Vegan Mac and Cheese

Although I do love and eat cheese, I’ve always been curious about making a vegan mac and cheese. But I’ve been waiting for the right recipe, because I didn’t want to just settle for buying vegan cheese and calling it a day (although there is absolutely nothing wrong with that)! I’ll admit, you really have to have like nutritional yeast in order to enjoy this, but I’ll give you some tips if you’re looking to feed this to someone who isn’t entirely adventurous or open minded about a cheese-less mac and cheese.

The consistency sauce is a terrific, and the early flavors of the yeast and pumpkin give this mac and cheese a nice and rich flavor. I added around a tablespoon of truffle oil to balance out the flavor nutritional yeast, but it’s certainly not necessary. Serve hot or cold, as a side, tossed with a leafy salad, or as your main meal. Any way you eat this you will certainly be pleased!

1 cup elbow macaroni

1 ½ cup pumpkin puree (make sure to not get the pie filling)

6 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 cup soy milk

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions and set aside.

Bring soy milk to a boil on high heat in a large pot.

Whisk in nutritional yeast, minced garlic, and mustard, and continue to cook for two minutes or until slightly thickened.

Whisk in pumpkin puree until completely smooth, and cook until desired consistency is reached.

Add salt and pepper to taste (if you’re going to use a teaspoon of truffle oil like I did, add it now).

Stir in cooked pasta until sauce is evenly distributed.

Let sit at least 1 hour before serving, or make 1 day prior to serving for the best flavor.

* If serving to someone who isn’t overly excited about the lack of cheese, top with parmesan and add a tiny bit more truffle oil to their serving.

THANK YOU 10:10:05 Productions, for the amazing photo!