Wondering how to make healthy mac and cheese? Try this easy blended vegan macaroni and cheese recipe. It’s so delicious, but it’s also filled with vegetables and it’s oil-free!
Healthy Homemade Mac and Cheese
I don’t know about you, but mac and cheese is definitely one of my happy childhood food memories. That’s why I think it’s critical to have a healthy mac and cheese recipe up my sleeve.
This low calorie and low fat recipe lets me enjoy the macaroni experience, but also leaves me feeling energized and well afterwards.
This recipe uses hemp hearts for creaminess (no cashews!), carrots for color, and nutritional yeast for flavor. It’s completely delicious and 100% kid approved! It’s the perfect way to sneak hidden veggies into your kids diets.
How to Serve Healthy Macaroni and Cheese
I love adding additional vegetables to this pasta. My favorites are broccoli and cauliflower florets.
If you want to serve this without pasta, you could also serve it over zoodles.
Vegan Mac and Cheese Sauce
This recipe is naturally vegan, dairy-free, and plant-based, and doesn’t need any alterations!
Gluten Free Macaroni
The only alteration you need to make to keep this recipe gluten free is to swap regular pasta for gluten free pasta. This is the healthy gluten free pasta I used for these photographs, and it was such a delicious combo!
If you like healthy versions of vegan junk food, try my Healthy Spinach Pesto or my Cheeseless Pizza! They’re both delicious and very popular.
What You’ll Need
This is a super simple recipe, but you will need a few basic tools and pantry staples.
These are my favorite brands of the pantry ingredients you’ll need:
If you wanted to up the umami flavor in this recipe, you could also add a teaspoon of white miso paste! It’s a delicious addition.
The tools you’ll need are a small lidded pot (I love this one) and a blender. You don’t necessarily need a high speed blender for this recipe, but they do make the absolute creamiest vegan sauces. I use mine daily and love the results I get with it.
Healthy Mac and Cheese
Wondering how to make healthy mac and cheese? Try this easy vegan macaroni and cheese recipe. It's so delicious, but it's also filled with vegetables and it's oil-free!
Ingredients
- 2 medium carrots (chopped)
- 1/4 cup hemp hearts
- 1 cup canned chickpeas or cannellini beans (drained and rinsed)
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic granules
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 3/4 cup water
Instructions
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Boil the chopped carrots until fork tender (about 6 minutes). Drain the carrots.
- Combine the boiled carrots, hemp hearts, canned chickpeas or cannellini beans, nutritional yeast, garlic granules, Kosher salt, and water in a blender. Blend until completely smooth.
- Toss over cooked macaroni noodles and serve warm.
Notes
I prefer this with cannellini beans because they have a much more neutral flavor. It will work with either cannellini beans or chickpeas though.
I love keeping this dish extra healthy by serving it with grain-free gluten free pasta. This is my favorite brand, and I highly recommend it for this recipe!
If you don't have a high speed blender, I'd recommend using a food processor. If you don't have a food processor, I'd recommend straining the puree through a sieve after blending it with a standard blender. To strain it, you'll need to move it around and push it through the sieve using the back of a spoon.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1/6Amount Per Serving: Calories: 114Total Fat: 3.6gSaturated Fat: 0.4gTrans Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 179.2mgCarbohydrates: 11.9gNet Carbohydrates: 6.6gFiber: 5.3gSugar: 2.1gProtein: 7.3g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate. The nutrition information for this recipe does not include any pasta.
If you try this recipe, please let me know what you thought in the comments or on Instagram! @keytomylime #keytomylime
Be sure to pin this recipe for later!
Try making the best healthy mac and cheese!
