Dairy Free Mac ‘N Cheese
Created by Fork and Beans for the 2015 Blogger Ambassador Program Dairy Free Mac ‘N Cheese is a delicious dairy free alternative to out of the box mac ‘n cheese. Just add Ancient Harvest and enjoy!
By Kristian Strang Dairy Free Dinner Gluten-Free Meat-Free Recipes Vegan Wheat-Free May 1, 2020 If you know anything about me, you know that I’m a sucker for mac-n-cheese. It’s hands-down my favorite dinner ever, next to pizza anyway (I know, i don’t have the most sophisticated palette, but it is the yummiest. Smoked Cheddar Mac & Cheese with Crunchy Potato Chip Crust (gluten-free, dairy-free) Disclosure: As mentioned earlier in the post, the nice folks at Banza sent a few boxes of their pasta to me. No other compensation was received and I was not asked to write about their product.
- 1 (8 oz) box Ancient Harvest Gluten Free Pasta Elbows
- 1 small head of broccoli, cut into florets
- ½ cup cauliflower florets (or use peeled potato)
- ½ cup butternut squash, cubed
- ¼ cup carrots, cubed
- ½ cup nondairy milk, unsweetened
- ½ cup vegetable broth
- 2 Tbsp. gluten free flour
- 3 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
- ½ tsp. mustard powder
- ½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce (omit for soy free option)
- ¼ tsp. sea salt
- In a pot with 2 cups of boiling water, cook the cauliflower (or potato), butternut squash, and carrots until tender (approx. 15 minutes). Drain.
- Cook the pasta as directed on the box. One minute before the cooking time is over, add the broccoli florets to lightly cook with the pasta. Drain.
- In the same pot cooking the veggies, throw in the nondairy milk, veggie broth, and gluten free flour and cook on medium-high heat. Whisk until the flour blends into the milk and becomes thick and bubbly.
- Whisk in the spices, nutritional yeast, and worcestershire sauce.. Cook for another couple of minutes.
- Add the softened veggies and sauce mix into a high speed blender to smooth out OR place the veggies into the pot with the sauce mix and use a hand blender. If you use a blender you will get a smoother sauce.
- Transfer back into the pot and add the pasta and broccoli. Season as desired.
Notes:
This sauces freezes so well that you can double the recipe for the dairy free cheese sauce and place half of it into an ice cube tray or a freezer-safe container. Allow to defrost for a quick removal from the container and warm up in a saucepan over medium low heat until heated thoroughly.
Mac-n-cheese is such a nostalgic childhood food, but the combination of pasta, dairy and butter is a nutrition train wreck. Commercially available, processed versions are even worse! It’s the kind of dish that deserves a green make-over. My vegan mac-n-cheese recipe uses a gluten free quinoa elbows and a cashew based cheese sauce (that can double as a great nacho cheese).
Easy Gluten Free Dairy Free Mac And Cheese
I recommend just heating this up in a sauce pan rather than baking it, the way you would a traditional mac-n-cheese. It will dry out and get too thick! When cooking with cashew milk, it’s important to always have a little water or extra cashew milk on hand in case it starts thickening too quickly.
Gluten Free Dairy Free Mac N Cheese
- 1 cups cashews
- ½ bell peppers, raw and chopped
- ⅛ cup nutritional yeast flakes
- ½ Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon agave
- ½ Tablespoons salt
- ¼ cup water
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoons turmeric
- Blend everything until smooth in a blender. Set aside until ready to use.
- 1 cup cashews (you can sub another nut here)
- 2 cup water
- 1 package gluten free elbow macaroni (we like Ancient Harvest Quinoa Elbows)
- Cook off the package of gluten free macaroni until al dente. In a sauce pan add the cheese sauce and 1 cup of the cashew milk. Heat slowly until the mixture begins to thicken and become creamy. Add more cashew milk if necessary to achieve your desired consistency. Cashew milk thickens very quickly when you cook with it so be sure to keep an eye on your pot and keep the heat low.
- When everything is nice and creamy, pour the mixture into a 9'x 9' baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
- You can mix in other ingredients to give unique character your dish-mushrooms, tomato, broccoli, spinach etc...Truffle oil makes a delicious addition as well.
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