This vegan buffalo wing mac and cheese is made with an easy coconut milk cheese sauce and crispy buffalo tofu wings for an epic and mouth-watering meal!
This recipe was sponsored by Edward & Sons.
Cold weather calls for a few things: cozy clothes, fireplaces, and vegan buffalo wing mac and cheese. To be fair, I would argue that warm weather calls for my tofu buffalo wing mac and cheese too. Some foods are too delicious to save for just one season! I think you'll understand once you try this recipe for yourself 😉 .
I have a minor (major) obsession with all things buffalo sauce and all things creamy, cheesy noodles. So it was only a matter of time until I combined the two foodie loves of my life into one epic entree! And before I knew it, we ate the dish 3 times over the course of one month. It's that good.
The crispy breaded tofu soaks up tasty spicy buffalo sauce, while the easy homemade cheese sauce spills into the noodles' crooks and centers for the gooiest of bites. With an extra drizzle of buffalo hot sauce to serve, it's everything your belly has been craving!
Making the tofu wings and cheese sauce couldn't be simpler, and it makes enough to serve a crowd! It's the perfect game day recipe, and ideal for showing your family that you do eat more things than salad. I'll admit, sharing such mouth-watering food can be hard, even with loved ones, so you'll be happy to hear that leftovers reheat well! The wings crisp back up on a hot, dry skillet or in the oven/toaster oven.
When it comes to making your recipes the best they can be, ingredients matter. I'm a big fan of Edward & Son's and keep a lot of their products stocked in my pantry at all times! It's easy to make delicious recipes with organic, good for you ingredients with their expansive line of vegan friendly foods. I was really excited to partner with them to bring this recipe to you.
Making the buffalo tofu wings:
I look for every excuse to eat my vegan buffalo tofu wings, and judging by the fact that is one of my most popular recipes on the blog I think you guys feel the same way! And while they make a great appetizer or snack, I must admit I love them that much more atop mac and cheese.
To make them, first choose extra firm or super firm tofu. If you choose extra firm tofu, squeeze out some of the excess water to make the tofu less wet and delicate to handle. Slice the tofu into 6 slabs, wrap in a lint-free towel or paper towel, then set something heavy over the tofu for about 20 minutes before cutting them into their final "wing" shape. This step can be skipped with super firm tofu.
Next get together a workstation with three bowls/plates. In the first, put Let's Do Organic Tapioca Starch, then a splash of plant milk in the next, and the breadcrumb mixture in the last.
For the breadcrumb coating I love to use Edward & Son's Organic Panko Breadcrumbs. Compared to regular breadcrumbs, panko makes for an extra crispy vegan wing and is my preferred choice. The panko is mixed with paprika for a peppery flavor, fresh minced parsley for slightly bitter and bright notes, and salt and pepper for seasoning.
Dip the tofu first in the tapioca starch to coat; the starch will naturally stick to the damp tofu, even after pressing. Next dip it in the plant milk, which will absorb into the starch to create a sticky coating. Lastly dip the tofu into the panko mixture. Set onto a baking tray, drizzle or spray with a little oil, then bake until nice and crispy!
Toss in an easy 4 ingredient buffalo sauce (hot sauce, vegan butter, plus a pinch each of salt and garlic powder) right before serving.
Making the coconut milk mac and cheese:
While the buffalo wings are baking, make your cheese sauce and noodles! I am obsessed with how easy the sauce is. No blender or fancy equipment needed, its pantry friendly, and comes together in a matter of minutes.
Native Forest Organic Coconut Milk is the base for this cheesy sauce. It's rich and velvety smooth, and turns into a mouth-watering mac and cheese. To make the cheese sauce, first mix with your choice of plain unsweetened plant milk, or if you'd like, a second can of coconut milk for a more decadent sauce. Either way it's amazing!
Whisked into the creamy base we have: nutritional yeast for cheesy, nutty flavor, smoked paprika to complement the smoky spicy buffalo tofu wings, onion and garlic powder to enhance the rich flavors, a bit of turmeric for its yellow color, and plenty of salt to counteract the natural sweetness of coconut milk and because cheese is salty.
Next we have a somewhat odd sounding ingredient, but bear with me. Coconut vinegar (you can also substitute apple cider vinegar) cuts down on the coconutty flavor and gives some of the sharpness and acidity that cheese has. A splash of vinegar is my favorite hack for making vegan cheese and cheesy sauces.
Lastly mix in Let's Do Organic Tapioca Starch, which thickens the sauce and gives it the unique stretchy quality. Tapioca starch isn't as fussy as say cornstarch, so usually will whisk in without clumping, but to be safe you can first mix it into a quarter cup of the milk before adding it into the pot.
To finish the sauce all you do is bring it to a simmer and let is bubble away for a few minutes until the starch activates and cooks and the sauce is thickened. Mix with cooked pasta and you've got your mac and cheese! So, so good.
Enjoy your vegan buffalo wing mac and cheese:
Last comes the best part! Serve your coconut milk mac and cheese, place a buffalo tofu wing or two over your serving of cheesy noodles, drizzle on a little extra buffalo sauce or hot sauce and enjoy! Make sure to repeat as often as possible 😛 . You can take the recipe next level by adding a little vegan ranch or bleu cheese dressing over the wings. No one will complain, trust me.
Thank you to Edward & Son's for sponsoring this recipe!
If you make this vegan buffalo wing mac and cheese, leave a comment below and rate the recipe on the recipe card. And please share your photos with me on Instagram, tag @thecuriouschickpea and #thecuriouschickpea, I love seeing your creations!
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Vegan Buffalo Wing Mac and Cheese
This vegan buffalo wing mac and cheese is made with an easy coconut milk cheese sauce and crispy buffalo tofu wings for an epic and mouth-watering meal!
Ingredients
Buffalo Tofu Wings
- 1 lb extra firm or super firm tofu
- ¼ cup Let's Do Organic Tapioca Starch
- ¼ cup plant milk
- ¾ cups Edward & Son's Organic Panko Breadcrumbs
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh minced parsley
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 6 tablespoon hot sauce
- 3 tablespoon vegan butter, melted
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Coconut Milk Mac and Cheese
- 1 lb pasta
- 1 13.5 oz can Native Forest Organic Coconut Milk
- 1 ½ cups plant milk, or a second can of coconut milk
- 2 teaspoon coconut vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 ½ - 2 teaspoon salt, to taste
- 1 ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ cup Let's Do Organic Tapioca Starch
Instructions
Buffalo Tofu Wings:
- Preheat the oven to 425 ºF.
- Cut the tofu into 6 width-wise slices. If using extra firm tofu wrap the tofu in a lint free towel or in paper towels and press with something heavy for 20-30 minutes. Cut each slab in half on a diagonal.
- Make a work station with 3 bowls, fill one with the ¼ cup tapioca starch, the second with ¼ cup plant milk, and in the third mix together the panko, paprika, ½ teaspoon of salt, black pepper, and parsley. Dip each piece of tofu first into the starch, then the milk, and lastly the breadcrumb mixture to coat. Repeat until all tofu wings are breaded.
- Drizzle ½ tablespoon of oil onto a small quarter sheet pan, or spray with oil. Place tofu wings on top then drizzle the remaining ½ tablespoon of oil over top (or spray with oil). Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the tofu wings are very crispy. Flip halfway through for more even baking (optional).
- Immediately before serving, whisk together the hot sauce, vegan butter, ⅛ teaspoon of garlic powder and salt. In a large bowl, toss the tofu wings in the hot sauce.
Coconut Milk Mac & Cheese:
- While the buffalo tofu wings are baking, cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- In a second pot whisk together the coconut milk, plant milk (or second can of coconut milk), coconut or apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, 1 ½ teaspoons of salt, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and turmeric powder. Mix the tapioca starch with ¼ cup of the liquid in a separate bowl, then add back to the pot and combine.
- Bring the sauce to a boil over medium high heat, then lower heat to simmer until the sauce has thickened and turned stretchy, about 3-5 minutes. Whisk frequently to prevent clumps.
- Mix the sauce and pasta together, taste and add salt if desired. Serve with the buffalo tofu wings plus extra hot sauce to taste and fresh parsley for garnish.
Notes
The tofu wings can be pan fried for 3-4 minutes each side over medium heat in a thin layer of oil. If you fry them, decrease the vegan butter in the buffalo wing sauce to 1 tablespoon. They do not get as crispy when pan fried, but it is faster!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 543Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gSodium: 1521mgCarbohydrates: 70gFiber: 4gSugar: 5gProtein: 16g
Looks delicious and sounds so easy? Can you just use flour to thicken cheese sauce?
Hi Erica, the tapioca starch in the recipe thickens the sauce as well as gives it the stretchy texture! No need to add flour ?.
This recipe looks amazing! The creamy mac and cheese with the crunchy tofu wings plus that hit of spice.... I can't wait to make (and EAT) this!
Thank you so much Laurel! I'm such a big fan of this combo!
This looks om nom nom amazing, thank you for sharing. I'm happy that you chose to use tofu for the wings rather than cauliflower.
I'm glad you like it! I'm a big cauliflower lover and a big tofu lover, but the tofu wings just pair so well with the creamy mac!
I tried only the coconut milk mac & cheese part of this recipe last night, just to test it out. It was absolutely fantastic! My teenage boys took second helpings,which, of course, is the true measure of success! I have tried nut based mac & cheese recipes that I thought were okay, but none of them really "wowed" me - yours totally does! I will definitely make the entire recipe next time but now I know that your recipe is absolutely going to be my "go to" recipe for macaroni and cheese! Thank you!
Hi Carolyn, I'm so glad you and your boys enjoyed the recipe so much! Thank you for reporting back!
Mmmmm this was so, so good! I would not have thought that mac and cheese could taste like this with coconut milk, wow. I followed pretty much exactly but we were low on plant milk so I just filled the empty coconut milk can with some of the pasta cooking water and splashed that in instead. Worked great. Delicious with loads of freshly ground black pepper. We also loved sprinkling the top with the little bits of spicy Panko that were left at the bottom of the bowl after tossing the tofu wings in the hot sauce. Thank you!
That sounds amazing, can't get enough of that buffalo panko! I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe Lucy!
Dude. This whole recipe is delicious, but you just made my day with this cheese sauce! I've tried what feels like a billion (but is probably only about a dozen) recipes for cheese sauce, and this was the first one where I was like, Eureka! We've got it!! *so good*!!! It's the closest to a real mac and cheese sauce that I've come across in the vegan world, and I could just hug you. 🙂
I'm so happy to hear that Kristen!
This mac and cheese was a huge hit here!. My son LOVED it! Thanks for the recipe.
Woohoo! I'm glad you all enjoyed it!
This recipe is fantastic! Best vegan cheese sauce I've ever made and the tofu was crispy and delicious and perfect! Will definitely be making again soon!
Okay I am a meat-eater but I did used to be vegetarian. I had tried several mac n "cheese" recipes with pumpkin and/or cashew and the like but was never a fan. Now I still entertain some vegan friends and decided to give this one a go. Well let me tell you, I've never even made a from-scratch real mac n cheese recipe that I've liked as much as this one! I am not a huge smoke fan so I did use only one teaspoon of smoked paprika but this was so silky, creamy, and flavorful. It is a perfect accomplice to a backyard BBQ. The tofu was superb too. All in all, a huge hit with everyone! My only complaint is when I added the tapioca starch it thickened almost instantly and I had to whisk very fast and add water due to clumps. End result was still fantastic though! I only had about 10 oz of pasta but added all of the sauce to it anyways. There wasn't a drop left.
Can this be made in advance and reheated?
certainly! Though like any other mac and cheese it's creamiest fresh, but I personally love the leftovers! Just keep the buffalo tofu wings separate and reheat by toasting in a toaster (/regular oven/air fryer) or on a dry skillet for crispy wings.
The buffalo part of this recipe is amazing. 100% will make that again. The cheeze sauce, unfortunately, wasn’t our taste. The texture was slimy, not creamy. Sadly we had a few bites and had to toss it. I have had much better success with cashew based cheeze sauces. Cheers.
I've been sitting on this recipe for a while and am so glad I finally tried it tonight! The buffalo tofu is amazing! I'll be using this breading/baking method in other recipes too, it's so good. And the mac & cheese is the first vegan one I've made that I'll actually make again, just as others have said. The texture is perfect, and although I don't love that I can taste some coconut, that is easily masked with a little extra buffalo sauce ? Do you think I could skip the coconut milk next time and sub more plant milk instead, or does it need the coconut milk to thicken? Thanks for the great recipe! Shared with some vegan Facebook groups ?
Hi Kim, I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe! As far as the coconut goes, you can use a different milk, it thickens thanks to the starch in the sauce. Coconut milk is very rich, similarly to cheese which is why I used it. If using a different milk my preferred choice is to use homemade cashew milk. I blend about a 1:2 ratio cashews:water to make a rich milk for vegan mac and cheeses. If using all store bought milk I would try plain and unsweetened oat milk or soy milk as they tend to be the creamiest, and then maybe throw in some store bought vegan cheddar cheese to make it cheesier. Thanks for sharing the recipe! 🙂
Dang, just started pressing the tofu and...the recipe is gone??? Just comments now.
Hi Liam, I'm not sure what you're seeing as the recipe is there for me! Feel free to send me an email (eva@thecuriouschickpea.com) and I can send you the print PDF, or hopefully a refresh takes care of the issue.
Same, right now I can only see the comments, there is not recipe visible on the page for me... :/
Yikes, sorry about that I thought I had fixed it! I'm happy to send you the recipe if you'd like to send me an email: eva@thecuriouschickpea.com
@Eva Agha, You emailed me the recipe a year ago, thank you for that and I see that it's visible again on the website, too. I finally got around to making it today and wow, I wish I had made it earlier! I've made the buffalo tofu a few times for salads, and it is soo so good, but this is the first time trying the mac n cheese. I didn't like the first couple of bites, maybe because I was expecting a cheese flavor and nothing but cheese tastes like cheese, lol (I'm not vegan, can you tell?), but once we changed the name to mac n sauce and just appreciated it for what it was, we realized it was incredibly delicious. I went back for seconds! I often crave mac n cheese, but dairy doesn't sit well in my body, but this made me feel great! And so quick and easy to make! It is going into my recipe book for sure! I love that it is a healthy plus animal friendly comfort food! Yum! Thanks! Going to browse all your other recipes now for more gem, hehee!
This is so delicious and easy! I love the the ingredients for the Mac n cheese sauce are non perishable and can whip up in just a few minutes! Thank you so much for sharing! Can’t wait to enjoy this again!
Made this tonight!! Wonderful. Thank you for the recipe
Yay! So happy you enjoyed it!
This was so good, wholefamily loved it!
I LOVE this recipe! I started making it back in 2018 or 2019 and it's always my go-to when I need some comfort food! The Mac n cheese has such a good flavor, is creamy & doesn't have that off vegan flavor/texture that some nut-based mac's can have. Thank you!