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We’re gonna take it down home today, y’all. Macaroni and cheese: the quintessential soul food dish. Comfort on a plate. Grandmama’s most prized recipe. Of course the pounds of cheese and white flour noodles used in the traditional dish don’t come without very heavy baggage: heart disease, cancer, symptoms associated with lactose intolerance, diabetes, and obesity. Is it worth it? Hell no! Especially not when there is amazing, comforting, soul food ordained vegan macaroni and cheese!
This incredible vegan recipe is made with butternut squash, roasted garlic, a lot of nutritional yeast, and arrowroot to make it thick and creamy. I also topped my vegan macaroni and cheese with thinly sliced brussels sprouts that get crispy when baked, and add more balance to the dish. I also like to top it with kale, or stir sundried tomatoes into the cheesy noodles before baking. Oh yeah!!
Vegan mac & cheese has become one of my favorite recipes. It’s rich and carby, yet healthy! Don’t believe me? Give this recipe a try. You can thank me later!!
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Vegan Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 cups butternut squash, cooked/steamed or roasted (roast at 375° for 30 minutes)
- 1 clove roasted garlic, roast with squash 375° for 30 minutes
- 2 tbsp arrowroot powder, or cornstarch
- 1 cup unsweetened plain non-dairy milk, I use organic soy
- 1 tbsp grapeseed oil, canola oil, or Earth Balance
- 3 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 ½ tsp sea salt
- 1/2 lb macaroni noodles, 1/2 pack
- 3 cups brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
Instructions
- Mix the arrowroot in a small bowl with 1/3 cup of the milk. Make sure to get out the clumps. Set aside.
- In a sauce pot, warm oil or melt Earth Balance on medium heat.
- Add in the remaining soy milk along with the mustard, onion powder, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Stir in the arrowroot soy milk mixture, and continue to whisk to combine; over medium-low heat.
- Continue to whisk to combine the ingredients and thicken the sauce (will take around 3 minutes to thicken up).
- Meanwhile, cook your macaroni noodles al dente (follow package instructions––the shells I use cook for 13 minutes).
- Strain the noodles and place in a deep baking dish to cool.
- Transfer the sauce to a blender, then add the butternut squash and roasted garlic.
- Blend until smooth, and season with more nutritional yeast and salt to taste. It should be pretty salty to balance the noodles.
- Pour the cheese sauce over the noodles, and stir well to coat every noodle.
- Massage the sliced brussels sprouts with olive oil, and a sprinkle of sea salt.
- Spread evenly over the macaroni and cheese, then sprinkle red chili flakes over.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
My boyfriend and I don’t typically follow any specific diet (full dairy, meat, etc.) but trying to be better… and both of us loved the flavors. Followed the recipe to a T (tee?) and it was SO GOOD!
Hi Jenne,
I really wanted to like this recipe. I’m incorporating vegan and vegetarian food into our meals. I followed the directions exactly but the taste was not good. I knew it would be different from cheese but the taste was not tasty. I’ve made the burrito bowl and that was excellent and the family loved it.
Could hemp seeds be used instead of nutritional yeast? Is nutritional yeast used for more than just flavor? I try to avoid yeast.
I made this tonight with baked “Buffalo chick’n (made with tofu) on top and a side of plain broccoli. Oh my – one of my favorite meals ever.
Delicious , 1 of my favorite very tasty