Macaroni & Cheeze with Roasted Broccoli and Criminis (Vegan)
Whenever I tell Mikey that I’m making something “vegan” for dinner, his nose immediately scrunches up.
He was especially weary this time when I said I was making one of his favorite foods—macaroni and cheese—without the, uh well, cheese.
BUT! He loved it! And so did I. It’s remarkable how cheesy something without any cheese can taste. And that is thanks to the nutritional yeast—a strange ingredient with a very cheesy flavor; you absolutely cannot skip this ingredient. Mikey agreed, this does not taste like a vegan dish. By that, we mean that it is rich, creamy, and hard to believe there is zero dairy in this.
You could of course skip the broccoli and mushrooms in this dish, but I LOVE veggies in my macaroni. The veggies mean you get to eat more of it because they’re good for you, right? Right.
This pasta recipe is garlicky, creamy, oddly cheesy, and full of chewy crimini mushrooms and crisp roasted broccoli. It’s kind of addictive. If you think, like Mikey, that you don’t like vegan dishes, try this and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Ingredients
- 1 head broccoli, washed and florets cut off
- 1 and 1/2 tsp garlic granules
- kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
- extra virgin olive oil
- 7-8 ounces macaroni pasta
- 1 and 1/2 cups raw cashews
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 large clove garlic
- juice from 1 lemon
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tsp yellow mustard
- 1 tsp chili powder
- tiny pinch of saffron
- tiny pinch of cayenne
- pinch of mustard powder
- 1 and 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss the broccoli florets in a drizzle of olive oil, the garlic granules, and a good pinch of salt and freshly-cracked pepper.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes until lightly browned. Set aside.
for the mushrooms: - Heat a saute pan over high heat. Add in a swirl of olive oil, and the mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden-brown. Set aside.
for the macaroni: - Boil the pasta, according to the package instructions, in salted water.
- In a high-powered blender (like a Vitamix), or a food processor, combine the remainder of ingredients and process until smooth.
- Add the sauce into the cooked pasta.
- Add the mushrooms and broccoli into the pasta mixture, and serve.
Have you ever used nutritional yeast? What’s your favorite cheeZy dish?
Looks tasty! I love when vegan recipes use ordinary ingredients to create an alternative to dairy products, rather than using scary fake cheese products. I have to admit, I was wary when my parents told me they made a vegan mac and cheeze, but I ended up loving it! The sauce in their recipe is made from cashews, potatoes, carrots, and onions.
Rachael replied: — January 9th, 2014 @ 3:49 pm
Mmm that sounds delicious!
I totally agree, weird, fake products that are trying to simulate an ingredient totally freak me out! I've actually never tried "fake" cheese, so it might be really tasty, but there are far too many strange ingredients in it for me to trust it, haha.
Made this the other night and I can't stop thinking about it, I've been craving it ever since! It was so good! Of course it doesn't taste exactly like mom's mac and cheese. But as I have found with other vegan substitutions, you have to stop expecting things to taste like the real deal and appreciate it for how it tastes in its own right, which in this case is pretty awesome!
Rachael replied: — January 26th, 2014 @ 8:15 pm
I'm so so glad you enjoyed it, Stephanie!
I totally agree! You can't expect cashews + nutritional yeast + water etc. to taste exactly like butter + milk + real cheese, but, at least with this recipe, I'd be just as happy eating this as I would mac n' cheese loaded with dairy!
Looks good! Pinning it! Thanks for sharing.
Rachael replied: — February 4th, 2014 @ 9:34 am
Thanks, Henry! I hope you enjoy it!
Great recipe, I love nutritional yeast, both healthy and tasty!
Hi Sharkattack! It's me, dino. from SA. If you want to make this even more horrible for you, use coconut milk to grind the cashews. A spot of sweet white miso does give the sauce a really lovely rounded flavour, so that it doesn't end up tasting so yeasty. 🙂
Rachael replied: — June 7th, 2014 @ 8:04 pm
Ohh I'm super flattered you stopped by! I actually looove the flavor of nutritional yeast (is that weird? haha), but miso sounds like an awesome addition! I will totally have to give that a try! Gonna try the coconut milk thing, too, since I also have a somewhat unhealthy obsession with the stuff, but *after* I stop trying to eat ridiculously healthy, hah.