Vegan Macaroni Casserole 🍴

Hello, my dear dear friends!

It's #fruitsandveggiesmonday again, therefore, time for another recipe! I have to admit, this dish isn’t the most appealing by its looks, but don’t let it fool you! Everyone loves it, and I’m not exaggerating, as a matter of fact, I don’t know anyone who would dislike this dish! Usually macaroni casserole is prepared with macaronis (of course), ground beef, and milk-egg-mixture, but since this is a vegan version, we changed things up a little. And the result, it’s pretty good, I’d say!

I actually have a story from childhood about macaroni casserole. At one point when I was in primary school, my mom was struggling with creating new foods for the family to eat. Accordingly, she suggested that we could make a six-week menu, in which everyone would have a few wishes for each week. The idea was quite nice, us kids could have a chance to take part in deciding what to eat, and participate to the cooking process. However, the execution didn’t go that well. My twin sister absolutely adores macaroni casserole, so that was her every wish. When she was asked if she’d like to wish any other food for a change, it was a strict “no”, she only wanted macaroni casserole! In the end, the idea of the six-week menu was abandoned...

That’s was a nice memory from my childhood, but now let’s get to the recipe!

Vegan Macaroni Casserole

Ingredients:

5 dl (2 cups) dry macaroni
2.5 dl (1 cup) dry soya mince
2 dl water
1 onion
2 tbsp soy sauce
0.6 dl (~¼ cup) vegetable oil + some oil for frying the onion
~ 7.5 dl (~ 3 cups) oat milk (easy recipe here)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp paprika
½ tsp cayenne
½-1 dl (~¼-½ cup) breadcrumbs
a few tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

Method:

• Chop the onion and fry it with a little bit of oil until translucent. Add the soya mince to the pan along with the water and soy sauce. Cook until all the liquid has absorbed.
• Cook the macaronis according to the package instructions, but I’d recommend leaving them a bit under, so that they won’t turn out all mushy later on! (My package said to cook them for 8 minutes, and I cooked them for 5)
• Mix the cooked pasta, the cooked soya mince, oil and all the spices in a casserole. Taste, and add spices if needed.
• Pour the oat milk into the casserole so that nearly all the macaronis are covered with milk.
• Sprinkle the breadcrumbs and nutritional yeast on top for some cheesy flavor.
• Bake at 200 °C (390 °F) for approx 30 minutes.
• Serve with ketchup and a huge bowl of veggies!

Fruits And Veggies Monday is a contest organized by @lenasveganliving. Every Monday, people around the world are sharing delicious recipes, pictures of amazing gardens, anything they find valuable in veganism, food-related of course! There's a lot of love to share each Monday, so I highly recommend You to participate in #fruitsandveggiesmonday!

-Jasmin ❤