyed it!
Will make again! Whew this recipe was so yummy and easy to put together. I used a protein elbow macoroni and it turned out well. As her recipe states, the sauce will be runny but it will turn out just fine. I followed everything except adding a couple spices to it.
I thought that this recipe seemed interesting but too easy to be true. (I thought, at least, that you forgot the nutritional yeast). I decided to give it a try mostly because I had some jalapeños in the fridge that needed using up. My household, unlike yours, are all adults now so I threw in about a third of the jalapeño seeds for a little extra kick. To go with it, I made your BBQ baked tofu and some sautéed garlic string beans. And, for good measure, I made your chocolate cake with a peanut butter frosting. As you see, I owe you an overdue great review. Thanks for your work and your inspiration.
You’re so welcome!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it all!
This was De-lish-ious!
My recently turned vegetarian hubby loved it!! .. as did I!
I did add 1/4 tsp garlic powder to the topping and I split the garlic evenly between the sauce and the veggies!
Can’t find tapioca starch/flour here. Will corn starch work? Or should I just wait til I can get some tapioca starch?
You can use cornstarch, or just leave it out the recipe will totally still work. Thanks!