Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese

This Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese is the perfect Fall side dish that still adds a little protein your meal! You can also just eat it as a main, which I sometimes do! The protein comes from the silken tofu, nutritional yeast and soy milk. The silken tofu adds a lot of creaminess to the “cheese” sauce without using cashews. The nutritional yeast adds the cheesy flavor – you’ll see a lot of recipes that only use a couple of tablespoons of nutritional yeast, but I love the flavor so I use a lot – it’s also very high in protein! If you can find a red lentil or protein macaroni noodle that could add even more protein (alas I couldn’t find any when I made this). Extra bonus – this mac & cheese is veggie packed!

If you want to use TVP instead of the breadcrumbs, check out how I used them in this High Protein Mac and Cheese!

Ingredients

Mac & Cheese

• Macaroni noodles – you can really use whichever macaroni noodles you prefer. Using red lentil or protein pasta would add some extra protein to the recipe!
• Extra Firm Silken Tofu – make sure you use silken tofu instead of normal tofu. If you use regular tofu (extra firm/super firm), you will end up with something closer to a paste than a sauce. If you haven’t used silken tofu before, there are two types – refrigerated and shelf-stable – both will work for this recipe! The refrigerated silken tofu is usually next to the other tofus at most grocery stores. The shelf-stable silken tofu tends to be in the International Food isle (at least in the States). You can also buy the shelf-stable variety online. I like the brand Mori-Nu and usually buy their Extra Firm Silken Tofu.
• Onion
• Garlic – I use fresh garlic because I think it tastes better. You can use pre-minced garlic if you’re trying to save time though!
• Butternut Squash – fresh or frozen will work!
• Soy milk – this is my prefered plant-based milk because it has the best macros, but you can use whichever milk you like. I prefer to use a creamy milk for this like soy or oat milk.
• Lemon – I try to use fresh lemons when possible but store-bought lemon juice will also work. If you don’t have either, you could try using a mild vinegar like apple cider or white wine vinegar since the lemon juice is used to add acidity to the cheese sauce.

• Nutritional Yeast – this is a must-have ingredient if you’re making non-dairy cheese flavored things! Nutritional Yeast is a shelf-stable ingredient that you can find at most grocery stores and you can also buy it online! It also has a lot of protein!
• Turmeric, garlic powder, salt, rubbed sage, pumpkin pie spice

Breadcrumb Topping

• Breadcrumbs – I really love panko breadcrumbs, but you can use whichever breadcrumbs you like. If you’re feeling adventurous and want to add some extra protein to the recipe, you can use half breadcrumbs/half TVP
• Vegan butter – I usually use Miyokos but any brand will work.
• Smoked Paprika.
• Vegan Parmesan – I used Follow Your Heart because it browns amazingly well in the oven.

Instructions

• Pre-heat the oven to 375 F (190 C).
• Dice and peel the onion, mince the garlic and dice the butternut squash (if you’re using fresh).
• Spread out your cut veggies on a parchment paper lined-baking sheet.
• Sprinkle the seasonings – rubbed sage, salt, pumpkin pie spice and garlic powder – on top.

• Cook for 20 minutes, until the butternut squash is fork tender (you can easily stab it with a fork).

• Meanwhile, boil a pot of water and cook the macaroni noodles per the package instructions.
• In a small bowl, melt the vegan butter. I just do this in the microwave.
• Mix together the butter, smoked paprika, breadcrumbs and vegan parmesan. I usually add the smoked paprika to the melted butter first so that it gets evenly dispersed.

• Once the veggies are done cooking, blend up the veggies, silken tofu, milk, nutritional yeast, turmeric, and lemon juice until smooth and creamy. Make sure you get all of the spices from the parchment paper in there too!

• Drain the water from the pasta and mix in the sauce until every noodle is well coated.
• Transfer the mac and cheese to a casserole dish. If you’re worried about sticking, spray with a bit of oil.

• Sprinkle the breadcrumb and cheese mixture on top and evenly spread it out.

• Bake in the oven for another 15 – 20 minutes. I like to broil it for a few minutes at the end to get the breadcrumbs and parmesan nice and crispy!

Silly Little Haiku

Veggies in the sauce

So you can trick your children

Make them eat veggies