Classical Mac & Cheese: Easy Comfort for a Cozy Holiday Feast!

Can creamy, cheesy goodness, health, and effortless cooking all come together in a single dish? Yes, and it’s called Classical Mac & Cheese!

Mac & Cheese is the true centerpiece of every festive table, warming hearts, and pleasing every palate. With just a handful of ingredients, you can effortlessly toss everything—but the vinegar—into a pot, bring it to a boil, and in just 8 to 12 minutes, you’ll have a mouthwatering dish ready to enjoy. Imagine that ooey-gooey sound as you stir! Say goodbye to complicated plant-based recipes and hello to a delightful feast that requires minimal effort but delivers maximum flavor for your holiday (or any day) celebration!

Recipe Overview – Classical Mac & Cheese

Short Recipe Video – Classical Mac & Cheese

The Menu for Classical Mac & Cheese

Are you looking for some non-alcoholic WFPB Beverages for holiday cheer?
❄️🎄❄️🌱
Or maybe mains and side dishes to celebrate the holidays? Try Stovetop Green Bean Casserole, Creamed Cabbage and Meatloaf, Candied Brussels & Balsamic Beets Salad, Not-Chicken Parmesan, Cranberry Dream Sandwich (including Cranberry Jam, Mashed Potatoes, Mushroom Gravy, Stuffing, and Deli Turkey), Easy Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni, Creamy Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Quick & Simple Cabbage Rolls, Grandma’s Hearty Borscht, Cheesy Pumpkin & Sage Ravioli, Bolognese in a Hurry, Plant Based Pierogies, Mushroom Cacciatore, or go all out and even make the Southwest Mac & Cheese or Not-Hamburger Helper Mac & Cheese to go with your mac & cheese!

or for more desserts try Cinnamon Apple-Raisin Rolls, Stovetop Cheesecake, Pumpkin Spiced Blondie, Caramel Apple Crumble, Stovetop Banana Cream Hand Pies, Ginger Bread Cookies, Raisin Butter Tart, Fast-Freeze-No-Churn-No-Machine Ice Cream, or maybe even just some Oil-Free Popcorn?

Directions at a Glance for Classical Mac & Cheese

Note: If you’re not using a spice grinder then see either the blender help section or the no equipment at all section in the pro tips.

1. Grind all the dry ingredients for the cheese powder (oats, split peas, nutritional yeast, rice, and spices) and bring the water to a boil.
2. Add the cheese powder and noodles. Simmer on low for 8 minutes covered.
3. Add all the remaining ingredients, and cook 1 to 2 more minutes or until the noodles are tender. Remove from the heat and serve garnished with cheesy not-parm powder, a side of homemade ketchup, and 15-minute stovetop cornbread.

Why This Recipe for Classical Mac & Cheese?

My first recipe on Substack was actually Mac & Cheese, but it’s was not a Simmer & Serve recipe and it was quite complicated in comparison. On top of that, this recipe allows you to make the cheese powder before hand, even in bulk. Then all you need to do is add half a cup of the cheese powder, and you can have mac & cheese in the same time, or even less time, than it takes to make the artificial boxed stuff.

You also get a lot of leverage out of this cheese powder since it is the same powder for the Southwest Mac and the Not-Hamburger, Helpful Mac, as well as other upcoming casseroles and other cheesy side dishes! This is version 15 of the powder so you know I’ve done a lot of tweaking to get it as simple, cheap, easy, while still being as healthy as possible, I think you’ll love it!

Lastly, it’s Classical Mac & Cheese because it should remind you of the stuff you grew up with, it does for me with the gooey rich and silky smooth cheesy texture.

Have ideas for recipes or feedback? Let me know in the comments or connect with me on substack or Instagram!

Faking Fermentation?

After the whole timesaving process of making a simple cheese powder, we also use celery seed, nutritional yeast, and vinegars to trick our senses since most of the taste that we enjoy from cheese is actually the fomentation process taste so by replicating the primary flavors we get the cheese flavor without the need to use cheese or fermented foods that are usually loaded with excess salt among other less than healthy ingredients.

Blending Without a Spice/Coffee Grinder

If you have oat flour and either are omitting or using fresh yellow peas then you don’t need a blender or a grinder.

Otherwise, you can use any type of blender, just blend the dry ingredients with 1 cup of the water from the recipe and otherwise follow the directions as written.

If you want you can try to use your stick blender to blend the dry ingredients like in the video below.

⭐The Full Classical Mac & Cheese Recipe⭐

Classical Mac & Cheese: Simmer & Serve

Chef Rob

Super gooey and cheesy WFPB SOS-Free Mac & Cheese in about 20 minutes.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 2 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Boiling Time 8 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Comfort Food, Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Pasta, Side Dish

Cuisine American, Italian

Servings 4 people

Calories 172.3 kcal

Equipment

• 1 Pot
• 1 Spice / Coffee Grinder (optional if you have oat flour and fresh yellow peas; or any type of blender works too)

Ingredients

  

Mac & Cheese Powder Part 1

• 3 tbsp oat flour
• 2 tbsp split peas yellow optional
• ½ tbsp rice flour optional, I like glutionous/sticky rice that I grind into flour
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• ½ tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp garlic granulated
• ⅛ tsp ground turmeric
• ¹/16 tsp chili powder
• ¹/16 tsp celery seeds
• 1/16 tsp ground mustard powder
• 3 cups water

Mac & Cheese Powder Part 2

• 1 tbsp seed butter I like tahini or sunflower seed butter
• 1.5 tbsp tomato paste optionsl
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp white vinegar

Noodles

• 2 cups noodles (I use plain brown rice noodles, also see the pro tips for making homemade noodles with my Trofie or Fettucini recipe)

Instructions

 

• Grind or mix all of your Mac & Cheese Powder Part 1 then add your water to the pot and bring it to a boil on high heat.

  Add the powder and the noodles to the pot, reduce to a simmer, and cover for 8 minutes (or the cooking time indicated on your noodles) on medium to medium-low heat.
  
• Remove the lid and add the Mac & Cheese Part 2 ingredients (acidic ingredients and seed butter: tomato paste, vinegars, seed butter) and stir well. Cook for 2 more minutes or longer if the noodles are still a bit firm (they will keep cooking even after the heat is off so don't go too far!)

  I suggest serving with cheesy-not-parm, a touch of homemade ketchup, or some fresh cornbread.
  

Video

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🧂If you absolutely must add salt or sugar then try to add them to taste, to the top of the food, so you use less, and add in small amounts and only after tasting before adding any more. The same goes for other “less healthy” additions, but the idea should be to try to limit and eventually remove adding them, over time, when you are ready. (Use a finer ground salt as it will taste saltier.)

After a few weeks of not eating a SAD diet your tastebuds reset and you’ll notice and be surprised by the natural sugars and sodium in foods, check out the great article, and subscribe to, Michael Corthell on Substack.

💡Protips💡

Make The Turmeric More Bioavailable

• Garnish or add black pepper to your Classical Mac & Cheese so the turmeric is more easily processed. If you have liver or kidney disease then consult a medical professional first.

This Is Still Too Much Work

• If you must the you can throw everything in the pot and add the water on maximum heat and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover and it should turn out almost the same but there might not be as much flavor and the texture may suffer. Honestly, keep trying it both ways and I’m not sure if the difference is just in my head or not just yet.

It’s Stuck To The Bottom Of The Pot

• Turn the temperature to the lowest setting and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes and this low setting should make the bottom “unstick,” and release. Try stiring every 2-3 minutes and it should come off with no problems.

Make It Smoother & Silkier

• In a hurry you can just dump the powder into the water, but this might clump up, especially if the water is already hot/boiling. Instead, make what is called a slurry. Take out about a cup of the liquid and cool it down, then add the powder and mix it well until it’s a smooth paste. Add the paste to the pot and stir until it’s fully incorporated into the sauce.

Split Peas & Oat Flour

• You don’t need to use split peas, but it adds to the texture and mouthfeel. If you can’t pre-blend/grind them or cook and pre-mash them them omit them.
• Dry grind or blend (with water) your oats. Other flours will work too.

Rice And Rice Flour

• I use glutonous rice (it’s actually gluten-free, that’s just the name), it’s also called sticky rice or sweet rice. It makes the sauce even more cheesy and gloopy (in the best possible way)! You can buy it as flour (look in the World/Asian isle in your grocery store) for usually very cheap and it’s just ground up rice.

Tahini & Sun Butter

Alternatives

• If you don’t want to use sun (sunflower seed) butter tahini other then pumpkin seed butter (although it will have some festive green) or hempseed butter, or any other seed or nut butter should work. Almond butter I find needs to be doubled.

No Seed or Nut Butter

• You can also use finely ground seeds or nuts, or you can omit the nuts and seeds entierly. It won’t be as creamy and I recommend doubling the oats to help with that..

Meal Prep Boxed Mac

• Make a double, or more, batch of the powder and store in so it’s ready to go (hint: it’s ½ cup of cheesy powder per recipe). You can even store it with the noodles so all you need to do is add it to a pot with water, seed butter, and vinegar. Think of it like boxed mac & cheese where you need to add milk (water), butter (seed butter), and salt (vinegar).

Make It Fresh

• Use fresh celery, onions, garlic, and even fresh mashed split peas

Blenders, Food Processors, and Immersion Blenders

If you don’t have a spice or coffee grinder then check out the alternative blending section for how to create this recipe with almost any blending device.

No Equipment At All

• If you have oat flour (and rice flour, optionally) and fresh yellow peas you can mash the peas and otherwise use the recipe as written.

Nutrition Facts Table – Classical Mac & Cheese

The Science – Sources

Please tell me how it turned out! Did you: try it, like it, hate it, change it, or do something else unexpected???

If I’ve made any mistakes, or something doesn’t make sense, or if you want more/less details, please let me know in the comments.

Stay healthy and nourished! Happy cooking!

Chef Robert Leigh.

Classical Mac & Cheese: Easy Comfort for a Cozy Holiday Feast!