Sweet Potato and Kale Mac n’ Cheese, Vegan + Gluten-Free
On a super chilly day last week, I had a crazy craving for Cauliflower Mac n’ Cheese. Since it was just so cold out and I’m totally over winter, I decided to see if I could throw something together without venturing out for ingredients. I didn’t have the the main ingredient, cauliflower, but I did have a sweet potato so I crossed my fingers and gave it a try.
I’m thrilled to say that the Vegan, Gluten-Free Sweet Potato and Kale Mac n’ Cheese experiment was beyond successful. Using roasted sweet potato as the base made for a very creamy, flavorful and colorful “cheese”. I also added kale for texture and color and decided to serve it straight out of the pot instead of baking it.
For the pasta I used the brown rice spirals that I had on hand instead of elbows or shells but any kind of pasta will work wonderfully.
- 1 large sweet potato
- 1 package pasta of your choice
- 1 cup non-dairy milk
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbs dijon mustard
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 2 tbs tamari
- 1 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups kale, shredded
- Preheat oven to 400°. Poke holes in sweet potato and wrap in foil. Bake until tender (45- 60 mins).
- While the potato bakes, prepare pasta according to instructions on container.
- Remove potato from oven and peel away skin when it's cool enough to handle.
- Place in blender with all ingredients (except kale) and blend until smooth.
- In a large pot, heat kale with a tablespoon of water until wilted. Stir in sauce and pasta and heat until warm.
- Transfer to plates and enjoy right away!
Holy moly, this looks and sounds SO amazing!! I’m going to have to try it out with GF pasta 🙂
Yay!! Brown rice gluten-free spirals are my favorite! 🙂
I made this tonight. It was really, REALLY good! And it came together really quickly. Thanks for a great recipe!
Yay, so happy you liked it!! It’s definitely a new staple recipe in my house 🙂
Finally made this! So delicious and creamy! And since I’m the only one eating it this made enough for the week. 🙂
Yay! So happy you enjoyed!!
This looks delicious! I really want to try… but I am allergic to brewer’s and baker’s yeast. I’m curious what “nutritional yeast” is in this recipe and if it’s possible to substitute or eliminate. Thanks!
Hi Aimee, here’s the nutritional yeast that I use: https://bragg.com/products/bragg-premium-nutritional-yeast-seasoning-salt-free.html
Instead of risking an allergy attack, a great substitute would actually be a little bit of vegan cream cheese! I’ve used that in the past to flavor my mac! 🙂
Hey Ilena, It looks great! english is not my first language so- are the nutritional yeast just like the yeast you put in bread? or are they diffrenet type?
Thank you very much!
Yep, nutritional yeast is very different than baking yeast! 🙂 Here’s a link to the kind I use: https://bragg.com/products/bragg-premium-nutritional-yeast-seasoning-salt-free.html
Thank you very much! 🙂
Is this pasta good to make the night before and save for the week? Will it hold pretty well? Looks amazing!
I wouldn’t recommend making this dish too far in advance as it does dry out a little once it goes in the fridge. A great option would be to prep the sauce ahead of time (You can store it in the fridge for a few days) and make the pasta fresh each day!
I made this tonight, and, used soy sauce instead of tamari, and added broccoli, edamame, and corn. SO GOOD!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Your additions sound perfect!
I don’t like mustard. Is there anything else I can substitute wiith?
How do you feel about apple cider vinegar? Adding a splash instead will give it that zingy flavor! You could also just omit it altogether and I think the mac will still be great!
Hello 🙂
Is it possible to replace the yeast and tamari with something else, as I don’t have both? Thank you!
For the tamari you can sub soy sauce, Bragg’s, or coconut aminos if you have any of those. The nutritional yeast is what gives it a really cheesy flavor so that’s a tough one to sub!
Thank you very much for the helpful and quick reply! 🙂
Thoughts on the best non-dairy milk to use? I have almond on hand but unfortunately its vanilla. I was thinking canned coconut as it would end up being so creamy, but not sure how coconutey it would end up being.
I usually use unsweetened plain almond milk but I think canned coconut would be great! Extra creamy and dreamy!
making this as i type
YAY!
I’m allergic to soy is there anything I can use to replace the soy sauce that doesn’t contain soy?
Bragg’s Liquid Aminos and Coconut aminos are great options!
Wonderful pics for a delicious recipe 🙂
Thanks!! 🙂
Could you let me know about how many cups of puree one large sweet potato yields? I only have small ones on hand, so I need a conversion. Thanks!
This dish was so yummy! It wasn’t exactly “mac n’cheese” like, but it was still super yummy and easy to make! My boyfriend liked it too. We used liquid aminos instead of tamari and it was really good! We will definitely be making this again! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
That’s good to know liquid aminos makes a good substitute! I’m so glad you liked it!!
I’ve made this twice now and it’s even great without the oil. I just substituted miso and it was awesome!
Miso sounds like a great addition! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed!!
When you say sweet potato, do you mean a yam?
Yep, that will work!
Made this today. So delicious! I can’t believe how good this was.
Yay!
Just made this and it was amazing!! I microwaved the sweet potato, so it literally took just minutes to make.
Yay! I’m so glad you loved it!
Was able to make this recipe and it came out great. Super easy to make, thank you so much! I added chili flakes for a little spice;)
Oh yum! Sometimes we put hot sauce on top but chili flakes sound like a really great addition!
I want to try this recipe but don’t have sweet potatoes on hand. I do have some butternut squash though, would that work?