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This Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese Bake is the ultimate fall comfort food. Cozy pasta baked with a simple cashew cream sauce that’s filled with cheesy flavor and tons of fresh pumpkin. Gluten-free & Oil-Free options.
This Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese Bake is everything you love about classic mac and cheese with a seasonal touch! A rich creamy pumpkin sauce baked with your favorite short-cut pasta, then finished with a crispy sourdough rosemary breadcrumbs for a satisfying crunch. Have this comfort bake in the oven in just 10 minutes!
Table of Contents
A Comforting Savory Pumpkin Recipe
Every fall, pumpkin puree makes its debut in sweet and fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes, Pumpkin Apple Muffins, and Pumpkin Spice Latte Overnight Oats, but what about savory pumpkin recipes? Pumpkin is considered a vegetable after all! I’ve taken it upon myself to find several creative ways to use pumpkin puree in the nostalgic fall classics. This Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese Bake is exactly that. A silky-smooth pumpkin cashew cream coats every last bite of tender pasta while a crisp, herby sourdough breadcrumb brings the perfect crunchy finish! And best of all, this dump-and-bake recipe is completely fuss-free. Simply set it, forget it, and enjoy the pumpkin season!
Ingredients for Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
This easy vegan pumpkin mac requires just 11 ingredients, including a homemade pumpkin cream sauce and toasted sourdough breadcrumbs. Here’s a quick rundown on the necessary ingredients:
- Cashews: Raw cashews are the base of the vegan cheese sauce. They’re buttery, mild in flavor, and easy to blend into a creamy texture in a good blender.
- Pumpkin: You’ll need both a cup of pumpkin puree and diced fresh pumpkin for the ultimate pumpkin flavor.
- Nutritional yeast: Adds additional cheesiness, B vitamins, and a bold yellow color.
- Pasta: No-boil recipes work best with short-cut pasta. Feel free to use your favorite gluten-free pasta if needed.
- Sourdough: My favorite bread to use when making homemade breadcrumbs because it’s tangy, slightly chewy, and perfectly crusty. It also holds its structure well even when dried out, which is ideal for making a crumb-like texture.
How to Make Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
- Blend the pumpkin cream sauce ingredients in a high-speed blender until the cashews completely dissolve.
- Mix the pasta, pumpkin, and shallot together in a casserole dish until evenly combined.
- Pour the pumpkin cream sauce over top, then press everything down into the sauce.
- Tightly cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prep the homemade breadcrumbs and set aside.
- Once the mac and cheese has baked, stir well to evenly distribute the sauce then cover the pasta with the breadcrumbs.
- Bake for another 7-10 minutes, or until crispy.
- Serve warm, as desired. Enjoy!
Caitlin’s Cooking Tips
- The homemade breadcrumbs are highly recommended! The buttery sourdough breadcrumbs on top are technically optional, but trust me when I say you won’t want to skip them! They’re infused with fragrant rosemary that packs loads of fall flavor and adds the best, next level crunch to the top of the creamy mac and cheese. It’s as delightful as it sounds, I promise!
- Quick soak the cashews. If you forgot to soak your raw cashews ahead of time, there are two ways to soften them quickly. First, you can cover the cashews in boiling water and allow them to sit for 20 minutes to soften. Or, cover them in room temperature water and microwave the cashews for 3 minutes, then allow them to sit for 3-5 minutes before draining.
Serving Suggestions
Creamy vegan pumpkin mac is the ultimate main to pair with a simple salad, roasted veggies, or fall-flavored sides. I personally love this baked pasta dish with these 15-Minute Garlic Green Beans, this Fall Farro Salad with Butternut Squash & Brussels Sprouts, and this Kale Apple Salad with Cider Dressing.
It would also make the perfect cozy side dish on your Thanksgiving table this year. Give it a try with a few of my favorite Vegan & Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Recipes like this Homemade Vegan Holiday Roast or these Stuffed Acorn Squash with Mushrooms.
If you’re looking for more savory pumpkin recipes, you’ll also love this Creamy Pumpkin Vodka Sauce, these Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins, and this Cozy Vegan Pumpkin Chili!
How to Store Vegan Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
If you have leftovers, they’ll keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Freezing is not recommended – fully cooked pasta is difficult to freeze without the texture diminishing.
If reheating individual serving sizes, microwaving is the quickest option. Or, if reheating a few servings at once, reheat leftovers in the oven at 350F while covered for 15-20 minutes, or until warmed through.
Substitutions and Variations
- Gluten-free option: Use corn & rice varieties of gluten-free pasta in place of the wheat-based pasta. These gluten-free pasta varieties hold up better than gluten-free pastas made from legumes. Additionally, replace the sourdough bread with your favorite gluten-free bread, or omit the breadcrumbs entirely.
- Oil-free option: Omit the olive oil in the pumpkin cream sauce and homemade breadcrumbs. The pumpkin cream sauce won’t be as smooth and creamy, but it will still taste delicious!
- Make your own pumpkin puree: Roast your own sugar pie pumpkins and learn How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Puree.
- Pumpkin substitutions: Use cubed, peeled sweet potato, butternut squash, or kabocha squash instead.
Recipe FAQs
This dairy-free pumpkin cheese sauce is made cheesy using raw cashews and nutritional yeast. No dairy cheese needed!
If you don’t have a food processor, a blender with a pulse setting or even a box grater would work well. Use what you have!
This mac and cheese is not nut-free. Raw cashews are a main ingredient in the pumpkin cream sauce and would be difficult to replace. If you’d like to experiment, substituting the raw cashews with raw sunflower seeds may work, but I cannot guarantee it!
Enjoy! If you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I would also love it if you could leave a comment below with a recipe rating! Thank you for the support 😊
Baked Vegan Pumpkin Mac & Cheese
Ingredients
For the Pumpkin Cream Sauce:
- 3/4 cup cashews, soaked in water overnight*
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
- 4 1/4 cups water
For the Pasta:
- 12 ounces pasta, gluten-free if necessary*
- 1 shallot finely diced
- 2 cups diced pumpkin; see notes for substitutions
For the Breadcrumbs:
- 3.5 ounces sourdough bread
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh rosemary roughly chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prep: preheat the oven to 425F and set a 9×13″ casserole pan aside.
- Blend: add the soaked and drained cashews, pumpkin puree, garlic, olive oil, nutritional yeast, nutmeg, salt, and water to a high-speed blender. Blend on high for 45-60 seconds, until the cashews completely dissolve and you are left with a smooth and creamy sauce.
- Mix: add the pasta, pumpkin, and shallot to the casserole dish and mix until evenly distributed. Pour the sauce over the casserole, then use a spatula or spoon to press everything down evenly into the sauce, especially the pasta noodles.
- Bake: Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil (or parchment paper, followed by aluminum foil) and bake in the middle rack of the oven for 45 minutes.
- Breadcrumbs: place the sourdough on separate baking tray and bake alongside the casserole for 10-20 minutes, until dry and golden; bake time will depend on the size of your bread. Roughly break up the bread with your hands, then transfer it to a food processor along with the chopped rosemary, salt, and pepper to taste. Pulse until a fine but crumbly texture forms. Drizzle the oil over the breadcrumbs, then pulse again until evenly distributed. Transfer the breadcrumbs to a small bowl and set aside.
- Make it Crispy: after 45 minutes, remove the casserole dish from the oven and stir well to evenly distribute the sauce. Cover the pasta evenly with breadcrumbs, then return to the oven and bake for an additional 7-10 minutes. (See notes for cooking time without breadcrumbs)
- Serve + Store: serve warm; leftovers can be stored in the fridge and are best eaten within 5 days
Recipe Notes
- Cashews: If you forget to soak your cashews ahead of time, you can (1) cover them in boiling water and let sit for 20 minutes, or (2) cover them with water and microwave for 3 minutes, then let sit for 3-5 minutes before draining.
- Pasta: I recommend using short pasta shapes (as opposed to noodles) for this recipe. If you are using gluten-free pasta, corn & rice varieties tend to hold up better without breaking.
- Pumpkin: cubed pumpkin can be replaced with peeled sweet potato, butternut squash, or kabocha squash.
- No Breadcrumbs: bake the casserole for 45 min only, but let sit 5 minutes covered before mixing and serving
- Oil-Free: you can omit the oil from the sauce if you’d like, but it will not be as smooth. Same with the breadcrumbs; they will not get as golden, but will still be tasty!
I’m no cook and this was easy and delicious. Even my meat loving father in law loved it!!!
Awesome! Thank you, Chelsea! 😊
Got a sugar pumpkin at the fall market and baked half for the purée and diced the other half. Followed the recipe as described. Never bought a shallot before, and just went for it.
It was amazing. Don’t sleep on these breadcrumbs! It tasted like stovetop stuffing but in a GOOD way! I’m trying to find other things to put them on. The dish was creamy and so flavorful.
Thanks Jessica! I agree about the breadcrumbs – I’ve them on other pasta dishes and even roasted veggies!
Insanely delicious! Hubby said he could eat the entire pan!
Filling, satisfying, creamy,
I did not have sour dough so used Dave’s Killer Bread for the crumbs, delicious!
Thank you for the feedback, Elise! So glad you loved it! ❤️
SOOO GOOOD!!!! super easy and delicious. Love that this recipe is made of simple, whole ingredients!
Glad you loved it, Shanice!
So impressive me! More pine nuts also make it the best. So great recipe!
Thank you so much, Malissa!
I’m making this again right now and I’m so excited! Lazy Friday night for me, so I didn’t bother with the squash & onions. I’m going to stir in some thawed frozen veggies (probably peas and cauliflower, but who knows what’s in there!) for the last few minutes of cooking instead. Fewer dishes, no chopping, more veggies. It’s now cooking in the oven while I frantically try to wrap up work for the weekend. Love having something so hands-off.
I appreciate your feedback, Sara! Thank you as always 💕
This is amazing! Super creamy and cozy. Great dish for Fall especially if you have some pumpkins to use up
Definitely! Thank you, Jenny!
Im gluten-free and I love your recipes, it is great that you always put a substitute for a gluten-free version. I have a doubt with this recipe:
Can I substitute the cashews for some kind of vegan cooking cream? If possible. How much should I use?
I haven’t tried it but there are recipes that substitute the cashews for ingredients such as sunflower seeds.
I have made many variations of vegan mac n cheese over the years, and this one is pretty great for a few reasons! The texture of the cheesy sauce is perfect when once it is baked. I was worried it would be too thin once the pasta and veggies absorbed the water but it was perfect. Not cooking pasta in advance makes for fewer pans as well, though I will say I used a twisted variety of pasta and it probably could have baked for 10 more minutes. The overall dish felt a bit lacking in flavor, next time I’d opt for more spices or sage, extra pepper, and maybe some additional nutritional yeast, miso, or something to add more umami flavor. I will be making this again!
Appreciate the feedback, Sabrina. Thanks!
What is the best nut to use instead of cashew? I cannot eat cashews. Thank you 🙂
Hi Natasha, you can use pine nuts, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, soaked sunflower seeds, sunflower seeds and tahini (sesame seed butter) as substitute to cashews.
i’ve made many bad vegan mac n cheeses but this is NOT one of them! It was so cheesey that even my non vegan roommates approved! so so happy with this! I used butternut squash instead of pumpkin and it was delish!!! thank you for this recipe!
You’re so very welcome Lindsay. 🙂
This was amazing! I used 1/2 cup cashews and no oil and it was still very creamy. My 18 year old son has a list he started when he was 14 and I first started cooking plant-based: “Dinners that are actually good” (seriously) and after the first bite he said “This is going on the list!”
Such an honor to have my recipe “go on the list”! Thank you, Christine! 😊
This was absolutely amazing. My not vegan husband has finally called something his favorite vegan dish. I can’t wait to make it again!!! The sourdough rosemary breadcrumbs are to die for.
So happy to hear that and I’m glad it turned out amazing for you! Thank you so much!
I made this last night without the breadcrumbs. When I tried the sauce as listed it was a little too pumpkin-spicey and not enough mac-and-cheesy for me, so I added another probably quarter cup of nutritional yeast (maybe half….) Anyway, I really liked this! I probably would omit the nutmeg next time. This was also my first pumpkin recipe so maybe I am just a pumpkin hater. But thank you for introducing me to the concept of not having to boil pasta.
You’re so very welcome Christina! Thank you for the feedback.🙂
This is so delicious! I used kabocha squash and added some sage in the breadcrumbs. I’m excited to eat the leftovers for the next few days, and I will definitely make this again!
So glad you found it delicious, Lee! Thanks for the feedback.
This was so delicious! It’s so good we can’t stop eating it
I’m so happy you loved it! Thank you, Amie. 😀
SO delicious! I didn’t have shallots and used diced sweet potatoes instead of diced pumpkin and still turned out amazing. The perfect fall meal
Awesome! I’m glad that you like it. Thank you so much 😀
Amy alternatives to cashews for a nut allergy?! Thanks 😀
Hi Sarah! If you’re allergic to both peanuts and tree nuts, you can still safely eat seeds and seed butter. Some popular alternatives are pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chickpeas, sunflower butter, and soy butter.
I made this last night and it was delicious!! I omitted the breadcrumbs because I thought my kids would be less inclined to eat it with them on but I know t would have been tasty if I did. Really excited to eat leftovers today 🙂 Thank you for the tasty and easy recipes!
You’re so very welcome, Sarah! Thank you for the feedback.
Having this for brunch right now! It’s delicious. Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
You’re welcome, Rebecca!
I can’t wait to try this. I make your chickpea noodle casserole several times a month.
All your recipes are delish!
Thank you so much.
I’m glad you love the recipes, Theresa! Thank you! 🙂