When I was in college Kraft Mac-n-Cheese was a dietary staple. I absolutely still love it today but I’m a little more cautious about pouring that florescent orange/yellow powder over my pasta. Just sayin. Real cheese over pasta is great, but loaded with saturated fat.

I was browsing through some of my old VegNews magazines and came across this vegan mac-n-cheese recipe. I couldn’t believe I had never tried it. It was incredibly easy and quick to put together. Nutritional Yeast is the ingredient that gives this dish the “cheesy” flavor and as a bonus, has many nutritional benefits. One serving, 2 tablespoons, provides the following:

• 9g of protein (complete protein), providing all 9 amino acids
• High in Potassium
• Fortified Nutritional yeast is a great source of vitamin B12
• Good source of dietary fiber

I typically buy nutritional yeast in bulk at a health food store, but I believe Bob’s Mills sells is packaged as well. Bonus, it’s pretty cheap.

This is a great way to carb load the night before a long run or as a recovery lunch after.

Ingredients:

• 5 Cups water divided
• 3/4 Cups nutritional yeast
• 1/4 Cup pine nuts
• 2 Teaspoons onion powder
• 1 Teaspoon garlic
• 1/2 Teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 1 Teaspoon pepper
• 1 Tablespoon Bragg Liquid Aminos (Soy Sauce can be use as a substitute)
• 2 cups uncooked pasta
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 Cup flour
• 3/4 Cup breadcrumbs

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Use 4 cups of water to cook the pasta and leave one cup aside
• While the water is boiling/pasta is cooking, in a blender add nutritional yeast, pine nuts, and all spices and blend until smooth. Add remaining one cup of water and Bragg Liquid Aminos.
• Heat oil in a large pan, add flour and stir until completely smooth and all lumps are removed. Pour “cheesy” mixture from blender into the pan stirring until thoroughly combined, then remove from heat.
• Add cooked pasta to the cheesy sauce in the pan. Transfer to an oven safe dish, top with breadcrumbs and bake for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!