This was my substitute for buttery, cow's milk, gluten filled, processed cheese mac n cheese, though I would say it turned out a little more like a creamy mushroom pasta sauce. Not quite an alfredo, but something similar.
But do you really believe me when I say there is no dairy in this creamy pasta sauce? The sauce is completely dairy and gluten free and so long as you use gluten free pasta, this whole meal is dairy free and gluten free!
I stumbled upon making this sauce when I was making Mac n Cheese and really wasn’t looking forward to a dairy and gluten overload. So I still made the Mac n Cheese for David (homemade from scratch, so easy!) and tried something different for myself. Here's how David's version turned out:
This creamy, cheesy sauce, all started with nutritional yeast. I thought if this is supposed to have a cheesy taste could I substitute it in Mac n Cheese? Definitely not alone, but with some other ingredients, it works!
In place of butter I used a teaspoon of coconut oil. In place of flour I used about 1 tbsp if arrowroot flour. In place of milk I used coconut milk. But that wasn’t enough. It wasn’t thickening up and the taste was still kind of odd. So I added about 1/4 of a cooked sweet potato and yum! Salt and pepper, red chili flakes and mixed herbs and the flavor was close enough to a creamy sauce. If you do try this, don't expect a perfect Alfredo or super cheesy sauce. Just like if you make zoodles, don't think think it will taste just like pasta. But it is quite creamy and tasting considering its ingredients!
I sautéed/steamed mushrooms and when combined with the creamy sauce the flavors blended in a beautiful way. It's not perfect, but it's definitely a great dairy and gluten free creamy sauce option in place of full on butter, milk, flour and processed cheese sauce (which my husband is very happily eating right now).
Ingredients
1/2-3/4 can of coconut milk
1 tbsp coconut oil (optional)
1 tbsp arrowroot flour (or any grain free flour)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 sweet potato
1 small container of mushrooms
Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, basil
Method
1. Melt coconut oil over medium heat in a sauce pan.
2. Mix coconut milk with the arrowroot flour while still room temperature.
3. Add coconut oil mix, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes (optional) to the sauce pan.
4. Boil or bake the sweet potato and boil gluten free pasta while making the sauce.
5.Mash it up and combine with sauce. Blend or whisk thoroughly until it is a good thick and creamy consistency.
6. Sauté or steam the mushrooms (in a little white wine or water) and add them to the sauce. Top with basil and more red pepper flakes if you want a kick!
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