What else says comfort food better than roasted poblano mac and cheese? Only when it's vegan, healthy, creamy and full of incredible flavor!
When I created my Ultimate Cheese Sauce , you all went nuts for it. And still do! As one of my top recipes to this day, it is a staple around here...from nachos, to pasta, to dips...I always have it stocked so it comes as no surprise that it turns up in these kinds of random creations.
We love that the base is made from mostly veggies, plus has protein from the cashews. It's texture is unreal, so mixed with the flavors of roasted poblanos and the spice of sriracha, it's kinda insane really. It should be illegal.
Let's get poblano mac and cheese into your bowl
There are a few parts to this recipe, but each is pretty simple to make. The great thing, is that you can prep each part ahead of time, then quickly put them together day of.
- Make cheese sauce (this holds up fabulous in the fridge so make it ahead of time).
- Roast poblano peppers, peel off skin and chop, then store them in fridge until ready to use.
- Make creamy sriracha drizzle (also holds up well in the fridge and can be easily made ahead of time).
- When you are ready to eat this, cook your pasta then mix in the cheese sauce and poblanos. Bake (if you choose the baked version) and serve with a drizzle of creamy sriracha on top!
Side note: here's a little tip on the poblanos. If you cut the tops off, then you can easily pull out the seed bunch. You can leave the seeds in while roasting, but you're going to get a spicy finish. If you can handle the heat, then go for it! But removing the seeds before roasting is better for the average mac and cheese eater.
Roasted Poblano Mac and Cheese with Creamy Sriracha Drizzle
Ingredients
- 16 ounces your favorite pasta , I used elbows (gluten free if needed)
- 10 Poblano peppers
- drizzle veggie broth or your favorite oil , for roasting
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup reserved pasta water
- 2-3 cups Ultimate Cheese Sauce (depending on how cheesy you want it)
- Creamy Sriracha Sauce (drizzle as much or little as you want)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F (205 C).
- To prep Poblanos, chop the tops off and take out the inside parts with the seeds. You can also slice down one side of the pepper to make it easier to get them out. This will allow the pepper to roast without getting spicy. However if you want the extra spice then leave the seeds in!
- Place Poblanos on a parchment lined cookie sheet and sprinkle with veggie broth or oil and salt.
- Roast for 30-35 minutes, until they brown a bit.
- After you take the peppers out, turn the oven down to 350 F (175 C).
- Wrap the peppers in tin foil so they can steam as they cool, this will make it easier to take the skins off.
- While the peppers are roasting, make cheese sauce if you haven't prepared it yet. It will take about the time it takes to roast the peppers.
- While the peppers are cooling, make the creamy Sriracha sauce if you haven't prepared it.
- Also cook pasta according to package directions. If you are baking this, then cook about 4 minutes less. Since the pasta will be baking you don’t want it over done. Reserve about 1 cup of your pasta water while draining.
- Once the peppers are cool enough to handle, remove as much skin as you can. It should come off easily. Don’t worry about getting it all.
- Chop the peppers, you will have about 1 ½ - 2 cups, depending on how big your peppers were.
- In the pot used to cook the pasta, combine pasta, cheese sauce and chopped peppers. Mix well. If you are baking it, then also add in about 1 cup reserved pasta water.
- If you cooked the pasta fully, and are not baking it, basically shovel this amazingness into your mouth.
- If you are baking the recipe, good luck waiting to eat. Pour mixture into a square baking dish (you can also use a 9x12 if your pasta has larger shapes).
- Bake covered in tin foil for 15-20 minutes, depending on how "baked" you want it. Just make sure the pasta is fully cooked before you take it out. If you want it to brown a bit on top, remove foil for the last 5-8 minutes.
- Drizzle with Creamy Sriracha Sauce and serve!
Notes
- If you can’t find Poblano peppers you can also use Anaheim, or any other pepper you like.
- You can drizzle on however much of the Creamy Sriracha Sauce that you want. More is more in the spice department.
- The Creamy Sriracha Sauce makes about 1 cup but if you make the whole recipe, you won’t regret it because it goes great on so much!
- Nutrition facts do not include the Sriracha sauce.
Recipe by Veggies Don’t Bite, visit our site for more great plant-based recipes.
Nutrition
Nutrition and metric information should be considered an estimate.
Mandy
Heaven in a bowl. OMG. Now, this isn't a Willow-friendly dish, but that just means more for me! Mac and cheese is a frequent meal in our house, so I need to add this recipe into rotation...ASAP!
veggiesdontbite
Thanks Mandy!! My boys actually ate this and liked it. I roasted the poblanos with zero seeds so there wasn't any heat, and left of the sriracha. But, you could always just do the mac n cheese part for her!
Julie
This looks oh so yummy! I'm thinking it would be great over some steamed or roasted veggies, not pasta (diabetic, can't have too many carbs). I'll have to give that a try! Although, I'll have to try it the traditional way at least one! 😉 Love some spice!
veggiesdontbite
Thanks so much Julie!! Its fantastic over veggies!! We love the traditional cheese sauce over broccoli...but if you like a kick definitely add some of that creamy sriracha sauce. SO good! Let me know how it goes!
Julie
We have a favorite restaurant that we go to for Saturday breakfast; I always get their "vegan burrito bowl", and they make a homemade sriracha sauce. I'm so excited to make yours! 🙂
Cedar Hospitality
Mac and cheese is my favorite and your dish seems yummy and spicy i would like to eat this. I will try this at home....
veggiesdontbite
Thanks so much! Let me know if you try it!
Gwen @simplyhealthyfamily
Poblanos are one of my all time fav flavors!!! Gotta check out that ultimate cheese sauce!
veggiesdontbite
Me too!! Aren't they great?! The cheese sauce is SO good! You have to try it. Tell me if you do!
Levan @ Crazy Vegan Kitchen
It's the Return of the Mac (old school song haha)
Fantastic stuff! Always pleasure photos to look at and great recipes to try whenever I come by here.
veggiesdontbite
Ha! Yes, I totally know that song. Thanks Levan!
prgaati
Awesome~ poblanos and Sriracha both..wow..flavor and kick!
veggiesdontbite
Thanks so much! They are some of my favorite flavors!
Howie Fox
I'm sold!! Love the sound of Mac and Cheese plus Sriracha, hahaha. 😀
Funny enough, I don't think I ever got it right to pronounce Sriracha right on the first try, what a funny word that is.
veggiesdontbite
Thanks Howie! Sriracha on everything!! And with your mouth full of this, no one will notice if you pronounce it right. LOL!
Sina @ Vegan Heaven
Yummy! This looks absolutely amazing, Sophia! I love using potatoes for vegan cheese sauces. This was one of the first vegan recipes I tried a couple of years ago and I just couldn't believe how delicious and creamy it was. I can't wait to try your recipe!! 🙂
veggiesdontbite
Thanks so much Sina! It took me years to perfect the cheese sauce recipe. It was well worth the wait!
Gin
Oh my gawd I've never seen anything look so delicious! I want to jump in there and eat my way out. I love the creamy sauce and spiciness!
veggiesdontbite
Haha Gin!! I'd love to eat my way out of a bowl of Mac n Cheese!
Linda @ Veganosity
I love your cheese sauce and I love sriracha. And who doesn't like mac n' cheese? Winning recipe!
The Vegan 8
Oh hell yes! I definitely can see how adding roasted poblanos would totally take this mac 'n' cheese up a big notch and especially with that sriracha drizzle! I just bought some today at Whole Foods too! When I made your cheese sauce back then, one of the ways I made it was adding jalapenos and hot sauce and it was really more up my alley because I love heat and spicy so much...probably too much, lol! And you know how much I love poblano peppers! I have a huge bag of them already sliced and ready to go for a future recipe! This is dreamy creamy heaven!
veggiesdontbite
Haha! Thanks so much Brandi! I love the spice in this too. I think my insides are pretty well immune by now...LOL And I actually roasted the poblanos one of the times without the seeds and they were super mild and perfect for the boys. So win win!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
Heck yea!!! Love mac and cheeze and now that I love pablanos as of last week...this is perfect!
veggiesdontbite
Perfect timing! Aren't poblanos so good?! Thanks so much Rebecca!
Kristina
yep, poblano + mac and cheese = flavor city. adding that sriracha sauce? OOOH MYYYY.
veggiesdontbite
Hahaha!! I love that math equation...You + your awesome comment = me smiling!
Kelly @ TastingPage
This has so many of my favorite things in it! I love anything with a a good bite and I know having this dish in my house would be dangerously good!
veggiesdontbite
Thank you Kelly! I love a nice bite in my food too!
Jenn
Drool.....looks so ultimately creamy and delicious. And spice...of course! Loving this grown up mac and cheese!
veggiesdontbite
Ha! That's what I should call it...mac n cheese for the grown ups! Although my kiddos did eat some...