This vegan White Cheddar Mac ‘n Cheese with Broccoli and Peas has everything you need for a hearty, healthy, delicious dinner – served in one big bowl. Creamy, fluffy mac + cheese is the everyone-will-love-this base. Warm veggies add greens, texture and extra goodness. Everything is coated in an easy, blended, cashew-based cheese sauce. (You can soak the cashews or not, I’ve had success both ways.) Add a few slivers of avocado on the side, for more buttery, green goodness.
This is this week’s one bowl wonder comfort food dinner…
This is a white cheddar spin on this recipe. I added more cashews and subbed white potatoes and less potato, more cashew too. Plus, the white miso pasta adds an extra umami kick.
Fave vegan Parm: Follow Your Heart shreds. They have an awesome salty flavor and light texture.
Optional: Bake it! Transfer the tossed pasta into a casserole dish, cover with foil and bake at 400 for ten to fifteen minutes. This bakes in all the flavors. And the texture thickens up. Similar to this baked m+c recipe.
Love these bowls? Read about them here.
Mac ‘n Cheese Craving.
I was craving mac and cheese. But I was also out of turmeric. And my potato wasn’t a sweet potato, but instead, a white potato. So I knew how things would turn out, visually. White and creamy. So white cheddar sauce it was. Then all you do with the sauce is toss it with warm macaroni and steamed veggies and dinner is done.
Fun Fact.
Broccoli is a great source of plant-based protein with 17g protein per bunch. And peas are another protein-rich ingredient. One cup of peas has around 8g of protein. So the veggies add the boost of protein – and fiber – and antioxidants – in this meal. Oh, and that sauce is cashew-based (more good stuff) and includes nutritional yeast too.
But really guys, this bowl is just so darn delicious! You will totally forget how healthy it is. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2 cups macaroni pasta
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 1 cup green peas, fresh or frozen
Sauce
- 3/4 cup soy milk, unsweetened
- 1 1/2 cups cashews, raw – soaking is preferred, but optional
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 white potato, boiled and chopped – medium in size
- 1/2-1 cup 'pasta water'
- 3 Tbsp vegan butter
- 1 Tbsp onion powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder and/or 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp white miso paste
- salt to taste – at least 1/8 tsp
- black pepper to taste
- Vegan Parmesan — add this to the pasta to serve and you can also add a few pinches into the blender for the sauce
Instructions
- Cook pasta. About three minutes before the pasta is cooked, add the broccoli and peas. This will cook the veggies in the same pasta pot – speedy!
- Drain the water from the pasta and veggies – reserving about a cup for the sauce. (You can also boil the pasta while you are making the sauce.)
- Add all the sauce ingredients to a blender and blend on high for about 3-4 minutes to warm and puree. You will want to add the liquids as needed to blend.
- Pour a cup of the sauce over the pasta and veggies to start. Add more to taste. Optional step: Pour the tossed pasta into a casserole dish and cover with foil. Bake at 400 degrees for ten to fifteen minutes to lock in the flavor and thicken the texture.
Equipment
- soup pot
- blender
nutrition estimate | per serving
Happy eating!! ~ K
