Nacho Mac and Cheese Casserole with Taco Tempeh 'meat'. Vegan Recipe. Can be made soy-free with cooked chickpeas or beans instead of Tempeh. Serves 3 to 4

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: casserole
  • Cuisine: fusion

Ingredients

Nacho Cheese Sauce

  • 1/4 cup Cashew flour (ground raw Cashew)
  • 1/4 cup flour (I use unbleached white)
  • 1/2 cup almond milk
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1-2 roasted/canned pimiento (or roasted 1/2 red bell pepper)
  • 1 roasted Jalapeno (optional)
  • 1/2 medium tomato chopped
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic
  • 2 teaspoons onion flakes (or a 1 teaspoon onion powder)
  • 3-4 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon chipotle pepper flakes
  • 1/4 teaspoon aleppo pepper flakes (optional)
  • 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (optional)

Tempeh Nacho/Taco "meat"

  • 4 oz tempeh crumbled
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 teaspoons liquid aminos or tamari
  • 1 tomato chopped (or 2 tablespoons tomato paste)
  • 1/4 teaspoon chipotle pepper flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/3 tsp salt
  • Or you can use salt, tomato paste and taco seasoning mix to add to tempeh+water

Other

  • 1 cup dry Macaroni pasta
  • 1/2 cup Salsa of choice (or chopped roma tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, salt and lime juice)
  • Corn chips
  • Pickled Jalapenos
  • Daiya Cheddar shreds

Method

  1. Tempeh:
  2. In a large pan, add crumbled tempeh, water and rest of the ingredients. Mix and cook covered on low-medium heat for 25 minutes or until dry. Stir twice in between. You can marinate the tempeh in the wet before cooking if you like for a deeper flavor.
  3. Mac:
  4. Boil the water for the pasta and cook until al dente.
  5. Nacho Cheese Sauce:
  6. Add the nacho cheese sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Mix the sauce into drained hot Macaroni pasta.
  7. Bake:
  8. Layer the Mac and cheese.
  9. Top with Tempeh Nacho meat.
  10. Top with Salsa. (Or top the chips with salsa later).
  11. then some Daiya cheddar.
  12. Add the remaining Mac and Cheese.
  13. Top with Chips, Jalapenos and cheese shreds.
  14. Bake at pre-heated 370 degrees F / 190ºc for 25-30 minutes.
  15. Cool for a bit before serving.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.