Comfort food can be upgraded for a beautiful, complex and sophisticated meal. And it can be healthy on top of it! Case in point, my Vegan Baked Macaroni and Cheese. This casserole style Mac and Cheese is not only vegan (read, no dairy), but the basis for the sauce is a vegetable! Butternut squash. Think about it - it’s the perfect color to mimic cheddar cheese, but it is also a mild, slightly sweet flavored squash and can be blended to a very smooth consistency (think about how smooth butternut squash soup is). To get the sharp flavor of cheese, we add lemon juice and miso paste, among a few pantry spices. And, yes, for some melty fat, I do add some packaged vegan cheddar shreds. If you’ve got veggie haters in your family, this might be a great way to sneak in a vegetable. Don’t let them see you make it! Deliciousness is often ruined by our vegetable-hating prejudice.
I love visiting vegan restaurants in my town and anywhere I travel and one thing I always must try is their Mac and Cheese. Everyone has their spin. Some taste heavy on coconut cream; others use a lot of vegan margarine or excess grease; some have a loose, light and runny sauce; others have very thick or even a little dry on the sauce. I've also tried many different vegan recipes from various cookbooks. This is the culmination of my trials, combining a bit of this and that to create a rich and creamy, vegetable-infused, slightly smoky, slightly herby, a hint of an exotic pepper, all while NOT using cashews, garlic, or onions!
Butternut squash is the key to the smooth and creamy orange colored base, bringing its health benefits, as well. Fresh thyme infused in the milk is one of the keys to the depth of flavor, and also makes it the perfect Thanksgiving side dish. Other key ingredients include a touch of miso for that deep umami, nutritional yeast (aka, "nutch") for the vegan cheesy flavor imparting B vitamins, and for that slightly smoky flavor, smoked paprika, Aleppo pepper, and some smoked sea salt. When going the smoky route, try garnishing each serving with a sprinkling of Coconut Bacon! Keep the chips on the side until right before serving to keep them crispy.
FODMAPs: Butternut squash is low-FODMAP up to 1/3 cup. The amount in one serving of Vegan Baked Macaroni and Cheese remains low if splitting casserole into 5 or more servings, so unless you over-indulge, this should be good. Remaining ingredients which may or may not be low-FODMAP: vegan mayonnaise and vegan cheddar shreds may have garlic or onion powder in them. Check ingredients lists. In addition, both are high-fat ingredients and although not high-FODMAP, sometimes excess dietary fats trigger IBS. Pasta: use a low-FODMAP gluten free pasta, such as brown rice based. Based on the above, this can be a low-FODMAP recipe.
I use Gluten-Free pasta to keep it low-FODMAP, but if you're not concerned with that, go ahead and use standard wheat pasta. If using gluten-free, I notice that leftovers get dry and noodles a bit hardened after refrigeration. Just add a drizzle of water (maybe one tablespoon per serving), before microwaving, and stir after heating and all the creamy goodness will return.
If you make this vegan, gluten-free, low-FODMAP recipe please give it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below and leave a comment! We'd love to hear your feedback.
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