I’m not vegetarian or vegan, but I’ve trying to work in more plant based meals and recipes into my regular routine. For better health, and also because lately I’ve found that I just haven’t been enjoying a lot of the meat focused meals I’ve been making, so I figured now would be a good time to experiment with some alternatives.

I was *SHOCKED* by this recipe. I’ve always wanted to try it but would forget to grab the (absolutely essential) nutritional yeast from the store. Thankfully, I remembered while making a random Amazon order and threw it into the cart as well. It was absolutely worth the experiment because I really enjoyed this, and it TRULY tastes cheesy and comforting. Not what you’d expect.  I will absolutely make this again in the future, and would recommend it for vegans and non vegans alike.

What you need:

• 5 ounces pasta, uncooked
• 1 cup potato, diced
• 1/2 cup carrot, diced
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup water, preferably from the pot of boiled veggies
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp mustard powder
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• pinch cayenne

1. Place potato and carrot into a pot and cover with water, bring to a boil and cook for 10-15 minutes or until they are tender.
2. Cook and strain your pasta during this time and set aside.
3. Reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water and place along with all other ingredients into a blender and blend until the sauce is thick and smooth. You can add additional water if you feel its not thin enough.
4. Mix sauce with cooked pasta and serve immediately.

It’s that simple and it really works as a replacement. This would also work great with a lot of different mix-ins like broccoli or vegan sausage etc, or even topped with toasted bread crumbs!

I mean, nothing will truly replace the heavy cream, cheese piled, heart stopping, roux thickened mac & cheese, but as a healthy alternative that hits all the right notes, this is a big win. No guilt, no food coma, just comforting “cheesy” goodness.