Ahh mac n cheese. It’s a classic, a favourite, a comfort food not to be messed or tampered with… except that I did, and I’m not even sorry. I took this dairy-full dish and made it dairy free and vegan, and you know what… It works!
I posted in my Instagram stories last week as I was making it for a friend who was coming over for dinner, and you guys just went wild! I got so many messages asking for the recipe, so here I am not even a week later making it again to properly share it with you, because I love you that much and it’s not like I need an excuse to make vegan mac n cheese anyways.
I actually have a super old vegan butternut squash mac n cheese recipe on here from years ago, but thought it was time to update it a bit and play around with some ingredients, zhuh it up a bit ya know?
So we’ve have not one but TWO secret ingredients here ~ nutritional yeast and white miso. The first gives it its delicious cheesy taste, while the miso lends an umami salty flavour that just elevates it to a whoooole other level.
This fabulous skinny AND vegan mac n cheese is:
skinny – if served as 6 portions, it’s just over 300 calories
over 15g of plant based protein per serving!
vegan & actually CHEEZY
dairy free & nut free
creamy AF
much lower in fat and calories than your usual mac n cheese
a good source of fibre
salty, umami, and everything that’s good in the world
1 large cauliflower, chopped into bite sized florets
1 white onion, finely chopped and divided
3 minced cloves of garlic, divided
¼ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon paprika
300ml dairy free milk of choice
½ cup nutritional yeast
¼ cup tahini
2 teaspoons white miso paste
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
3 tablespoons white beans
Olive oil, to cook
Salt & pepper
For the pasta
1 punnet chestnut mushrooms, sliced
250g wholegrain macaroni (or gluten free, if desired)
3 sprigs of thyme
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 185ºC | 365ºF and toss together the cauliflower florets, half the white onion, two cloves of minced garlic, the turmeric, paprika, a sprinkling of salt & pepper and a glug of olive oil.
Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, tossing halfway, until tender and almost caramelised but not burnt.
Add half of the contents into a blender with the remaining sauce ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy, adding more liquid if necessary. Taste and adjust any seasoning.
While the cauliflower roasts, cook your pasta according to package instructions, drain and set aside reserving some of the cooking water.
Heat some olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the remaining onion and garlic for 1 minute before adding in the mushrooms and thyme leaves. Once mushrooms and onions are browned, about 5 minutes, add in the "cheese" sauce, remaining cauliflower, and cooked macaroni, stirring everything together.
Either serve or finish in the oven in a dish with a sprinkling of nutritional yeast on top. Enjoy!
Notes
If served as 6 portions, it's only about 300 calories per serving with over 15g of protein!
Hi, I'm Teffy, a qualified Nutritionist and avid foodie. This blog is all about inspiring a balanced life through delicious and wholesome foods, with not a diet in sight. Healthy eating shouldn't be hard and stressful, it should be easy and fun - Working with my clients they are constantly amazed that yes, food can taste great AND be good for you!