This vegan butternut squash mac and cheese is creamy, comforting, wholesome, and requires just 9 ingredients (plus salt & pepper)! Make this vegan mac and cheese without cashews, processed ingredients, gluten-free optional, and get ready to indulge!
Whether you’ve been vegan for years and years or are brand new to it, comfort food classic mac and cheese is for everyone! We’ve already shared recipes for baked potato mac, a simple cheesy mac, and a veggie macaroni cheese bake; now it’s the turn of this healthy vegan butternut squash mac and cheese. It’s creamy, cozy, comforting, and so delicious that you’d hardly guess that it’s healthy!
What’s not to love? It’s made with inexpensive pantry staples (which means a vegan mac and cheese without cashews, yay!), allows you to sneak in extra veggies into a meal (and is child-approved!), is made with 100% whole food ingredients (nothing processed!), and can be made ahead and/or frozen for later! Plus, the combination of butternut squash, onion, nutritional yeast, and Dijon mustard makes for the most subtly sweet, savory, 'cheesy', super creamy butternut squash pasta sauce!
We’ve also included a bonus section on how to cook butternut squash (including boiled, steamed, baked, and air-fried butternut squash), so you can use whichever method works best for you. And, even better, this healthy vegan mac and cheese is incredibly flexible. So keep reading for ingredient substitutions, variations, and optional add-ins!
You can also enjoy this creamy squash as part of this butternut squash curry, creamy curried butternut squash lentil soup, butternut squash burrito, or Thai butternut soup!
Depending on which cooking method you use, you can cook the squash in halves OR 1-inch cubes.
Halved: First, wash the squash and pat it dry. Then, slice the top and bottom off the squash and use a long sharp knife to slice it in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out the fleshy/seedy pulp.
1-inch cubes: Follow the above method, but peel the squash with a vegetable peeler before slicing it in half. Then place the squash half skin-side down against your table and make 1-inch slices across the squash. Then cube each slice.
This method yields very tender, neutral-flavored squash with no oil necessary. Though it can become watery if overcooked.
An oil-free method for super tender, delicately flavored squash (so more seasoning may be required in the butternut squash pasta sauce)
Baking butternut squash with a small amount of oil will caramelize it for extra depth of flavor and some browned crispiness. However, it won’t blend quite as smoothly, depending on how crisp it is.
You could also bake the butternut squash whole!
Air fryer butternut squash will yield similar results to baked but in less time.
Brush (or spray) the squash with a little oil/ cooking spray and seasoning:
For halved squash: Cook cut-side down at 350F/180C for 20 minutes before flipping and cook for a further 10-15 minutes, or until tender.
For cubed squash: Spread across the bottom of your air fryer basket (don’t crowd the basket, or they’ll steam, rather than caramelize), and cook for 15-20 minutes at 390F/200C, tossing every 5 minutes.
The exact size of the squash and your air fryer brand will affect the cooking time, so keep an eye on it.
It’s best to do this in the last few minutes of cooking time for the squash, so the pasta is ready around the same time.
If it’s too thick, add in a splash of extra plant-based milk. If it’s too thin, make up a small amount of additional flour slurry to add to the sauce.
For a baked butternut squash pasta bake, add a sprinkle of breadcrumbs to the top of the butternut mac and cheese along with some melty vegan cheese (optional), and broil until crisp and golden on top.
Enjoy this hearty butternut mac and cheese either alone or alongside a leafy green salad, some crusty bread, or additional roasted/broiled/grilled veggies (like broccoli, asparagus, green beans, etc.!)
To cut down on prep time, you can cook the butternut squash in advance and store it for 3 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator (or 3-4 months in the freezer). You could also prepare the butternut squash vegan cheese sauce in advance and store it in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
Once cooked, store the assembled vegan butternut squash mac and cheese in an airtight container, either in the fridge for several days or in the freezer for 2-3 months. Note that the sauce will thicken, and the pasta will continue to soften.
If you plan to prepare the vegan butternut squash mac and cheese specifically for meal-prep/storing, we recommend only cooking the pasta 75%, so it doesn’t become overcooked when reheated.
To reheat, you can do so in the microwave or on the stovetop, adding an extra splash of broth or plant-based milk to bring the sauce back to your desired consistency.
Or browse through this list of 20 vegan pasta recipes you have to try! For more recipes from Margaret, check out The Plant Philosophy!
Photos by Alfonso Revilla
suzi says
I have made this sauce twice this month. The first time with an acorn squash, cuz thats what I had. Made a baked Mac n cheeze casserole with broccoli and it was great!! Went to make it again with a butternut squash last week and did the same. Had some sauce leftover and warmed on the stove tonite to dunk crispy pan fried potato wedges in. INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS!! Had to share. Thanks for this one and try it sometime!! Really good!!
Andrea White says
Oh nice! Everything sounds so delicious! Need to make this ASAP!
Teodora Grujic says
So delicious and healthy! Thanks for sharing with us!