There’s nothing better than comfort food made healthy, amirite? I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not a huge pasta fan. Like, if you were to put a bowl of pasta or a big salad in front of me, I’d reach for the salad every time. (and then go straight to dessert, obvi) BUT in saying that, there is the odd occasion where pasta just hits the spot, and a week of quarantine has me reaching for comforting foods. So, here we are. Vegan Mac and Cheese made as healthy as I can get it without removing any of the deliciousness you’d get from the OG.
This Vegan Mac and Cheese is one of those dishes that is stupidly easy to make, so if you want a fun quarantine activity for the whole fam, this is it.
Here’s the D-low
- I used chickpea pasta for extra protein and to keep this dish grain-free. Here’s the link for the exact brand I used, the best thing about this brand is they literally just have 1 ingredient – organic chickpea flour.
- The base sauce is made with full fat coconut milk for that creamy factor
- I used nutritional yeast to replace the use of cheese. Nutritional yeast is a popular ingredient in vegan dishes due to its cheesy taste. Also for bonus points, nutritional yeast has high levels of B Vitamins, which many vegans are deficient in.
- To make this dish antiinflammatory and to help create that vibrant yellow color we are all accustomed to in a traditional Mac and Cheese, I added 1/2 tsp turmeric powder.
This Mac and Cheese is:
- Vegan
- Grain Free
- Gluten Free
- Dairy Free
- Soy Free
- Nut Free
- Sugar Free
- Ready in 15 minutes!
Need more easy dinner ideas?
Vegan Mac and Cheese
Course: Dinner, LunchCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy3
servings5
minutes10
minutesA comforting Vegan Mac and Cheese recipe made with nutritional yeast. Made with chickpea pasta. Containing no soy, grains, nuts, dairy, gluten or sugar.
Ingredients
8oz packet chickpea rotini pasta
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 can coconut milk, full fat
2 tbsp tapioca flour
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garlic powder, optional
Salt and pepper to taste
- To Serve
Fresh parsley
Arugula or fresh salad greens
Red Chilli flakes
Directions
- Fill a saucepan with water, bring to a boil.
- Add in the entire packet of pasta, stir well and cook to al dente instructions. While that’s cooking, make your cheese sauce.
- Add your coconut milk, nutritional yeast and turmeric to a medium saucepan. Gently heat while whisking.
- Transfer roughly 1/4 cup of the coconut milk liquid into a small glass. Add your tapioca flour, stirring well until dissolved. Pour liquid back into the saucepan to thicken. Continue to whisk to avoid lumps.
- Add your garlic powder if using and salt & pepper to taste. Remove from heat once sauce is thick.
- Once pasta is done remove a few tbsp of the pasta water and add to the sauce. Drain remaining pasta water.
- Add pasta to the cheese sauce, stirring well and just lightly heating through.
- Serve with freshly chopped parsley, and chilli flakes. And if you also want to get your greens in, add a bed of fresh greens on the base of your plate before serving your portion of pasta.
