Buffalo Chickpea Mac n Cheese – Creamy Mac ‘n’ Cheese paired with Buffalo-roasted chickpeas, crunchy romaine and a delicious ranch-style sauce!
Buffalo Chickpea Mac n Cheese
Originally, when I was thinking of a theme for Vegan MoFo, I was going to do “All Buffalo Everything”. Mostly because I am obsessed with Buffalo sauce on anything, and secondly, because that would be totally awesome. Alas, the idea for “Born to Mac Mofo” came up, and clearly that just NEEDED to happen. I have to say, I ‘m super glad that I chose the theme that I did, but there’s no sense in not including my beloved buffalo sauce!
That’s where this recipe comes in, the union of glorious mac ‘n’ cheese with spicy, tangy buffalo sauce. But, that’s not all. It has roasted chickpeas, crisp romaine lettuce and a drizzle of a creamy ranch-style dressing. Oh yes. All o’ dat. It was very hard to photograph this terrific dish without stuffing my face, first. Lucky for you, I abstained! But, only for a few minutes.
I was really wishing that I had this meal yesterday, for my birthday! Alas, I made a cake that I haven’t tried yet and ate an awesome burger at Healthy Junk after getting tattooed for the first time in two years. Geez! Plus, I started a bunch of cheese recipes from Artisan Vegan Cheese
Birthday Shenanigans
And now.. THE RECIPE!!!1!
One Year Ago: Pumpkin Pie Smoothie & a Birthday! // Two Years Ago: Coconutty Carrot Cake
Buffalo Chickpea Mac n Cheese
Ingredients
Roasted Chickpeas
- 1- 15 oz . Can of Cooked Chickpeas Drained & Rinsed
- 1/4 C . Your favorite Buffalo Sauce + 1-2 T. Extra
Ranch Sauce
- 3 T . Vegan Mayo
- 2 T . Plain Vegan Yogurt
- 2 T . Raw Cashews Soaked for 30 mins or more
- 1 T . Non-Dairy Milk
- 1 tsp . Lemon Juice
- 1/2 tsp . Onion Powder
- 1/2 tsp . Garlic Salt
- 1/4 tsp . Dried Parsley
- Pinch of Dried Dill
- Pinch of Black Pepper
- Pinch of Salt if you'd like
Pasta
- 2 1/2 C . Dried Pasta + Water for Boiling
- 1 Tube Cheddar Teese
- 3/4-1 C . Non-Dairy Milk
- Optional: Pinch of Salt
- T Optional: 1 . Vegan Butter
Instructions
Roasted Chickpeas
- Preheat your oven to 375ºF. Toss the chickpeas in the 1/4 C. of Buffalo Sauce until they are evenly coated. Spread them out on a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 12 minutes, and carefully roll them around with a spoon to get the other side crispy. Bake for another 12-15 minutes, then place them back in the bowl and toss with the extra 1-2 T. of buffalo sauce. Set aside.
Ranch Sauce
- Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until completely smooth. This may take a couple of times of pushing the ingredients around, or adding another tablespoon of non-dairy milk.
- Pour into a cup or squirt bottle and set aside.
Pasta
- Cook your pasta according to the instructions on the package, then drain and rinse with cool water.
- Place the noodles back in the pot and set the heat to low-medium. Add the Cheddar Teese, non-dairy milk, salt and margarine to the pot and stir until melted and evenly coated.
- Add more non-dairy milk if you'd like a creamier sauce.
Serving
- When you're ready to serve, toss the romaine (and optional celery) in with the mac 'n' cheese then plate immediately. Place roughly a 1/4 C. of chickpeas on top, then drizzle with a little extra buffalo sauce and a generous drizzling of the ranch sauce.
- Enjoy!
For something so awesome to be so easy to make, might be a bad thing. 😉
This recipe is beyond awesome! I love your Born to Mac theme, but I think I would have been equally as excited about an All Buffalo Everything theme — in this house, we love any and everything Buffalo. VeganMoFo 2014? 😉
Possibly! But, I was thinking “Return of the Mac” might be pretty fun. 😉
Ohhh, I like! 🙂
You literally combined my two favorite things ever and made them into one meal. Holy guacamole. I might need to make this PRONTO. . And top it with guacamole.
Dude. DUDE. GUACAMOLE needs to happen on this! Can you please make it happen? 🙂
a month of buffalo would be a glorious thing.
THIS is a glorious thing, I will be making it soon. maybe for MY birthday next week! I love that you made it a bowl with lettuce and all, YUM
Yay, September Birthdays!! Maybe we can team up and do a month of buffalo recipes some other time. 😉
OH MY GOSH! Making this. So brilliant.
😀 Let me know how it goes, when you do! 🙂
You are blowing my mind with this theme! You’ve managed to combine a few of my favorite things; mac & cheese, Buffalo sauce & Ranch dressing.
It makes me sad that I have no access to vegan mayo, vegan yogurt or vegan cheese where I live. I am definitely going to have to stock up when I visit my mom in October because this recipe, HAS to be made!
There is no teese in Houston. What is another low-fat cheeze sauce you’d recommend using? (No fake cheese please) thank you 🙂
I have yet to find a vegan buffalo sauce. What brand did you use? Everything has butter in it or some weird butter flavoring. I’d love to get my all buffalo everything on. 🙂
This looks absolutely delicious! I fell in love with buffalo style from a burger we had at the restaurant I used to work at, and this looks like such a unique, and much healthier, way to enjoy those flavors 🙂
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Yessss! This. In my mouth, right now. Holy cow these are all things I love: bowls, roasted chickpeas, mac and cheese, and ranch.
Happy belated birthday lovely! And sweet baby Jesus does that look good, although I’m pretty sure none of those buffalo chickpeas would actually make it into the mac since they’d all be in my mouth.
this is insane! i have to make the spicy chickpeas and put them over everything.. esp mac n cheese!!
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Made this today. No vegan buffalo sauce, so made it myself. Also made it into a bakeable version. Topped with a bunch of buffalo sauce and ranch, popped in oven until break crumbs browned. Simply amazing. That ranch sauce is heavenly.
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INCREDIBLE! So many flavors. Amazing! I have to say that’s the BEST ranch I’ve ever made and I’ve tried a TON. My husband loved this SO much he said he has to ahve it on his Birthday! YUM YUM YUM! Making it a second time tonight!
That’s SO great to hear, Tonya!! You have certainly made my day. Thank you for leaving your feedback, as I love to hear how recipes go when others make them. 🙂 Have a great weekend! <3
you beautiful genius.
*blushing* Thank you!
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They’ve discontinued Teese Cheese and I can’t find it anywhere. Is there a substitute I could use? Or could I use vegan cheddar shreds and melt it with some almond milk possibly?
You could use vegan shreds melted with almond milk!
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Oh my goodness, I just came across this recipe in your book and want to make it RIGHT NOW even though I just ate a snack and it’s 9 o’clock at night, lol. What a bit of simple genius! <3
Thank you, Sam! I’d even go as far as to say that the one in the book is better! <3
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