Dairy free mac and cheese
Dairy free mac and cheese is a guaranteed kid pleaser, and one of our favourite family meals! Keep things simple and serve with a side of lightly steamed veg; broccoli florets work well for baby led weaning.
Ingredients
- 1 medium butternut squash, roasted and mashed (about 800g before roasting)
- 250 g macaroni (use gluten free if required)
- 50 g dairy free butter alternative (I use Pure olive)
- 50 g plain flour (use gluten free if required)
- 500 ml plant based milk, fortified and unsweetened (almond or oat work well)
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 150 g vegan cheese, grated
- 1/2 tsp polenta
Instructions
Preparing the butternut squash:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C / 180°C fan, then line a large baking tray with baking paper.
- Cut your butternut squash into quarters (there's no need to peel it) and scoop out the seeds. Place the squash onto a baking tray and roast for around 40 minutes.
- Remove the squash from the oven, and scoop out the flesh into a mixing bowl. Mash until smooth.
- It is fine to do this the day before and keep the mashed squash in a sealed container in the fridge until ready for use.
To make the mac and cheese:
- Preheat the oven to 220°C / 200°C fan.
- Cook your macaroni according to the packet instructions, then drain and set aside.
- Whilst the macaroni is cooking, get started on the sauce. Melt the butter alternative in a pan on a gentle heat. Stir in the flour to make a paste, and cook for a minute or so (keep stirring!).
- Then, add the plant milk little by little, stirring frequently. Gently heating the plant milk before adding can help stop lumps forming (see these tips for a perfect roux).
- Continue stirring until the sauce starts to simmer and thickens up.
- Take the pan off the heat and immediately stir through the vegan cheese, nutritional yeast, dijon mustard, and mashed butternut squash. Stir until it is really well combined to make a thick sauce.
- Add the cooked macaroni to the sauce, stir well, and then pour into an oven proof dish.
- Lightly sprinkle the polenta on the top.
- Bake for around 20 mins in the oven, until golden on top.
Notes
- If you or your child has an allergy, always double check that the recipe and all of the components are suitable. This includes checking 'may contain' statements on each ingredient and making your own assessment of risk based on personal circumstances.
- To freeze, follow the recipe instructions up to step 7. Let the combined macaroni and sauce cool, and then transfer to a sealed container to freeze. You can do this as one large family sized portion, or separate into child sized portions
- When you're ready to cook it, defrost thoroughly, then transfer to an oven proof dish. Sprinkle over the polenta and cook for around 20 minutes at 220°C / 200°C fan, until golden on top.
- This recipe gives 4 generous servings! If there are leftovers we often use them as a side to another meal in the next couple of days.
- To make this dish gluten free, use a gf flour and gf macaroni. If using oat milk as your plant based milk, make sure that it is gluten free.