Pulled 'Pork' Baked Mac and Cheese

Pulled 'Pork' Baked Mac and Cheese

This one is proper comfort food and we are not sorry about it. Pulled king oyster mushrooms piled on top of a bubbling, golden baked mac and cheese, it hits every single note you want from a big hearty dinner. The mushrooms go wonderfully smoky and chewy in the oven, and once they land on that creamy, cheesy pasta it's genuinely one of the best things we've made. We keep coming back to this one whenever we want something that feels a bit indulgent but is completely plant-based. Make it tonight, you won't regret it.

Cook: 45 min
Serves 4

Before You Start

  • Preheat oven to 180°C
  • Cashew nuts soaked overnight
  • Blender
  • Lasagne dish
  • Skillet
  • Sieve
  • Fork (for shredding mushrooms)
  • Macaroni bowls (traditional serving bowls)

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 4 tbsp Tex Mex spice blend - (or any good spice blend)
  • 10 king oyster mushrooms
  • 250ml BBQ sauce
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 400g macaroni pasta cooked
  • 150g cashew nuts - soaked overnight
  • 450ml unsweetened plant-based milk
  • 50g plant-based butter
  • 25g plain flour
  • 25g nutritional yeast
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ Juice of 1 lemon juice of
  • 100ml water

Method

1

For the mushrooms

  • Use a fork to shred the stems of the King Oyster Mushrooms and cut the heads of the mushrooms up into small pieces. Put the mushrooms into a lasagne dish
  • Pour the vegetable oil over the top of the mushrooms and move everything around so the mushrooms are covered in the oil. Sprinkle over the tex-mex seasoning and make sure the mushrooms are well covered in the spice
  • Put the mushrooms in the oven and bake them for 30 minutes (stirring halfway through the cooking time)
2

Make the creamy sauce

  • Put the cashews, lemon juice and water into a blender a whizz them up into a thick, smooth cashew cream and put the cream to one side
3

Make the mac & cheese

  • Put the dairy free Flora in a skillet, melt it down on a reasonably low heat until it’s liquid
  • Sieve the plain flour into the pan and stir it into the Flora to make a roux
  • Gradually stir the plant based milk into the roux until you have a thick, creamy sauce
  • Add the garlic powder, onion powder and nutritional yeast into the pan and stir it round until it’s well mixed into the sauce
  • Pour the cashew cream into the pan and stir it into the sauce so everything is well mixed
  • Pour the cooked macaroni into the pan and fold it into the sauce, making sure the pasta is well covered
  • Transfer the macaroni cheese into a traditional macaroni bowls
4

Finish and serve

  • Take the BBQ mushrooms out of the oven, transfer healthy, equal portions of the mushrooms on to the macaroni cheese bowls. Top with BBQ sauce and spread evenly
  • Put the bowls into the oven and bake them for 10 minutes to make sure the two parts of the dish blend and fuse together
  • Serve, piping hot, with a side salad

Tips & Variations

  • Don't rush the mushrooms: Give them the full 30 minutes in the oven and make sure you stir halfway through. That's what gets them properly golden and a little crispy on the edges, which is exactly what you want.
  • Spice it up: If you like a bit more heat, add a pinch of smoked paprika or a dash of hot sauce to the mushrooms before roasting. Henry always sneaks in a little extra.
  • Make it saucier: If your mac and cheese thickens up too much while it's baking, just stir in a splash of plant milk before serving and it'll loosen right back up.

Why This Works

The trick is getting the king oyster mushrooms properly roasted before they go anywhere near the mac and cheese. Shredding the stems with a fork gives you those long fibrous strands that go beautifully caramelised and smoky in the oven, just like pulled pork would. That contrast of the chewy, spiced mushrooms on top of the rich, creamy pasta is what makes this dish feel so special.