Vegan Pumpkin Mac & Cheese Bake
By Suzanne Boothby
You’ll love this lightened up version of mac and cheese featuring a seasonal favorite—pumpkin. You can whip up this tasty sauce with your favorite pasta in about 30 minutes. Feel free to use any kind of pasta you like and you can easily keep this recipe gluten-free by choosing a pasta made from chickpeas, lentils, quinoa or brown rice. Similarly, you can add any greens that you enjoy, though kale and pumpkin pair well together.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, plus a little extra for the baking sheet
- ¾ cup unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 6 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- Sea salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- Optional topping: fresh sage, chopped
- ½ cup almond flour
- 1 cup kale (or spinach), chopped
- 1 package pasta (try chickpea, lentil, quinoa or whatever you like)
Directions
- Add coconut oil to a small sauce pot over low-medium heat. In a separate pot, begin to boil water that you will use to cook the pasta.
- Then, add the milk, arrowroot powder and garlic powder to the pot and whisk until clumps are gone.
- Stir in nutritional yeast, Dijon, salt and pepper and whisk over low heat until thickened for about 5 minutes or so.
- Add in 1 cup of canned pumpkin and stir until combined.
- Add pasta to boiling water and cook according to instructions on the package.
- Drain the pasta and add to a lightly oiled baking sheet. Fold in the pumpkin “cheese” sauce and greens. Top with almond flour.
- Bake in the oven uncovered at 350F for 20 minutes.
- Serve in bowls or plates and enjoy!
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Substitutions
Coconut milk – almond, soy, cashew milk
Almond flour – gluten-free bread crumbs, vegan parmesan
Pumpkin puree – butternut squash, sweet potato
Kale – spinach, broccoli