A new twist on a childhood favorite! This is not your mom's or Kraft's mac and cheese... its one you can feel less guilty about eating and feeding your family!
I recently went through an intensive year long, doctor supervised, health cleanse to help prepare my body for a second pregnancy after my first pregnancy ended in a lot of complications. During that experience I was asked to give up two of my favorite food categories... dairy and wheat products. Wheat wasn't as difficult as dairy to give up for me, because anyone that has known me for a long time knows that I am an epic cheese lover and come from a family of cheese lovers as well. So during this time I went on a full on investigation into what vegan dairy products I could substitute in to recipes and get a similar taste! Which brings me to the mac and cheese... with this recipe it is mostly about the brands I used to make it that really helped to make it taste as good as it looks, so let me dive into that for a few seconds.
The ingredients: Miyoko's Cultured Vegan Butter, Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten-Free All Purpose Baking Flour, So Delicious Coconut Milk, and Miyoko's Cultured Vegan Farmhouse Cheddar Shreds, Field Day Gluten-Free Elbows
SO, here is the scoop. I made this in the traditional homemade mac and cheese way, with a roux based sauce that I added pasta too. In all honesty I did not actually measure the amounts when I did this recipe because at this point I have had enough experience cooking with these type of ingredients that I go based off of look and feel, but for those of you who this is a newer way of cooking I am going to try and give you some measurements and directions to help you!
The first thing you need to know is the roux substituted in the following; Miyokos Cultured Plant Based Butter, Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour Mix, So Delicious Coconut Milk, and Miyokos Farmhouse Cheddar Shreds. The pasta I used Field Day Gluten Free Pasta (but I would also highly suggest Jovial brand or Trader Joe's gluten free pasta). Now, you don't have to use these brands but these are what I have found to yield the best and most similar flavor and texture regular mac and cheese!
The Recipe
Ingredients
12 oz. of gluten free elbow/macaroni pasta
1 bag of vegan cheddar cheese shreds
4 tablespoons of All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
4 tablespoons vegan butter
3 cups of dairy free milk
2 teaspoons of dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
Boil pasta according to directions but reduce cooking time by a few minutes, or do the lowest amount of time suggested if there is a range, so that the pasta is almost cooked through but not quite. (If you are using Field Day I cook it for 7 minutes).
Once the pasta is cooked, drain and RINSE the pasta, then put it aside. (It is important to rinse gluten free pasta so that it does not get gummy).
On medium-low heat melt the butter in a large sauce pan
Once the butter is melted add in the flour one tablespoon at a time, stirring each tablespoon into the butter completely before adding the next one. You are looking for the consistency of a thick paste.
Allow the mixture to cook for about 2-3 minutes until it starts to turn lightly golden.
Gradually whisk in milk, adding it one cup at a time making sure to completely incorporate each cup before adding the next. (The mixture will be extremely thick with the first cup and become thinner each time you add more milk)
Add in garlic powder, onion powder, mustard powder, salt and pepper and whisk to combine.
Continuously whisk the sauce, so it does not burn, for about 8-10 minutes, or until the sauce thickens quite a bit. You want the sauce to feel resistant to dragging a spoon through it but not so thick it cannot pour easily, it will thicken even more when you add the vegan cheese.
Once the sauce has thickened take it off the heat and stir in the vegan cheese. Place it back on the medium-low heat and continuously whisk until the cheese completely melts.
Once the cheese is melted and the sauce is pretty smooth, remove it from the heat and put in the macaroni pasta and stir it together. If your pasta is slightly underdone or your sauce is a little too liquidy, you can put it back on medium low heat for a few minutes to help cook the pasta through and thicken the sauce.
Serve it hot and enjoy!