The hardest part about living in Atlanta isn’t dealing with the traffic, it’s avoiding all the tempting decadent southern food! When we go out to eat, mac and cheese seems to always be a menu staple. However, those dishes are filled with unhealthy ingredients so it’s an item we tend to avoid… even though it’s so hard to resist! After a night out to dinner with my husband and craving a delicious looking mac and cheese dish at a local restaurant, we decided to come up with our own version of Healthier Mac & Cheese.
The real game-changer in this dish is the cauliflower sauce, that’s right… cauliflower! We skipped the butter, flour and milk and cut way back on the amount of cheese used in this recipe. The cheese sauce gets its thickness from the cauliflower. If you have picky little ones it’s a great way to sneak more veggies into their diet.
So let’s get to the details of the sauce. Start by cutting a head of cauliflower into florets and adding it to a large stockpot of equal parts water and low sodium vegetable broth. You could use all water but the vegetable broth adds so much flavor. After the florets are fork tender add them to a blender with ½ cup of the hot broth, almond milk, spices and mustard and blend until smooth. Then add in ½ cup of the grated cheddar cheese. If the sauce is too thick you can add more broth a little at a time until the desired consistency is achieved. And that’s all there is to the sauce!
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Pout the sauce mixture over your cooked pasta and toss to combine. Transfer to a baking dish and sprinkle the top with more grated cheese and breadcrumbs. Place in a preheated 375 degree oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
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Healthier Mac & Cheese
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 package pasta
- 1 head cauliflower
- 2 cups organic low sodium vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp tumeric
- pinch of pepper
- 1 cup smoked cheddar cheese grated and divided
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Cut cauliflower into florets and add to a stockpot.
- Cover with vegetable broth and water or until cauliflower is almost completely covered. Bring to a boil and cook until fork-tender, about 10-20 minutes.
- Transfer the cooked cauliflower to a food processor or blender with a slotted spoon and add ½ cup of the hot broth, almond milk and spices and mustard. Blend until smooth, if too thick add in more broth.
- Add in ½ cup of the grated cheese and blend again.
- Pour the cauliflower cheese sauce over the pasta and mix together.
- Pour into a baking dish (we used an 8”x8”) and sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese and bread crumbs.
- Bake for 15 minutes and then place under the broiler until the top is golden brown.
