This vegan version of the childhood favourite, beefaroni, is an easy and gluten free kid copycat that only take a couple of minutes to throw together! Super nostalgic, perfect for a busy weeknight, and SO delicious!
Growing up, having beefaroni was always such a treat. While my parents made a point to make us healthy meals, there’s no child out there that wouldn’t be excited when beefaroni was spotted in the kitchen. There really isn’t anything better than macaroni and beef in a thick tomato sauce!
Table of contents
Why This Recipe Works
You will absolutely love this simple take on beefaroni made vegan. If you need some convincing, here are some amazing reasons why you should make this for dinner tonight:
- It’s family friendly
- Done in under 30 minutes
- Can easily double for a crowd
- Comforting and nostalgic AF
- Leftovers can be frozen
Key Ingredients
Vegan Ground Beef — To keep this vegan, we use vegan ground “beef” as a substitute to make this vegan beefaroni. I personally love to use the Yves ground round, but you can use whatever imitation meat you can find at your local grocery store.
Gluten-Free Pasta — To keep our homemade beefaroni gluten-free, we use chickpea pasta. If you don’t have a macaroni shaped pasta, any type with crooks and grooves works well in this recipe.
Nutritional Yeast — To give the sauce a nice nutty cheesy flavour, we use nutritional yeast. It’s also a complete protein and is packed with B-vitamins.
Tomato Sauce — While I use a basic tomato sauce for this beefaroni, you can get flavoured tomato sauce if you’d like such as mushroom tomato sauce, basil garlic tomato sauce, etc.
How to Make This Recipe
Step 1: Cook the pasta according to the package directions and set aside.
Step 2: Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes until soft before adding the vegan ground beef, tomato sauce, thyme, oregano, sugar and nutritional yeast.
Step 3: Cook until the tomato sauce reduces slightly and the flavours marry, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Step 4: Add the pasta into the sauce and toss to coat. Serve topped with vegan (or regular) cheese, if desired.
Expert Tips
Fully free to top this beefaroni with as much vegan cheese as you’d like. There’s no such thing as too much cheese. To get your kiddos involved, you can give them the option of putting on their own shredded cheese on top of their bowl of beefaroni.
Want to take this vegan beefaroni to next level?! Transfer your cooked beefaroni into a cast iron or casserole dish, top with gluten-free breadcrumbs and/or cheese, and broil until crispy or melted.
If this is for adults only, you can kick this up a notch with a teaspoon of cayenne pepper or crushed chili pepper to add some heat.
Recipe FAQs
The FRIENDLIEST. Let me tell you, my kid ate leftovers from this recipe for 4 days straight and never complained! It’s got a super kid friendly sweet tomato flavour. Also, don’t all kids love pasta? YOU’RE WINNING.
Seriously, a lot of these “meat” substitutes now taste exactly like meat and are already cooked so they’re even faster to cook up. You really cannot screw up this vegan beefaroni – it’s almost as easy as opening a can of the real stuff!
I’m a big fan of lentil pasta and chickpea pasta because it’s not only gluten free but it’s super high in protein and fibre! That way, even my kiddo JUST eats pasta for dinner, I know he’s getting a nice balance of nutrients and not just white flour.
Sure! While not traditional in real nostalgic beefaroni, there’s no reason why you can’t add some cooked broccoli or cauliflower to this dish to bulk it up. You can even throw in some frozen peas, corn, and/or carrots at the end to quickly add in veggies.
Of course! Just make sure to cook it fully with the onions and garlic before adding in the rest of the ingredients.
Once the beefaroni has cooled after being cooked, transfer it to an airtight freezer friendly container or bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat in the microwave or on the stove.
More Recipes You Might Like
If you’d like another kid-friendly nostalgic copycat recipes like this beefaroni, try these recipes:
- Shake and Bake Chicken
- Rainbow twinkies
- PB & J Whoopie Pie
- Vegan Sloppy Joes with Roasted Portobello Mushroom
Now lovelies, tell me, what are your favourite childhood recipes that you like to recreate?
Beefaroni (Vegan & Kid Friendly Copy Cat Recipe!)
Ingredients
- 8 oz uncooked chickpea macaroni
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 300 g pack vegan ground “beef”
- 680 ml tomato sauce
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp brown sugar or maple syrup
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ½ c vegan or regular parmesan or other hard cheese, or more to taste
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions and set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes until soft before adding the vegan ground beef, tomato sauce, thyme, oregano, sugar and nutritional yeast.
- Cook until the tomato sauce reduces slightly and the flavours marry, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Add the pasta into the sauce and toss to coat. Serve topped with vegan (or regular) cheese, if desired.
Notes
- Fully free to top this beefaroni with as much vegan cheese as you’d like. There’s no such thing as too much cheese. To get your kiddos involved, you can give them the option of putting on their own shredded cheese on top of their bowl of beefaroni.
- Want to take this vegan beefaroni to next level?! Transfer your cooked beefaroni into a cast iron or casserole dish, top with gluten-free breadcrumbs and/or cheese, and broil until crispy or melted.
- If this is for adults only, you can kick this up a notch with a teaspoon of cayenne pepper or crushed chili pepper to add some heat.
Nutrition
Abbey Sharp is a Registered Dietitian (RD), regulated by the Ontario College of Dietitians. She is a mom, YouTuber, Blogger, award winning cookbook author, media coach specializing in food and nutrition influencers, and a frequent contributor to national publications like Healthline and on national broadcast TV shows.
Catherine Rousseau says
This recipe is so tasty. It reminds me of my childhood because it tastes really similar to my mom’s macaroni recipe. As I am now vegan, it was so fun to find this recipe! Super easy and quick. Perfect for my school lunches!
Erin says
Hi Abbey,
This looks like a great recipe! I’m just curious what brand of vegan ground beef you use? I’m familiar with the Yves ground round but wondering if you have any favourites? Thanks!
Abbey Sharp says
I usually do use Yves simply because its easy to find in covid and also it is already “cooked”