This recipe for a vegan buffalo chicken mac and cheese will show you in 25 mins how to make vegan buffalo chicken and vegan buffalo cheese sauce to go with your macaroni.
All you have to do is combine your vegan buffalo cheese sauce with your macaroni pasta and your vegan buffalo chicken to make the ultimate vegan buffalo chicken mac and cheese! It’s high in protein, cheesy, delicious and the ultimate comfort food!
Recipe for Vegan Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
My vegan buffalo chicken mac and cheese mimics the traditional American-style dish, with vegan chicken on top of a cheesy creamy pasta dish. Buffalo Chicken is typically spicy, breaded, deep-fried, and coated with buffalo sauce. So that’s what we’re doing, but using vegan ingredients!
To make your vegan buffalo chicken, you’ll want to start by making breaded vegan chicken in the air fryer, oven or pan-fry it first and then cover it in hot buffalo sauce. To resemble chicken for this dish, soy curls are a great replacement for shredded vegan chicken. All you have to do is soak them, drain them and coat them in the batter.
For vegan mac cheese sauce, I used my favourite vegan cheese sauce recipe and added buffalo sauce to make a vegan buffalo cheese sauce! To get a creamy vegan cheese sauce, soaked cashews help with the creaminess, along with nutritional yeast, a non-dairy milk replacement, and some seasoning.
You can also use any leftover vegan buffalo chicken in my vegan buffalo chicken wrap recipe!
This recipe is meat-free, dairy-free & vegan!
To make vegan mac and cheese gluten-free, simply use gluten-free pasta, flour and breadcrumbs.
Ingredients
- Vegan buffalo sauce (ex: Frank’s)
- Macaroni (or pasta of choice)
- Soy Curls
- Flour
- Salt
- Breadcrumbs
- Vegan butter
- Cashews
- Unsweetened vegan milk
- Nutritional Yeast
- Mustard or Dijon Mustard
- Lemon
- Paprika or smoked paprika
- Turmeric
- Garlic Powder
- Garlic (optional)
Extra Topping (optional): - Vegan Mayo
- Fresh Parsley
How To Make Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese (Vegan)
1. Start by making sure you have soaked cashews for your vegan mac and cheese sauce! I recommend soaking cashews in water overnight to soften OR boil cashews with water for around 15-20 minutes.
2. Next, soak your dehydrated soy curls in boiled/hot water for 5-10 minutes to become re-hydrated. This will make them expand and will become your vegan chicken. After soaking, drain out the water from the soy curls, and squeeze excess water from them.
3. In the meantime, make your batter. In a shallow bowl, place 1 cup of flour and pour in 1.5-2 cups of water (you can also use vegan milk if desired), and whisk together until a smooth and thin batter is formed. The batter should be thicker than simply liquid, but thick enough to coat the soy curls.
4. On a separate plate, add breadcrumbs.
5. After your soy curls have been drained and squeezed, place your soy curls into the wet batter with one hand and then into the breadcrumbs. Coat with your other hand. You can also squeeze with your fingers for the breadcrumbs to stick to the soy curls if you are having trouble with your breadcrumbs.
6. If desired, lightly coat or spray the battered soy curls with oil. To air-fry your vegan chicken (fastest method), place them on a greased air-fryer tray and air fry at 370 degrees F for 13-15 minutes, flipping halfway through. Alternatively, bake in the oven (on a lined baking tray) at 400 degrees F for 20-30 minutes, flipping halfway through, or until cooked through. You can also pan-fry your vegan chicken in oil.
7. While your vegan chicken is cooking, boil your macaroni (or other pasta) in a pot according to instructions and then prepare the Mac & Cheese Sauce with your soaked cashews.
8. Drain your cashews and then add the following ingredients into a blender: cashews, 1/4 cup buffalo sauce, unsweetened vegan milk, nutritional yeast, mustard, lemon juice, paprika, turmeric, garlic powder, salt and/or fresh garlic. Blend on high until creamy and smooth. This will be your creamy vegan buffalo cheese sauce for your mac and cheese!
9. Drain your pasta and in a large casserole dish, add your pasta and the buffalo cheese sauce. Mix until well combined.
10. Once your soy curls are done, you can use a large pan and melt vegan butter with 3/4 cup buffalo sauce (ex. Frank’s Hot Sauce). Toss your breaded soy curls into the sauce to create the best vegan buffalo chicken.
11. Place the vegan buffalo chicken on top of the mac and cheese or mix it in. Optionally, you can mix together vegan mayo with water in a bowl to thin out your vegan mayo and drizzle on top and add fresh parsley! And voila! a delicious vegan buffalo chicken mac and cheese!
Vegan Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
Equipment
- Pot or bowl to soak cashews
- Pot or bowl for soaking soy curls in hot water
- Bowl for batter
- Plate for breadcrumbs
- Air fryer or Oven
- Pot to boil macaroni pasta
- Blender
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 100 g soy curls (dry)
- 1 cup flour
- 1.5-2 cups water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp oil (optional) for coating vegan chicken
- 3/4 cup Buffalo sauce ex. Frank's Red Hot Sauce (for coating soy curls)
- 2 tbsp vegan butter (optional) (for coating soy curls)
- 340 g macaroni dry, or other pasta of choice (6 servings)
- 1.5 cups Cashews soaked & softened (see instructions)
- 3/4 cup Unsweetened vegan milk
- 1/2 cup Nutritional Yeast
- 1 tbsp Mustard or Dijon Mustard
- 3 tbsp Lemon Juice or 1 whole lemon juiced
- 1 tsp Paprika highly recommend smoked paprika
- 1/2 tbsp Turmeric
- 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1-2 tsp Salt
- 3 cloves garlic peeled or use an extra tbsp of garlic powder if you don't have fresh garlic
- 1/4 cup Buffalo sauce ex. Frank's Red Hot Sauce
Instructions
- Start by making sure you have soaked cashews for your vegan mac and cheese sauce! I recommend soaking cashews in water overnight to soften OR boil cashews with water for around 15-20 minutes.
- Next, soak your dehydrated soy curls in boiled/hot water for 5-10 minutes to become re-hydrated. This will make them expand and will become your vegan chicken. After soaking, drain out the water from the soy curls, and squeeze excess water from them.
- In the meantime, make your batter. In a shallow bowl, place 1 cup of flour and pour in 1.5-2 cups of water (you can also use vegan milk if desired), and whisk together until a smooth and thin batter is formed. The batter should be thicker than simply liquid, but thick enough to coat the soy curls.
- On a separate plate, add breadcrumbs.
- After your soy curls have been drained and squeezed, place your soy curls into the wet batter with one hand and then into the breadcrumbs. Coat with your other hand. You can also squeeze with your fingers for the breadcrumbs to stick to the soy curls if you are having trouble with your breadcrumbs.
- If desired, lightly coat or spray the battered soy curls with oil. To air-fry your vegan chicken (fastest method), place them on a greased air-fryer tray and air fry at 370 degrees F for 13-15 minutes, flipping halfway through. Alternatively, bake in the oven (on a lined baking tray) at 400 degrees F for 20-30 minutes, flipping halfway through, or until cooked through. You can also pan-fry your vegan chicken in oil.
- While your vegan chicken is cooking, boil your macaroni (or other pasta) in a pot according to instructions and then prepare the Mac & Cheese Sauce with your soaked cashews.
- Drain your cashews and then add the following ingredients into a blender: cashews, 1/4 cup buffalo sauce, unsweetened vegan milk, nutritional yeast, mustard, lemon juice, paprika, turmeric, garlic powder, salt and/or fresh garlic. Blend on high until creamy and smooth. This will be your creamy vegan buffalo cheese sauce for your mac and cheese!
- Drain your pasta and in a large casserole dish, add your pasta and the buffalo cheese sauce. Mix until well combined.
- Once your soy curls are done, you can use a large pan and melt vegan butter with 3/4 cup buffalo sauce (ex. Frank’s Hot Sauce). Toss your breaded soy curls into the sauce to create the best vegan buffalo chicken.
- Place the vegan buffalo chicken on top of the mac and cheese or mix it in. Optionally, you can mix together vegan mayo with water in a bowl to thin out your vegan mayo and drizzle on top and add fresh parsley! And voila! a delicious vegan buffalo chicken mac and cheese!
Nutrition
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this recipe was sooooo good ! the soy curls surprisingly resembled the taste of chicken, which I thought was really shocking! This will be a reoccuring dish I make for sure.
Amazing recipe, really good comfort food.
I love the Mac and cheese sauce and I’ve made it multiple times already. Last night I finally tried this with the buffalo soy curls and it adds so much extra flavour and texture. It’s incredible.
My 4th time making this today, it is sooo good taste even better the next day cold lol! You should def try it out