Creamy Fat-Free Vegan Mac and Cheese

Creamy, Fat-Free, Vegan Mac and Cheese.

Mouth watering?

You might want to dab that little bit of drool leaking out of the corner of your mouth.

Good?  Ok.

Let me tell you, this is by far the creamiest, the cheesiest, the most decadent Vegan Mac and Cheese ever!

I mean this stuff is truly Off. The. Hook!

Remember how silky smooth that box of Velveeta got after you melted it?

Yeah – it’s like that.

Only this isn’t ‘cheese’.

In fact, there’s no dairy at all.

And there’s no tofu or cashews either, so it’s completely fat-free and McDougall friendly.

And when I tell you the secret ingredient, you’ll completely flip.

The Carrato

As I work the night shift, sleeping any kind of normal hours on my days off is out of the question.  So as I was laying in bed early this morning, watching a Vegan cooking show of all things, I saw this guy by the name of Chef Mark Anthony.  And he was making a cheese sauce.

Most vegan cheese sauces I have tried so far are made from Tofu or Cashews.

Now not everyone likes Tofu, and lots of people stay away from nuts due to their high fat content, or allergies.

So when this guy starts making a vegan cheese sauce, with Carrots and Potatoes of all things, I woke up pretty quickly.

Carrots and Potatoes?

Cheese?

Needless to say I took mental notes and today in my blender, I made magic happen.

I call it “Carrato Cheese”, and it is by far the creamiest, vegan cheese I have ever had.

Kudos to Chef Mark Anthony.  Dude….you knocked this one out of the park!

This Vegan Mac and Cheese was inspired and adapted from his amazing idea.

The Carrato Sauce

I actually weighed out 3 Yukon Gold potatoes to about 16oz, or 1 lb.  After cutting off any eyes I cut these into small chunks and added them to a pot of cold water.

I then measured out about 7 – 8oz of baby carrots, that’s about 1/2 a 16oz bag of baby carrots,  chopped them into uniform pieces, and added them to the water.

Bring your veggies to a boil and set your timer for 10 minutes.  After the timer goes off, turn off the heat and let the pot cool off for about 5 minutes or so.  I wanted the carrots to become as soft as possible for the blending process.

With a slotted spoon, transfer the “Carratos” to the blender and add about 1/2 cup of the hot potato water.  Pulse until it starts to become smooth, and then add the rest of the ingredients.

Blend on high until it becomes as smooth and creamy as you want.  You can add more of the potato water to thin it out if you want, but about 1/2 cup was just right for me.

Now before we make the vegan mac and cheese – go ahead and get a chip or something.  I know you’re dying to try this …  so go ahead and get it over with

Well?

Just like I said, right?

Thick, creamy, CHEEZEY!

Vegan Mac and Cheese

To make the vegan mac and cheese, just rinse out your potato pot and add some clean, cold water with just a pinch of salt.

When it starts to boil, toss in about 1 cup of your favorite pasta noodles.  I used Whole Wheat Elbow Macaroni.

Set your timer to whatever the pasta directions say, and when you get to about 5 minutes left before the timer goes off, add in a bag of your favorite frozen vegetables.

After 5 minutes, drain your noodles and veggies.  Now simply add in as much of the cheese sauce as you like.  I didn’t measure mine, but it was enough to make everything nice and gooey, and I still had plenty left.  Just make sure everything is coated really well.

Nice and gooey.  Yeah….

As you can see in the pictures, it came out great.

A truly fat-free vegan mac and cheese made from potatoes and carrots.

Who woulda thought?

Print Creamy Vegan Mac and Cheese

Prep time:  30 mins

Cook time:  10 mins

Total time:  40 mins

Serves: 4

This is by far the creamiest, the cheesiest, the most decadent Vegan Mac and Cheese ever! Remember how silky smooth that box of Velveeta got after you melted it? Yeah - it's like that. Ingredients

• 16 oz potatoes (about 3 medium yukon golds) chopped
• 7 - 8 oz carrots, chopped (about ½ of a 16oz bag of baby carrots)
• ½ cup water used to boil potatoes
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp brown mustard
• ⅛ tsp tumeric
• 1 cup whole wheat macaroni or pasta of choice
• 1 bag frozen vegetables of choice (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, etc)

Instructions

1. Wash and scrub both potatoes and carrots
2. Peel if desired
3. Chop into uniform pieces and boil for 10 minutes
4. Let rest for 5 minutes
5. With slotted spoon, transfer veggies to blender
6. Add ½ cup potato water
7. Pulse to mix
8. Add in remaining ingredients and blend until smooth
9. Boil pasta until al dente
10. Add in frozen vegetables to last 5 min of boiling
11. Drain and stir in enough cheese sauce until creamy and coated

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