Hidden Veggie Mac and Cheese (Vegan and Nut-Free)
While mac and cheese is a great comfort meal, it’s hardly a balanced dish. This hidden veggie mac and cheese, on the other hand, packs plenty of nutrients without sacrificing the taste! It’s also vegan, allergy friendly (nut-free) and so easy to make.
If you want to add more veggies to your diet, I hear you. My whole mission is about showing you cool ways to eat more plants. However, some of struggle to incorporate vegetables into their diet. From strange textures to unpleasant memories, plenty of us have valid reasons why they stick to tried and tested comfort foods.
If that resonates with you, you’ve come to the right place! This hidden veggie mac and cheese will allow you to enjoy the familiarity of everyone’s favorite comfort dish, while also sneaking some vegetables into your meal.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s MAC AND CHEESE! Except it’s better, because it’s oil-free, plant-based, and packed with veggies!
- I’m not just talking about adding one or two vegetables. This dish has SIX HIDDEN VEGGIES, not even including the spices and amazing sources of healthy fats!
- Cooking with fresh produce can be quite overwhelming at first. The good news is, this recipe is a great start! You don’t need to be super proficient with a knife, and the cooking process is mostly passive.
- This cheesy sauce is actually pretty versatile and can be adapted for other dishes!
- Unlike many other plant-based alternatives, this hidden veggie mac and cheese is NUT FREE! That’s right, not a cashew in sight.
How to Make This Recipe
Making this Hidden Veggie Mac and Cheese is SO EASY. All you have to do is roast the vegetables with spices on a sheet pan for about 40 minutes.
Once the vegetables are roasted, you add them to a high speed blender with umami enhancing ingredients like nutritional yeast, tahini, hot sauce and vegetable broth.
Blend, and serve as a dip for or as the most amazing vegan cheese sauce for the perfect mac n’ cheez.
Hack It!
- Coconut milk is a great way to give a nice, creamy texture to any sauce. However, if you want to lower the fat content of your sauce, you can simply use a little bit of plant-based milk in place of coconut milk. If you’re worried that your sauce will not be thick enough, reduce the amount of vegetable broth.
- You can enjoy this sauce with gluten-free pasta if you can’t have wheat.
- Any sauce you have leftover can be used to make another batch of hidden veggie mac and cheese! You can also use it as a dip for nachos, sauce for tacos, or even a salad dressing.
- Did you know that this “cheese” sauce is freezer-friendly? That’s right, feel free to make a big batch and freeze the leftovers for a later date.
Other Recipes You’ll Love
- Hidden White Bean Tomato Soup
- Hidden Veg Pasta Sauce
- Vegan Whipped Feta Dip
- Green Goddess Soup
- One-Pan Vegetable Soup
For more comforting recipes like this one, check out PlantYou meal planner. There are over 600 recipes in the planner database, including soups, stews, curry, casseroles, and more! Plenty of them feature hidden vegetables, and virtually all of them are beginner-friendly! You can fully customize your weekly menu, toggle the number of servings, and enjoy the dynamic shopping list generated by the app.
I am also completely blown away by the support the PlantYou Cookbook received so far. I poured my heart and soul into this cookbook so I really appreciate every single person who bought it! It features over 140 simple, delicious, whole-foods plant-based recipes for every occasion. Truly, I wish I had a book like this when I went vegan… So if you’re looking for a beginner-friendly vegan cookbook, this is it!
The Recipe: Hidden Veggie Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 yellow or white onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, large
- 1 head cauliflower, broken into florets
- 1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
- 2 cups butternut squash, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 3 tbsp tahini
- ½ cup coconut milk
- 3 tbsp hot sauce
- 1 ½ cup low sodium vegetable broth
- ½ cup pasta water
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 16 oz whole wheat macaroni, cooked
Equipment
- chopping board
- knife
- Parchment Paper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain the liquid, reserving some pasta water for later.
- Add the onion, garlic, cauliflower, bell pepper, squash and carrot to the baking sheet, along with the paprika, garlic powder and sea salt sprinkled on top. Bake for 40 minutes, until all of the vegetables are soft and tender.
- Once safe to handle, add the ingredients to a high speed blender with the vegetable broth, tahini, coconut milk, pasta water, hot sauce and nutritional yeast. Blend until a smooth “cheese” sauce is formed, adding more vegetable broth as needed to thin. Taste and adjust salt as desired.
- Pour the desired amount of cheese sauce into your cooked macaroni, stir and enjoy immediately. Use any remaining sauce as a delicious nacho or cracker dip.
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