Whether you strictly follow a plant-based diet or just consider yourself curious in the kitchen, you can make yummy vegan mac and cheese that will either fool you into thinking you’re eating the real thing or taste so darn good that you don’t even care. As Tabitha Brown told Tasting Table, there’s more than one way to do it. One way is to start totally from scratch. “If you want to create your own cheese, you’re going to have to use nutritional yeast, carrots, potatoes, and cashews to make a really good vegan cheese,” said Brown.
Of course, if you don’t have the energy for desire or that, Brown says you can probably find what you’re looking for in the grocery store, believe it or not. “Now, there’s so many amazing [vegan cheeses] you can buy at the store that are made with chickpeas, or they’re made with almonds, or they’re made with cashews,” she said. You can also load up your pasta dish with a variety of different vegan cheeses, which is what Brown does to create a depth of flavor in her mac and cheese. She likes “a little bit of sharp, a little bit of medium, maybe a little bit of mozzarella.” She added, “Always season the cheese with a little garlic powder. You got your little herbs and spices in there so that it heightens the flavor.”
Finally, Brown said she likes to add “a little bit of butternut squash, because it gives it the color of cheese, that rich orange look, but it also adds that heightened flavor of a little bit of sweetness to go with the savory.” Mix it all together, and you’ve got all the classic flavors and textures that we know and crave from this beloved comfort food, but in a uniquely healthier, plant-based form.
Find this recipe and more in Tabitha Brown’s new cookbook, “Cooking from the Spirit.” Click here to get your copy.
