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Oil-free Healthy Vegan Mac and Cheese

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The ultimate comfort food made healthy! This healthy vegan Mac and Cheese is made from scratch with simple plant-based whole-food ingredients. Easy, cheesy, super creamy and ready in less than 30 minutes.

Ingredients

Cheesy sauce

  • 2 medium potatoes (1 1/2 cup), peeled and chopped 
  • 1 medium carrot (1 cup), peeled and chopped
  • 1/3 cup cashew nuts, I used KoRo raw cashews 
  • 1 small white onion
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1/2 cup almond milk
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 4 tbsp nutritional yeast, I used KoRo nutritional yeast flakes
  • 1 tbsp mustard
  • 1/4 tsp paprika powder
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

To serve

  • 2 cup dried pasta of choice, gluten-free if needed, I used whole wheat penne pastas
  • A pinch of chili flakes 

Instructions

  1. Soak cashews in hot water for 20 minutes until they are soft. Then rinse and drain.
  2. Peel and cut the potatoes and carrot in medium cubes and cook in a large pot of boiling water for about 15-20 minutes until soft. Discard the water and set aside.
  3. In the meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling water according to the packaging directions. Drain and keep warm.
  4. Peel and mince the onion and garlic. Add to a pan with a splash of water and sauté for about 2 minutes on medium-high heat until translucent. 
  5. Once everything is cooked, place all the cheesy sauce ingredients into a blender and blend until perfectly smooth and creamy. If the sauce is too thick, add a little more almond milk until you get the desired consistency.
  6. Mix the hot cooked pasta with the cheesy sauce in the pot and serve immediately with a pinch of chili flakes on top. 
  7. Keep any leftovers in an air thigh container in fridge for up to 3 days. For better conservation, store the pastas and the cheesy sauce separately.

Notes

  1. You can use any kind of pasta of your choice, but penne and elbow macaroni are the most popular for this dish. If necessary, use gluten-free pasta.
  2. For best results and to avoid the pasta to break when mixed with the sauce, I recommend to under-cook the pasta of 1 minute.
  3. To reheat the cheesy sauce, add a splash of almond milk and stir if the sauce has thickened. Then place in a small pot and heat on low for a few minutes.
  4. For a baked Mac and Cheese, place the pasta in a baking dish and pour the cheesy sauce on top (optionally garnish with grated vegan cheese). Then bake for about 20 minutes at 350F, until the top is golden.

Find it online: https://earlybrawd.com/creamy-healthy-mac-and-cheese/