Easy Vegan Mac ‘n Cheese
Next to mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese might be the most popular “comfort food” out there. Who doesn’t love the carbohydrate-laden, cheesy, warm dish fresh out of the oven with some crunchy bread crumbs to break up the texture of all the warm, gooey and soft ingredients. It makes you feel good just thinking about it. It may make you feel good mentally perhaps, but physically, is likely another story. Sorry if I ruined “the moment”, but let’s be honest. If you’re avoiding gluten, dairy, saturated fat or all of the above, traditional mac ‘n cheese is just not your friend. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a very close substitute, sans gluten, dairy and saturated fat – Yay!! Honestly, my version of the traditional mac ‘n cheese is satisfying in all the ways you need it to be – warm, gooey, “cheezy”, and pasta.
Ingredients
- 1 package gluten-free rice pasta elbow shape (I like Jovial brand)
- 2 cups organic raw cashews
- 1 ½ cups water
- 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
- ½ tsp. onion powder
- ½ tsp. garlic powder
- ¼ tsp. pepper
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. paprika
- 3 Tbsp. organic vegan butter or healthy oil tea seed, avocado, etc.
- 2 ½ cups Daiya cheese – I used mozzarella but you could use cheddar.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Soak 2 cups of cashews covered in water for at least 20 minutes.
- Cook pasta according to package instructions, but consider taking it out a minute or two early so as not to overcook. Al dente is the way Italians like their pasta and you should cook it this way to prevent mushy pasta once it’s done in the oven.
- Make the cashew cream sauce by placing the soaked cashews, water, nutritional yeast, onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper in a blender. Blend on high until very creamy. If it’s too thick you can add a little water but the consistency should be that of heavy cream.
- Once the pasta is cooked and drained, place it in a glass dish approximately 9 x 13 inches. Add the vegan butter to the pasta, the Daiya cheese and cashew cream sauce and mix together with a large spoon to evenly coat all the pasta.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper as you see fit. Sprinkle paprika over the top and then cover with the gluten free bread crumbs or crackers. Bake in 350 degree oven for 25 minutes until heated through and a slightly crispy on top.
Notes
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DC, CCN
IFM Certified Practitioner
Founder of Root Cause Medical Clinic
Author of the books:
“The Gluten Effect”
"Hiatal Hernia Syndrome",
and of the e-book “Gluten Intolerance – What You Don’t Know May Be Killing You!”
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
