Vegan Butternut Mac and Cheese
Vegan butternut mac and cheese made with cashews and nutritional yeast is super creamy, delicious, and ready in 35 minutes. Roasting butternut squash allows it to blend right into the thick, luscious vegan cheese sauce.
Servings: 6 bowls (1 ½ cups each)
Calories: 436kcal
Equipment
- blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 4 ⅔ cups butternut squash peeled, seeded, and cubed; fresh or frozen
- ½ onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 16 ounces macaroni noodles
- ¾ cup raw cashews
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 cup pasta water reserved from cooking macaroni
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F with a clean sheet pan inside.
- While the oven preheats, peel and cube your butternut squash to yield about 4 ⅔ cups butternut squash. Chop ½ onion into large chunks. Smash and peel 4 garlic cloves, then roughly chop each clove a few times. You don't want the garlic or onion to be too fine or else they will burn in the oven.
- Spread butternut squash cubes, onion, and garlic into a single layer directly on the preheated sheet pan.
- Roast the squash for 25 to 30 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork. Since there's no oil in this recipe, I like to just leave the squash undisturbed for the full cook time. This helps steam build up in the oven to make the squash fork tender.
- While the squash is roasting, cook 16 ounces macaroni noodles according to the package instructions until al dente. Make sure to salt the water! Reserve 1 ½ cups of the pasta water. Drain the macaroni and return it back to the cooking pot.
- When the squash has finished roasting add the entire pan to a blender along with ¾ cup raw cashews, 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, 1 cup pasta water, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, and ½ teaspoon ground mustard. Blend until smooth and creamy, adding a little more water, a tablespoon at a time, to create a smooth pourable sauce.
- Pour the sauce over the cooked noodles and gently stir to combine. Turn the heat on to medium to warm through as you continue to gently stir.
Cut down on the prep time and use butternut squash cubes from the refrigerator or freezer aisles. No need to thaw it, just proceed as directed in the recipe.
Notes
Make Ahead: The cheese sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. The sauce will thicken up as it sits in the fridge. When ready to use, add the sauce back to the blender and blend with a little hot water to make it pourable again. Pour over noodles and heat through as directed.
Storage and Reheating: Store leftover butternut squash mac and cheese in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 5 days. Reheat it in short 30 second bursts in the microwave.
Nutrition
Serving: 1.5cups | Calories: 436kcal | Carbohydrates: 77g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 401mg | Potassium: 733mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 11576IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 82mg | Iron: 3mg
