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We get it: cooking plant based for kids can be a challenge! Here are a collection of fun vegan recipes for kids that are a hit every time.

Vegan Mac and Cheese: vegan recipes for kids
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Cooking for kids can be a challenge: especially if you’re trying to infuse good-for-you ingredients! Since we’ve become parents, we’ve learned a lot about what it means to make kid-friendly meals. And it gives us a real life test case: our 2 year old son, Larson! If he loves it, we know that it would go over well with other kids, too.

When it comes to cooking plant based / vegan recipes, it can be difficult to find vegan recipes that are a hit with the young’uns too! Here we’ve collected all our favorite vegan recipes for kids that are a hit every time. And even better: they’ve been tested out on real life kids, too! So you know they’ll be a hit with your own.

Here are our top vegan recipes for kids!

Looking for more vegan recipes for kids?

Here are a few more vegan recipes for kids that we’d recommend!

More plant based resources

If you eat a mostly plant based diet, here are a few more resources, including meal plans:

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20 Vegan Recipes for Kids!

Vegan Mac and Cheese
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Try this creamy vegan mac and cheese recipe, made with all whole foods! A luscious cashew sauce blankets tender noodles, creating cozy pasta comfort food that everyone will love.

  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 to 6 1x
  • Category: Main dish
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Pasta
  • Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

Scale

For the mac and cheese

  • 1 ¼ cups raw unsalted whole cashews
  • 1 cup peeled, finely diced sweet potato (about 6 oz) or peeled sliced carrots (about 2 medium carrots)
  • 15-ounce can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
  • 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¾ teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric (optional, for color)
  • 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • 2 tablespoons vegan butter
  • 1 cup water
  • 12 ounces small elbow macaroni (2 ¾ cups small elbows)

For the breadcrumb topping (optional)

  • ½ tablespoon vegan butter
  • ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
  • ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

  1. If making baked mac and cheese, preheat the oven to 350°F. 
  2. Place the cashews and sweet potato* or carrot in a pot on the stovetop and cover with 2 inches water. Bring to a boil, then boil for 15 minutes (if using carrots, add them after the first 5 minutes).  Drain the cashews and carrots in a strainer. 
  3. Meanwhile, fill a large saucepan with water and add 1 tablespoon kosher salt. Boil the pasta until al dente, then drain it and return to the pot or a baking dish. (If it finishes before the sauce, add a drizzle of olive oil to keep it from sticking.)
  4. If making the breadcrumb topping, melt the butter in a small skillet, then add the panko garlic powder, smoked paprika, and kosher salt and stir. Toast until lightly browned, stirring often, about 2 to 3 minutes. 
  5. Once the cashews and sweet potato are cooked and drained, place them in the bowl of a high speed blender. Add the drained artichokes, mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, butter, and water. Blend on high until creamy and fully combined into a smooth sauce. 
  6. Stir the sauce into the noodles in the pot or a baking dish. Top with breadcrumbs if desired, and serve immediately. For baked mac and cheese (best flavor), place the mac and cheese in a baking dish and top with breadcrumbs. Bake for 15 minutes and serve warm. 

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About the authors

Alex & Sonja

Hi! We’re Alex & Sonja Overhiser, authors of the acclaimed cookbooks A Couple Cooks and Pretty Simple Cooking—and a real life couple who cooks together. We founded the A Couple Cooks website in 2010 to share seasonal recipes and the joy of home cooking. Now, we’ve got over 3,000 well-tested recipes, including Mediterranean diet, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, smoothies, cocktails, and more!

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