Growing up, Friday nights meant Macaroni and Cheese for dinner. My mum and dad had a Friday night routine of hanging with their friends at a local pub, the Arbutus Pub so she would make ahead Mac n Cheese for us kids. It was my favourite night of the week for that reason. To this day I haven’t tasted a Mac n cheese that was as good as my mum’s. My version is creamy like my mum’s but without milk or dairy. I leave out nutritional yeast, often found in vegan “cheese” dishes to give that umami like cheese flavour. Personally I am not a fan of nutritional yeast and I am sensitive to any yeasts.
My method is similar to my mum’s recipe as well. Her recipe base was a béchamel sauce (a creamy white sauce) which I think is key to a creamy and dreamy macaroni and cheese. Instead of butter, flour and milk I used dairy free butter and unsweetened plain dairy free creamer to achieve a rich creamy sauce. One of my mum’s secrets to a deep cheesey flavour: dried mustard powder. Don’t leave it out, it really makes all the difference!
As is the case with anything you cook, use the best ingredients you can afford. When it comes to dairy free cheeses I can’t stress this enough. There are so many, frankly, awful dairy free cheeses out there, in terms of taste, texture and list of weird, not so-healthy ingredients. Find the one you like the best, one that will actually melt and has a nice taste and texture.
Here’s a few of my favourite shredded cheese brands: SOdelicous (sodelicousdairyfree.com) , Forager Project (foragerproject.com) Violife (Violife foods.com), Miyokos Creamery (miyokos.com) and Parmela Creamery (parmelacreamery.com).
When it comes to dairy free butter substitutes here’s a few of my favourite brands: Miyokos Creamery, Wildbrine (wildbrine.com), Melt (meltorganic.com) and Milkadamia buttery spread (Milkadamia.com)
Cook pasta in boiling salted water. Cook pasta a little under cooked, so about 2-3 minutes less than time you would typically cook. Drain and set aside. Over medium heat melt butter in a medium saucepan, whisk in flour, turmeric, dry mustard powder, sea salt and pepper and stir until golden, about 1-2 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 F.
Gradually whisk in cashew creamer and whisk continuously until it begins to thicken and comes to a gentle boil. As soon as it comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and stir for another minute. It should take about 10 minutes for the sauce to thicken. Stir in 7 ounces of queso fresco or grated vegan cheese of your choice. Some vegan cheeses may not fully melt into the sauce quite yet. Therefore sauce will appear a bit lumpy. Do not worry the cheese will fully melt once you bake it!
Stir the pasta into the sauce. Liberally butter your baking pan (don’t skip this step as the butter will create a scrumptious and wonderful crispy edge on your mac n cheese) I use a 10.5 x 7.5 inch rectangular baking pan. Create your breadcrumbs by tearing GF bread into large pieces, add to a food processor and pulse briefly until you have fine breadcrumbs. Stir in melted butter and pulse a few times.
Scoop macaroni and cheese mixture into buttered baking pan. Sprinkle 2/3 cup grated cheese on top of the pasta and then spread breadcrumb butter mixture evenly on top of the pasta. Bake on middle rack of preheated oven and bake for 13-16 minutes or until top is a deep golden brown. Store cooled leftovers in fridge for up to 3 days and reheat. You can also freeze individual portions and then thaw fully before reheating.
Ingredients
Directions
Cook pasta in boiling salted water. Cook pasta a little under cooked, so about 2-3 minutes less than time you would typically cook. Drain and set aside. Over medium heat melt butter in a medium saucepan, whisk in flour, turmeric, dry mustard powder, sea salt and pepper and stir until golden, about 1-2 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 F.
Gradually whisk in cashew creamer and whisk continuously until it begins to thicken and comes to a gentle boil. As soon as it comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and stir for another minute. It should take about 10 minutes for the sauce to thicken. Stir in 7 ounces of queso fresco or grated vegan cheese of your choice. Some vegan cheeses may not fully melt into the sauce quite yet. Therefore sauce will appear a bit lumpy. Do not worry the cheese will fully melt once you bake it!
Stir the pasta into the sauce. Liberally butter your baking pan (don’t skip this step as the butter will create a scrumptious and wonderful crispy edge on your mac n cheese) I use a 10.5 x 7.5 inch rectangular baking pan. Create your breadcrumbs by tearing GF bread into large pieces, add to a food processor and pulse briefly until you have fine breadcrumbs. Stir in melted butter and pulse a few times.
Scoop macaroni and cheese mixture into buttered baking pan. Sprinkle 2/3 cup grated cheese on top of the pasta and then spread breadcrumb butter mixture evenly on top of the pasta. Bake on middle rack of preheated oven and bake for 13-16 minutes or until top is a deep golden brown. Store cooled leftovers in fridge for up to 3 days and reheat. You can also freeze individual portions and then thaw fully before reheating.