Happy Sunday & day six of blogging 25 days in January!! I was going to take one of my free passes tonight and work on our weekend travel blog, but then I made this crazy delicious gluten-free vegan mac & cheese for dinner, and I could not contain my excitement. I wanted to share it with you all ASAP. We got home from our little trip this afternoon, and the weather was unbelievable. We took the pups for a super long walk, caught up on laundry from the trip, and now I’m ready to sit down and write while Kyle watches his Eagles game. I have been craving mac and cheese for a week. I thought I’d attempt to make a vegan version and had no expectations of it tasting nearly as good as it did. The best part is how easy it is to make, and it was ready to eat in 35-minutes. You could probably pass this off as actual cheese if you tried. Kyle’s response was “are you sure it’s dairy-free?” He couldn’t believe it. This is a great meal prep recipe for the week! It makes the perfect side dish and is packed with hidden nutrients and tons of fiber. I’m sorry for the poor quality of photos, but I didn’t expect to share the recipe yet! Hopefully, these iPhone photos will make do 😊
The sauce is made with roasted butternut squash, Earth Balance vegan butter, Kite-Hill Chive Cream Cheese, and cashew milk. I flavored the creamy sauce with garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, sea salt, and nutritional yeast. OOOOOHH man is it good. Next time, I’m going to blend some roasted garlic in with the sauce because I’m a giant garlic-lover.
Putting cheese on broccoli was the only way my mom could get me to nibble on the stuff. Now, I’ll eat broccoli all day if I had to, but it does taste better with cheese. I loved the idea of adding broccoli in with the macaroni because it adds more nutrients and fiber.
First, I roasted a small butternut squash in the oven until it was soft. I diced up the butternut squash and added it to the blender with “cream cheese,” cashew milk, and “butter.” It created the perfect creamy cheese texture. Even the color was spot on!
I used Banza Chickpea Pasta for the macaroni, but you can use your choice of pasta!
I poured the cheese on top of the pasta and added in the salt, garlic, onion, pepper, and nutritional yeast. Give it a taste test to make sure it’s flavored to your preference.
The broccoli is optional, but I highly recommend it!🧀 🥦 This recipe couldn’t get any easier!
The Creamiest Vegan Mac N Cheese + Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 Small Butternut Squash
- 1/3 Cup Kite-Hill Chive Cream Cheese Spread
- 1 Cup Unsweetened Cashew Milk (or any choice of d/f milk)
- 2 1/2 Tbsps Earth Balance Vegan Butter
- 4 Tbsps Nutritional Yeast
- 1 Tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 Tsp Onion Powder
- 1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
- 1/2 Tsp Black Pepper
- 2 Cups Steamed Broccoli
- 1 Box Chickpea Banza Pasta
Instructions
- You can roast or steam your butternut squash. I baked the butternut squash in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
- Add roasted butternut squash, cashew milk, butter, and cream cheese to the blender and blend on high.
- Pour the cheese mixture over your cooked pasta. Mix well and add in the garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, sea salt, and Nutritional yeast. Do a taste test to make sure it's seasoned to your preference
- Mix in broccoli (optional!)
Questions for you!
- Have you ever made vegan mac and cheese?
- Did you have to have cheese on everything as a kid?
- How was your weekend?
Rayna says
👏 You’ve outdone yourself this time, Tara!
Taralynn McNitt says
awww, thanks, Rayna!!
Nani says
I can’t wait to try this! I’m slowly switching over my family to plant based dinners and I’ve been looking for a mac and cheese recipe, this looks great! This will be my first vegan mac and cheese attempt, but squash is one of my favorite veggies to use, my daughter loves it 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Taralynn McNitt says
You’ll want to start with this one for the family!!! My boyfriend loved it. This was my first vegan mac attempt and I was so shocked! xo
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
This is possibly the most nutritious mac n cheese I’ve ever seen! I love that you added broccoli too. 🍃 Great way to give it a nutritional boost and get more greens in! 🙂 ❤️
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Taralynn McNitt says
Broccoli in mac is so good! 😃 xo Have a great week!
Rosanne says
No, but I want to try this!!!
No, I did not have cheese on everything
Weekend was relaxing, cleaned the house, cleared out a few things
Taralynn McNitt says
Sounds like a great weekend!!
Hannah says
Have you ever made a vegan mac and cheese?
No, but this looks like the first recipe I’m going to try of it! Yummmmm
Did you have to have cheese on everything as a kid?
Uh, Yes!
How was your weekend?
Good, too short! I’m ready for this warmer weather.
Lastly, what is nutritional yeast?
Taralynn McNitt says
Hi, Hannah!
Nutritional yeast is basically a seasoning that is FILLED with flavor and tons of healthy benefits! Here is a link to the product so you can read all about the benefits. The word “yeast” used to throw me off until I tried it and looked into it. So good! 😃
I’m sooooo ready for the warmer weather too!!!
Cam says
This recipe is heaven!
Taralynn McNitt says
It’s definitely up there! 😃
Jessica Nuttall says
I have tried a few vegan mac and cheese’s, but so far have been unimpressed! I am looking forward to trying this recipe though!
I have always loved cheese (hello, new eating habits for 2019!)!
Crazy busy! I hate having crazy weekends because our work weeks are always so crazy busy. I need a vacation already!
Taralynn McNitt says
Hope you enjoy this one! ♥️
Hahaha me too!
Hopefully you get a break soon! xo
Lina says
Can’t wait to try this! Are these the recipes you’re pulling from the Minimalist Baker cookbook?
Taralynn McNitt says
I haven’t made anything from the Minimalist Baker Cookbook yet! I’ve done Vegan 8 muffins but that’s it so far.
Anonymous says
Are you ever going to have kiddos? Your blog is great but I can’t relate because I have two kids and I’m 27. Your blog would be more relatable if you kept up with other people your age.
Taralynn McNitt says
I will definitely have kids one day, but not anytime soon. Having kids before I’m ready just for some blog views sounds like a very very very bad idea. If I decide to have kids one day, they won’t even be on the blog. 💜
Anna says
‘ If you kept up with other people your age’, lol. Like that’s how you should live your life. Not to mention that there are plenty of other people your age that don’t have kids and find your blog very relatable, like me! You do you!
Taralynn McNitt says
lol thank you, Anna!!
Jenna says
I have never made a vegan mac-n-cheese, however I have made a really bad for you one! LOL.
I still need to have cheese on everything… but now that I’m trying to count calories, it’s almost impossible.
My weekend was great! Spent some time with a bestie, did some shopping and watched football with family.
Taralynn McNitt says
Haha but those are always the tastiest!
Sounds like you had such a good weekend!
Heather says
Yum! I’m definitely making this next week! I love adding a can of diced tomatoes and maybe some black beans to my vegan mac to make it more of a full meal. The broccoli sounds great too!
Taralynn McNitt says
Ohhhh yum!!!!! When I was a kid, I liked putting pizza sauce in mine 😂
Stephanie says
Do you have to use cashew milk? It would almond work too?
Taralynn McNitt says
Nope! Any plain/unsweetened milk will work!
Hailey H. says
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. It look AMAZING and I can’t wait to try it out! I eat mostly plant-based right now, except for fish and some dairy, but I’m going to be doing a plant-based February to see how it makes me feel. I’m so happy you’re doing it the month before me so I can follow along on your recipes!!❣️
I’m from Wisconsin, so there was always lots of cheese around! I love cheese, but I try to eat very minimal amounts because it makes me bloated. I also remember eating a lot of those kraft singles as a kid. 🤢My brother and I used to use the plastic wrappers as ice skates on the carpet.😂
Taralynn McNitt says
Thanks, Hailey!!
I died laughing when I read the part about using the Kraft singles cheese wrappers as ice skates!!! THE CREATIVITY!! 😂
Anonymous says
This looks good! I’m gonna try it out next week! I’ve been gluten and dairy free for a few months and I’m always looking for new recipes. thanks!
Taralynn McNitt says
Hope you enjoy!!
Hannah says
IT WAS AMAZING!
Taralynn McNitt says
yay 😊
Jessie says
I made your recipe using spaghetti squash and it turned out delicious and low carb.
Taralynn McNitt says
I’ll have to try it out with spaghetti squash!!
Wendi says
I just made this tonight! My local store didn’t care the chive cream cheese so I got plain and then added fresh chives and onion to the blender. I also sprinkled with paprika placed it under the broiler to get that crisp baked macaroni feel. It definitely hit the spot and I’ll make it again!
Taralynn McNitt says
Hi, Wendi!
Thanks for sharing, Wendi!!!
Morgan says
How do you think this would work without the cream cheese?? I don’t think my grocery store carries it. Or is there’s another DF alternative??
Anonymous says
Butternut squash is in the oven! Trying it tonight on this cold winter night in Colorado!! Yum!!!! Thanks for the recipe!
Taralynn McNitt says
Yay!! Hope you enjoy 😃
Jenny says
Excellent- used 3 tbl real butter since I had that on hand, and I didn’t have garlic powder so subbed 2-3 tsp EVERYTHING but the bagel seasoning for all the powders (onion, garlic, salt and pepper), added the nutritional yeast recommended (even though it felt like a lot) and then topped it off with black pepper, and it tasted great.