Our totally dairy-free take on mac and cheese is just as luxurious as a classic bechamel-based version, is easy to throw together, and requires no specialty ingredients like plant-based milk, butter, or cheese.
We’re tapping sweet potatoes as the basis for a mac ’n’ “cheese” sauce. This dish gets all the creaminess it needs from water, sweet potatoes, and cashews, the softest nuts, which provide a much-needed shot of fat. The cheesy flavor comes from nutritional yeast and spices like onion powder and smoked paprika, which deliver all the familiar savory notes. Even the color is nostalgic, with the bright orange sweet potato conjuring up memories of boxed mac.
This dish comes together on the stovetop and in a blender, but we like to finish it in the oven so it can bake to ooey-gooey, crunchy-topped perfection. Rather than breadcrumbs, our preferred medium for achieving a more flavorful topping is crushed potato chips, but you can also use seasoned breadcrumbs or pulverize your favorite cracker. Ritz, which are surprisingly vegan, would be a great choice here. You’re going to want to bookmark this one for beyond the holidays: It has serious weeknight dinner energy, and with the added veggie bonus, you can feel good about eating it on the regular.
Sweet Potato Mac
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients:
- Nonstick cooking spray or plant butter, for the pan
- 2 cups peeled and diced sweet potato (about 1 large sweet potato)
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, divided, plus more for pasta
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- ⅓ cup cashews
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound macaroni
- 1 cup crushed potato chips or crackers
Procedure:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and grease a 2-quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray or plant butter.
- Place the sweet potatoes and ¼ teaspoon salt in a saucepan and add enough water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until fork-tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Drain the sweet potatoes and transfer them to a high-speed blender. Add the garlic, cashews, nutritional yeast, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, smoked paprika, onion powder, ½ teaspoon salt, olive oil, and ⅓ cup water. Blend until smooth. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare the pasta to slightly below al dente according to the package instructions. Drain, reserving ½ cup pasta water.
- Transfer the pasta back to the pot and stir in the sauce. If it’s too thick, add some of the pasta water to loosen.
- Pour the pasta into the prepared casserole dish and top with the crushed potato chips. Bake, covered with foil, for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the topping is golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes.
Notes and Substitutions:
- You can crush the chips in a food processor or in a sealed bag with a rolling pin.
- Save your sweet potato skins to make chips! Lightly toss the skins with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, dried herbs, or whatever seasonings you fancy. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes at 400 degrees F or until brown and crispy.
