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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.
Hi! Just made this, and I definitely needed to let the sauce thicken more as there was sooooo much of it and it was much thinner…I didn’t watch the video first…my bad!
Please note, the printable recipe does not state what size pan or what temperature to cook at.
First time making this. Trying to be vegan. But it just doesn’t work for me. It must be a mental thing. It’s just not the same as cheese. But thank you for giving me something to experiment with.
Do you think this would work with tapioca starch in a pinch, or should I hold out?
Ah, I haven’t tried that. Cornstart works in a pinch though. If you try the tapioca, let me know how it goes 🙂
This recipe is so delicious!! I made it with zuchini and with broccoli in little pieces (in stead of Brussels sprouts), sprinkled with 1/2 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp red chiliflakes and 1 tbsp lemonjuice and baked 30 minutes in the oven. We love it!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I made this tonight. It was very good! I loved the brussel sprouts on top. My husband ate 2 plates. Thank you!
Fantastic ! I’m very happy to hear that. Thank you!
Nice!! How did it go?
This has been my new go to vegan mac and cheese since I saw your video on YT. Personally, I prefer it above the usual carrot and potato vegan mac and cheese. It has so much more flavour! I cut up a whole onion and roast it with the garlic and butternut. My bf and I are having it again tonight. Can’t wait! Thanks sooo much for the awesome recipe!!!
Thank you so much for trusting my recipes in the first place. I am so glad you love it!! This is my favorite one too 🙂
Thanks Michelle! I have no idea about the calories. This one is probably best in moderation because the processed wheat pasta. If you want it to be lighter and even more nutritious try it with spaghetti squash or over zucchini noodles.