Description

The iconic Trader Joe’s butternut squash mac and cheese doesn’t hold a candle to this vegan butternut squash mac and cheese recipe! It’s made with better-for-you ingredients, it’s dairy-free, and can easily be made gluten-free as well!

Ingredients

Scale

Butternut Squash Cheese Sauce

1 cup (200 g) butternut squash flesh (use 1 butternut squash or 2 honeynut squashes)
1 small bulb garlic
Olive oil and kosher salt
3/4 cup (180 g) cashew milk or any creamy milk
1/2 cup (70 g) raw unsalted cashews
1/4 cup (15 g) nutritional yeast
3 tbsp (30 g) lemon juice
3 tbsp (30 g) olive oil
1 tbsp (15 g) liquid aminos (sub with low-sodium soy sauce)
1 tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed
1/4 tsp ground mustard

Pasta & Other Ingredients

12 ounces elbow macaroni or shells
2 tbsp butter or vegan butter (can sub with olive oil)
Freshly cracked black pepper for serving

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Roast the veggies. Poke the butternut squash or honey-nut squash with a knife or fork, cut the tops off the garlic bulb, and place the squash and garlic on the prepared sheet pan. Drizzle generously with olive oil and kosher salt, rub into the squash and garlic, and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the squash is fork tender.
Peel and remove the squash flesh. Once the squash and garlic are done, cool on the counter for 15 minutes. Then, using your hands, peel off the squash skin using a fork as needed. Scoop out the flesh (avoid any seeds) – you’ll need 1 cup of squash.
Make the pasta. While the squash and garlic cool, make the pasta. Cook the pasta according to package instructions and then drain. Don’t rinse off the pasta, as the residual pasta water will help the sauce cling to the pasta better. Return the pasta back to your pot and stir in 2 tbsp of butter until melted.
Make the sauce. Add the squash, roasted garlic, cashew milk, cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, olive oil, aminos, salt, and mustard into your blender. Blend on medium-low, slowly ramping up the speed to high. Continue to blend the sauce, scraping down the sides as needed, for a total of 3 minutes or until the sauce is super silky.
Mix and serve. Pour the sauce over the pasta, turn the heat on medium-low, and stir to coat the shells until the sauce clings to the pasta. I like to add an extra splash of milk (3-4 tbsp) to help loosen the sauce a bit. Serve the mac n’ cheese with freshly cracked black pepper.
Store any leftovers in a glass tupperware in the fridge for up to 3 days. See notes for reheating!*

Notes

*To reheat the mac and cheese, add it to a pot with a generous splash of cashew milk. Turn the heat on medium-low and gently stir the mac and cheese until the sauce loosens a little bit. Continue this process until the mac and cheese is hot (takes about 8 minutes).

If you want to take this mac and cheese a step further, follow the directions for the entire recipe, except don’t heat the pasta, instead pour the pasta and sauce into a casserole dish and toss to combine. Sprinkle generously with breadcrumbs and then bake in a 450°F oven for 15 minutes or until crispy!