I’m not vegetarian or vegan, but I’ve trying to work in more plant based meals and recipes into my regular routine. For better health, and also because lately I’ve found that I just haven’t been enjoying a lot of the meat focused meals I’ve been making, so I figured now would be a good time to experiment with some alternatives.
I was *SHOCKED* by this recipe. I’ve always wanted to try it but would forget to grab the (absolutely essential) nutritional yeast from the store. Thankfully, I remembered while making a random Amazon order and threw it into the cart as well. It was absolutely worth the experiment because I really enjoyed this, and it TRULY tastes cheesy and comforting. Not what you’d expect. I will absolutely make this again in the future, and would recommend it for vegans and non vegans alike.
What you need:
- 5 ounces pasta, uncooked
- 1 cup potato, diced
- 1/2 cup carrot, diced
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/4 cup water, preferably from the pot of boiled veggies
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp mustard powder
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- pinch cayenne
- Place potato and carrot into a pot and cover with water, bring to a boil and cook for 10-15 minutes or until they are tender.
- Cook and strain your pasta during this time and set aside.
- Reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water and place along with all other ingredients into a blender and blend until the sauce is thick and smooth. You can add additional water if you feel its not thin enough.
- Mix sauce with cooked pasta and serve immediately.
It’s that simple and it really works as a replacement. This would also work great with a lot of different mix-ins like broccoli or vegan sausage etc, or even topped with toasted bread crumbs!
I mean, nothing will truly replace the heavy cream, cheese piled, heart stopping, roux thickened mac & cheese, but as a healthy alternative that hits all the right notes, this is a big win. No guilt, no food coma, just comforting “cheesy” goodness.
