Delicious Dairy Free Mac & Cheese

Delicious dairy free Mac & cheese recipes can be hit or miss. Lets face it…cheese is good. It’s amazing. Nothing can beat the taste of creamy, ooey gooey cheese. But if you are like me, and feel so much guilt, and your stomach is hating you after eating the real deal Mac and cheese, then this recipe is a must try for you!

I have tried so many different dairy free Mac and cheese recipes, and they didn’t taste good, or come out right. I was looking for that magical recipe that tasted like cheese but want cheese. Ya know?!

Well, I finally found one. This is my absolute favorite recipe for dairy free Mac and cheese. I am so happy I found it.

The original recipe came from https://www.veggieinspired.com/butternut-mac/.

I changed the recipe a little bit by adding my squash. But holy moly…this recipe is a must try. I’m telling you, I def hit the jackpot in the Mac and cheese world finding this amazing recipe.

I mean, come on. Look at that beautiful orange cheesy color. And the creamy texture. Its amazing. And the crazy thing is that the 3 main ingredients are cashews, butternut squash, and onion…seriously.

The awesome thing about cashews is that if you soak them, they get soft, and you can turn them into a creamy dairy free sauce!

Lets get on with this recipe, because I can’t wait any longer to share it with you!

So like I said, the Maine ingredients are butternut squash, onion, and cashews.

The other ingredients are a bunch of wonderful spices: salt, garlic powder, black pepper, smoked paprika, turmeric, and nutmeg. Also, Dijon mustard, and lemon juice.

Turmeric is a wonder spice. It is incredibly good for you, and gives the “cheese” sauce a nice yellow color naturally to make it look more appealing to the eye, and stomach.

I must warn you though…turmeric has such a potency color, it will stain. So make sure that if it gets on your counter tops, hands, clothes, anywhere…make sure to wash it or clean it up before it gets the chance to stain.

Smoked paprika I just discovered a year ago. I never knew it existed, let alone the flavor it gives out! If you are one who likes that smokey flavor when it comes to meats, sauces or cheeses…try smoked paprika out. It’s also a great alternative to give non meat foods that smokey meaty taste!

Ok…lets move on…

The firs thing you want to do is soak your cashews in hot water for about 30 minutes to get them nice and soft, so they turn into that creamy texture we want when its blending time. Set aside.

In the meantime, chop up your onion and squash.

Add them to a large pan, or a large sauté pan with high edges. If you happen to have two large pots, you can put the vegetables in a large pot. I just used the large sauté pan because I only have one large pot, and need that for my pasta.

Add enough water to the vegetables so they are all submerged, but not too much water.

Cover pot/pan and bring to a boil. Turn down heat to low, and simmer for about 10-15 minutes, or until vegetables are nice and soft.

While the vegetables are cooking, you want to cook your pasta according to package directions.

I take the time now to prepare and measure out all of my spice, just because there a quite a few and Id rather have them all in one bowl so I can just dump them in the blender at the same time.

In a small separate bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and Dijon mustard. set that aside as well as the spices.

Once the veggies are done, you want to drain them and set aside covered.

When the pasta is done, make sure to take out your 1/4 cup of pasta water and set aside.

Drain the pasta completely. I add some olive oil to the pasta that way it doesn’t clump up and stick together while you’re preparing your cheese sauce. make sure to keep pasta covered and warm.

Add your veggies to a high-speed blender. Be careful as these are still extremely hot. I use a large cooking spoon to scoop up and place in the blender so your veggies don’t splatter and fall out everywhere.

Now add your cashews, spices, lemon/Dijon mustard mixture, and reserved pasta water to blender.

It may not look anything like cheese…but you wait…

Now, blend it all together on high until everything is combined well, and it looks nice and creamy. You may have to take a spatula and scrape the sides of blender to make sure everything is getting mixed and combined.

And voila!….

look at that beautiful “cheese” sauce!!!

Once its done, you want to pour it all over your pasta, and mix it all together.

My mouth is literally watering. Lucky for me, I have some left overs that I will be heating up for lunch. Cant wait!

This recipe is better while its fresh. It still tastes amazing reheated, it just isn’t as creamy as it is when its fresh out of the pot.

And there we have it. Enjoy my friends. I know you will!