Dairy-free? Vegan? Missing mac ‘n cheese? This easy, creamy dairy-free macaroni and cheese is what you need! It’s so good, you’ll cry… Haha!
The ultimate comfort food.
I don’t know about you’re place, but over here, mac ‘n cheese is the ultimate comfort food. If the kids are crabby, feed them mac ‘n cheese and they’ll be happy. When dad is crabby, make mac ‘n cheese for dinner and he’ll be happy. And yes, even though I can’t eat macaroni and cheese (yay dairy-free, soy-free living!) making mac ‘n cheese still makes me happy.
Mac ‘n cheese is a dish so simple, it’s almost unbelievable that it tastes delicious. I love to hide veggies in my family’s pot of macaroni and cheese. Cooked carrots, a little pureed pumpkin, broth, mustard… they all hide in there well. And my kids are none-the-wiser.
Well, except the 10 year old, ’cause she’s at the point where she’s taking over the mac ‘n cheese making business in our house. Yep, I’m trying to work myself out of (a part) of my job! #momwin
Sad day.
It would be an understatement to say that my kids and hubby weren’t total macaroni and cheese fanatics. And I was right there with them, until the dairy-free stuff hit the fan.
After being on the GAPS diet for a few months, and still not feeling completely better, I was utterly bummed to find out I was intolerant to dairy.
And not just cow milk dairy. I literally cannot have dairy from any animal. <heartbreak> Goodbye pizza, goodbye homemade yogurt and sour cream, goodbye mac ‘n cheese…
Hope for the hopeless.
Now, I’ve had dairy-free macaroni and cheese before. With cashews. Ew. And some with fake soy cheese. Double ew. Friends, there has to be a better way!
Then one day I was perusing Instagram. ‘Cause I do that sometimes. (If you do too, feel free to peruse my feed, it’s full of yummy gluten-free & paleo food!) But anyway, I was looking through stories and saw a post on dairy-free mac ‘n cheese.
Of course I was intrigued. Would this version be like all the others that either were full of unhealthy dairy subs, or just tasted… off?
Veggies for the win!
When I saw the secret ingredient in this dairy-free macaroni and cheese was butternut squash, I knew I had to try it! Since I was still on the GAPS intro diet and couldn’t have pastas of any kind, I tried it out on my son, who is also dairy-free. While he ate it without complaining, he was not super impressed.
So I set out to make it my own.
After a few tries, a few tweaks, and a few months later, I hit the nail on the head. At least in my and my son’s opinions. And I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we do!
PS: this sauce is 100% Full GAPS Diet friendly. Most gluten-free pasta, however, is not. To enjoy this on the GAPS diet, serve it over lentil pasta! You can find it at Trader Joe’s (this is their brand), on Amazon, or even at some Walmarts.
PPS: If you can handle potatoes, the this sauce tastes uh-mazing on top of a baked potato!
In the recipe card I’ve linked to some of the products from my affiliate partners that I like to use. Purchasing through these links won’t cost you anything extra. Thanks!
Easy, Creamy Dairy-Free Macaroni and Cheese
Free of grain, gluten, eggs, dairy, and sugar. Makes about 3 cups of sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped, steamed or roasted butternut squash (about 1/4 of a large squash)
- 1/2 cup coconut milk (I use my homemade stuff)
- 1/2 cup organic or homemade stock/broth (use veggie stock if you want it vegan/vegetarian)
- 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon brown mustard
- sea salt & pepper, to taste
Instructions
Cook squash until fork-tender. Scoop squash flesh from skin and place it in blender (I use this one).
Add remaining ingredients and puree until smooth.
Pour over cooked pasta of choice.
Notes
You can cook the squash however you like here. I like to cook mine in the Instant Pot on manual for 10 minutes. Feel free to boil it or roast it, if you want.
I’ve tried replacing the butternut with pumpkin and my son LOVES it. However, I don’t think it tastes as much like “real” mac ‘n cheese when made that way.
My dairy-free macaroni and cheese recipe is modified from this recipe.
Need more easy, dairy-free meals? Here are a few of my family’s favorites!
- One-Ingredient Carrot Fettuccini Noodles
- Quinoa Black Bean Tacos
- Chicken Biryani in the Instant Pot
- Sloppy Joe Baked Potatoes
- Spinach & Garlic Meatballs in the Instant Pot
What is an instant pot
It’s an electric pressure cooker. 🙂 I added a link to the recipe box, if you want to check it out. 🙂
I have pre-cooked and pureed butternut squash in the freezer. How many cups would this recipe need?
I would start with 1 cup, and have another 1/2 cup on hand in case you need it. 🙂
Does the t. measurement stand for teaspoon or tablespoon?
The small t is teaspoon. 🙂
Mac and cheese is always a good idea! Love that you’re using butternut! Mmm!
Thanks! 🙂 It’s so much fun to sneak it in!
This makes such a creamy sauce!! I get obsessed with it- yum!
Haha! It’s soooo good!
Comfort food at its finest and gluten and dairy free is music to my ears…or taste buds lol! Yum!
Haha! 😉
I bet it tastes amazing!
It does!
I LOVE this idea! BNS is my favorite veggie!
I never would have guessed…. bahaha! 😉 It’s a fun one to sneak into things, isn’t it?
I was all excited until I saw “pour over pasta”. How is that grain free?
I use grain-free pasta. You can find it on Amazon or at Trader Joe’s. 🙂 I talk about it in the post. 🙂
Oh my gosh – how good does this look?! I make a cashew-based mac but this looks so much creamier, and I love how it has BNS added in, too. This DF girl can’t wait to try! 🙂
I hope you enjoy it! It really is creamy and a great way to sneak butternut into your kids’ diet… haha.
A nut free make and cheese… yum?!
Haha! Yes!
Have you ever froze the sauce for later? I’m curious to how the consistency is when it’s reheated.
I have never frozen it, but it will keep in the fridge for a couple days. 🙂
How much pasta do you cook for this recipie?
I use about 2 cups of dry pasta for this recipe.
Looks great! When you say “t.” is that tablespoon or teaspoon? Guessing tablespoon but I don’t want to put too much
Sorry! Yes, lower case t is teaspoon. I’ve been trying to go through my recipes and make that clearer, haha. Hope you enjoyed the recipe!
This sounds amazing!!!! We recently had to go dairy, soy and coconut free. Do you think I could use almond milk instead of coconut? 😫
You could, though the taste might change a little. 🙂 I hope you enjoy it, Katelyn!
Thanks for this! And please don’t be sad that you can’t have the breastmilk of different mammals. Most of the world is lactose intolerant.. because we’re not baby cows and that’s who it’s for 🙂
Can’t wait to try this recipe— always looking for more vegan cheesey recipes!
Haha! You’re welcome. 😉
So much contradiction! You were so happy to show the cheesecake, but you posted on this page that you are allergic to ALL dairy (even ghee). This is really sad (having to give up loves)! Did you post the cheesecake before or after this page? Thank you!
This recipe sounds cool (especially about hiding vegetables in kid’s favorite foods)!
I’m very sorry to hear that you can’t have any kind of dairy (cow, goat, sheep, buffalo, camel, human, etc). I can understand this feels really bad. Does that mean you can’t even eat ghee?