Sometimes I like to play around with my own recipes and change them up for variety! This is a different spin on my Low Fat Vegan Baked Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese. This time I’ve left out the panko breadcrumbs so you can see all those lovely vegetables inside!
I’ve added lightly steamed broccolini/brocolette (a milder form of broccoli) and sautéed mushrooms to the mix!
So now not only is this probably the healthiest baked mac and cheese ever (cuz it’s oil free, cheese free and gluten friendly) but it’s packed full of nutritional powerhouse vegetables such as butternut squash, garlic and onions (used in the sauce) and broccoli and mushrooms.
This is just one of 60 delicious recipes in my Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World recipe ebook.
I’m sure kids would love this recipe too because the veggies are fairly mild tasting and covered in sauce!
Vegan Baked Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli and Mushrooms
adapted from my Baked Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese in Comfort Foods From Around The World
Note: Because I added vegetables to this recipe, the flavor of the sauce needs to be enhanced so I increased the amounts of seasonings.
Serves 6
Ingredients:
½ medium butternut squash (or 1 2/3 cups cooked and mashed)
16 oz./454 g package elbow macaroni or spirals (for GF use Tinkyada brown rice pasta for best results)
1/4 – 1/2 tsp. salt (*optional for pasta)
1 cup broccoli florets, chopped into little pieces
1 cup mushroom slices, chopped
1/2 – 3/4 cup vegetable broth (for cooking)
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 – 4 tsp. brown rice miso (use a lot more if using shiro/white/yellow miso)
3 cups almond milk (unsweetened original)
2 tbsp. flour or cornstarch
3/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 – 1 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
3/4 – 1 tsp. salt (*optional for sauce)
Topping:
1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
Directions:
1. Peel and cube the butternut squash and bring to a boil and steam just until soft. Alternatively you can cook in a pressure cooker at high pressure for 5-7 minutes. Drain well. (Tip, if your squash is hard to peel or cut, pop it in the microwave for 3-4 minutes to soften the skin to make it easier to slice.) Measure out 1 2/3 cup of mashed squash and set aside.
2. In a large pot, bring water to a rolling boil and then add salt if desired. Add pasta and cook just before tender (about 2 minutes less than package directions). Generally it’s about 5 minutes. Drain well in a colander and rinse in cold water. (Do not overcook the pasta.)
3. In a non-stick pan, saute mushrooms in 1/4 cup of water over medium high heat for about 5 minutes. Add the broccoli and a little more water and cook for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
4. Preheat oven to 350 F/ 177 C.
5. In a large saucepan heat vegetable broth over medium heat and add the onions. Cook for 5-6 minutes until tender adding broth when needed to prevent burning.
6. Add cooked onions and any remaining broth from pan into Vita-Mix or food processor, add mashed squash, 1 cup almond milk and miso and blend until combined. Set aside.
7. In the same large saucepan add 1 cup of the almond milk and sprinkle 1 tbsp. of the flour or cornstarch when hot and whisk in. Add the remaining 1 cup of milk and sprinkle in another tbsp. of flour. Whisk this together fast. It’s ok if there are a few small bits of flour still.
8. Cook the sauce for a minute or two until hot and quickly add the squash mixture and whisk in. Heat through another minute or two and then add the nutritional yeast and whisk in. Turn off heat and add remaining seasonings starting with the lower amounts. Taste test and add additional seasonings to your liking.
9. Add drained pasta and mushrooms and broccoli to sauce pot and stir to coat. Spread out in a casserole dish. (If you want to add some vegan cheese like Daiya cheese you would layer some in now and mix it in, but I don’t feel the need to add it personally.)
10. Bake for 20-30 minutes just until pasta is tender. (20 minutes if you slightly overcooked your pasta, 30 minutes if you didn’t)
11. Serve.
Additional Tips:
To save time you can use frozen cubed butternut squash and then cook it and mash it, or use canned butternut squash. Both are sold at health food stores in North America.
Smoked paprika (also called Spanish Paprika) is much more flavourful than traditional paprika, it lends a nice smokey flavor to this cheesy sauce. McCormick makes one, or you can get it at some ethnic or Indian markets.
Brown rice miso paste is the best for this recipe, is has a stronger tangier flavor than the lighter misos. This is what gives the sauce a tangy cheezy flavor. If you don’t use it your sauce will not taste like a cheese sauce.
If you’d like a runnier mac and cheese you can add an extra 1/4 cup of almond milk to the sauce, but you’ll need to add some more seasonings to readjust the flavor.
Have you ever made an oil free, cheese free mac and cheese recipe? What did you use?
lovely recipe! do you think zucchini noodles would work instead of brown rice pasta?
I’m not sure, as when they’re cooked they may become watery and break down too fast.
Hello – this looks great! Can I make the sauce/veggies a day or two in advance, and then combine with pasta and bake the day of to save time? Thanks!!
i am not supposed to put soy in my diet so is there something else besides miso that i can use ?
I have seen chickpea miso at some health food stores in Canada and the USA. See if you can find that. Its hard for cheese sauces to have that flavour without something fermented. Miso is used for that reason
Just wanted to let you know that there is some discussion about this recipe here: http://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=35542
Made this recipe using the miso this time…. made all the difference! I love this dish, so satisfying and the fact that it’s low fat and healthy makes it all the more yummy.
Oh I’m so glad! Yay 🙂
Since I prepare and eat food with only 10%dietary fat, Oil free is a big hit. But coconut and almond milk both are at least 50% of calories from fat and 3 cups of it certainly ratchets the total mixture up over 10% of calories from fat.
Does this sauce lose its luxury substituting a nonfat alternative? If not, please suggest that substitute. I made your ommelette last night with 3tbs coconut milk which were delicious.
The nutritional info for the original recipe WITHOUT mushrooms, broccoli and extra miso paste are this
Nutrition Facts: 6 (dinner sized) Servings, Amount Per Serving: Calories 453.4 Total Fat 4.0 g Sodium 312.4 mg Total Carbohydrate
89.5 g Dietary Fiber 9.6 g Sugars 1.6 g Protein 20.7 g
So it is actually an 8% fat (by calories) recipe. Remember there are A LOT of calories coming from the squash and pasta so it spreads the fat calories out thinner as there are many more carbs than fat in this recipe.
I strive to keep my recipes under 15% fat, most are 10% or under as well. I use almond milk because I don’t like the taste of soy milk, but you can use whatever non dairy milk you like such as rice milk or soy milk instead. Almond milk depending on the brand has between 2.5 to 3.5 grams of fat per cup. This is still pretty low fat when using it in a recipe with a lot of carbs. Soy milk can be 3 – 4 grams of fat per cup. Rice milk and oat milk and some varieties of almond milk looks the lowest at 2.5 grams of fat per cup. At these levels it’s unlikely to make much of a difference when the recipe can be spread out between 6 and 8 servings.
I made this recipe this evening however left out the brown rice miso…. it was OK, but definitely lacked some of the “cheezy-ness”. I would definitely try it again using the appropriate ingredients.
OMG, this dish is great. I’m vegan and hubby is carnavor (the jack sprat in reverse!) I fixed half the recipe and enjoyed this confort food for 4 meals. I will make it again…soon. A few years ago (before I began eating vegan) I made M&C from the leftover cheeses and cream after the holiday season was over. It was totally the best M&c I have ever had. This is the second best M&C I have ever had and it is good for me! I love it!
This sounds delic…
I am definitely going to give it a try in 2013.
Great for winter lunches at work, no need to snack after that!
Thanks for the recipe.
Yes , V eronica , its Great , I ‘ m sure . Specially to my Eyes , once its made out of my Colours : White and Red . In adding Broccoli , I feel still better , once I love Broccoli .
The Eyes eat Together . The Heart too .
Wonderful Mac !
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The Idea of leaving Everything Clean while its backing it also Great . I do it too , if I cook , which is rare . But I know I need ‘ Cook ‘ Sometimes . It gives Me Strengh .
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I always use Mushroooms . Onions and Garlic . Yeast Flakes and Almond Milk . Great .
Its really Me . I love them . But I eat White Yogurt to take the Signs of Onions and Garlic , afterwards .
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And its Wonderful to be Oil Free , Cheese Free and Gluten Friendly .
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Thank You once more for this Wonderful Recipe !
Teresa ***
what is brown rice miso does this dish really need it?
Hello
Miso paste is a fermented seasoning used to make miso soup and is used in vegan recipes to give it a cheezy tangy fermented flavor. If you don’t use it, it will be more of a bland sauce without any of that cheezy “umami” flavor.