Dairy-free Mac and “Cheese”

I’m really excited to share this recipe today!

Over the last few months, Bill and I have added back in some rice noodles. We don’t eat them often, but have really enjoyed having them as a little “treat.” We’ve been eating the Tinkyada organic rice noodles, and they are our favorite. The texture is amazing. I personally love the spiral shaped ones, and my favorite way to have them is in our Chicken Zoodle Soup with Meatballs from Make it Paleo 2! That has been my comfort food this winter.

Ever since I realized I was tolerating the rice noodles just fine (no tummy upset or anything), I started craving mac & cheese. I was never a big mac & cheese eater. I loved it of course, but just never had it that much. We don’t typically eat dairy, and I’m still very strict with my eating. I’ve included some rice or rice noodles to keep feeding my adrenals some good carbs, but I really have no reason to add dairy back in. Sugar is pretty much off my menu (probably forever), so I will admit that my current idea of a treat would be indulging in some dairy, hence the mac & cheese cravings.

I’m not ready to add dairy back into my diet, so I went to work on a dairy-free version. We have a recipe for dairy-free alfredo sauce in Make it Paleo 2, which I love, so I based this recipe off of that one. It’s really pretty simple. Ghee, chicken stock, and nutritional yeast are the ingredients that help give it the “cheesy” flavor.

(Confused about why Ghee would be in a dairy-free recipe? Here’s a post from Jessica Flanigan on cultured ghee, and how the fermentable bacteria in it will consume any trace lactose and casein).

If you cannot tolerate ghee, you can leave it out. I use coconut cream as the base for the sauce, and to get the similar texture of a thick, creamy, cheese sauce, you just need to reduce the sauce in a skillet, and then blend it in the blender. The blending helps emulsify the sauce, because there will still be some separation of the ghee and coconut cream when you are cooking it down, so whipping it helps blend it up well, and allow it to thicken even more.

I also added our Turmeric to the sauce for some color. This is totally optional. A white sauce will taste just as great! We’re hoping to bring back Turmeric in our lineup of spices, although we have a handful of packs that contain it left in Canada. (Please email us to special order our Turmeric if you live in Canada.)

This recipe was a huge hit with the family! If you cannot tolerate rice noodles, then I recommend enjoying this over Cappello’s noodles. If you want a super-duper Paleo version, then spiralize some zucchini or celery root. You really can’t go wrong, however you decide to enjoy it!

xo,
Hayley

This delicious, creamy sauce is a great dairy-free alternative to the classic recipe for Macaroni and Cheese. Adults will love this recipe, just as much as children will! Serve over your choice of gluten-free, grain-free, or spiralized vegetable noodles!

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1.5 Tbsp 1.5 Tbsp 1.5 Tbsp Tin Star Cultured Ghee
1 cup 1 cup 1 cup Coconut Cream, scooped off the top of a can of coconut milk
1/4 cup 1/4 cup 1/4 cup Chicken Stock, free range, organic
1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp Himalayan Pink Salt
1/2 tsp 1/2 tsp 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
2 tsp 2 tsp 2 tsp Nutritional Yeast
1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp Turmeric
4 cup 4 cup 4 cup Rice Noodles, (Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta Elbow noodles)

Process

Note, these instructions are written assuming the standard serving size, since you have modified the number of servings, these steps may need to be modified for best results

In a medium size stainless steel skillet, heat the ghee over medium heat.
Scoop the cream off of the top of a can of full fat coconut milk, add the chicken stock, and whisk together with the ghee.
Season with salt and pepper, nutritional yeast, and turmeric, and whisk until all of the ingredients are combined.
Allow the sauce to bubble over medium heat, stirring frequently so that the sauce does not burn.
While the sauce is cooking, prepare your choice of noodles to boil.
Reduce the sauce, while stirring frequently for about 10 minutes, or until it is thickened.
Pour the thickened sauce into your blender, and blend on high for 30 seconds.
Pour the sauce over your cooked noodles, and enjoy.

Notes

This sauce needs constant attention while it is reducing. If you are using spiralized vegetable noodles, be sure to prepare them before the sauce starts cooking, so that you can focus all of your attention on the sauce. You will know when the sauce is thickened enough, because as you stir it with your spatula, it will separate from the spatula dragging through it, before coming back together.