This vegan butternut squash mac and cheese is a crowd favorite at my house. Velvety butternut squash blends into a creamy sauce for our macaroni...it's decadent yet light. What's not to love?
Butternut squash mac and cheese is a great comfort food when butternut squash is in season this fall. Buy an extra large butternut squash and make nachos, alfredo, a bisque, or hummus. Use the leftovers on top of a hearty salad or as a side by itself!
Don't know where to start? We've got you covered with this ultimate guide to roasting butternut squash.
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📋 Ingredients
- Butternut squash
- Cashews
- Soy sauce
- Grapeseed oil
- Shallot
- Lemon
- Garlic
- Thyme
- Macaroni
- Salt
- Pepper
- Mushrooms (optional, not pictured)
- Scallions (optional, not pictured)
For the complete list of ingredients with measurements and instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
🔀 Substitutions & Variations
This vegan butternut squash mac and cheese is naturally vegan, plant-based, and dairy free. Make it gluten free by using rice pasta or other GF pasta (my favorite is Jovial).
Looking for some riffs on this butternut squash mac? Look no further...
- Spicy - add ¼ teaspoon chili pepper flakes while cooking the shallots and garlic to imbue heat into the sauce
- Fancy - stir in sautéed mushrooms and top with breadcrumbs
- Kid friendly - keep it simple, and leave out the mushrooms and thyme.
If you're in the mood for alfredo, check out this recipe. If you want something a little more classic, this vegan mac and cheese uses the roux method.
Equipment
Some basic kitchen equipment will go a long way for this vegan butternut squash mac and cheese. There are two pieces of specialty equipment required:
- High speed blender such as Vitamix for blending sauce
- Sautéing pan - wide, flat bottomed pan is best
- Optional casserole dish or cast iron skillet for baking
I use stainless steel All-Clad pots and pans, which need slightly lower heat than other pots and pans. If you're using a nonstick or ceramic cookware, you may need to use higher heat, or cook for a little longer.
If you don't have a high speed blender, you may need to blend sauce longer. Make sure all ingredients are warm or hot, and use extra caution when blending hot liquids.
🔪 How To Make This Recipe
First, roast the butternut squash. If you've never roasted butternut squash, we've got you covered. Once you've flipped your squash halfway through, start boiling water for pasta and prepare according to package instructions. Reserve at least 3 cups of the hot pasta water once the pasta is ready.
This is also a good time to boil cashews in a small saucepan for 15 minutes. If finished before squash, let cashews sit in water until ready to make sauce.
Now prepare the sauteed shallots and garlic. This will give the sauce extra savory flavor. First warm a splash of grapeseed oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Then add shallots and cook for 2-3 minutes. Finally add minced garlic and cook for a minute.
Remove from heat and add to blender with butternut squash cubes, softened cashews, salt, soy sauce, lemon juice, thyme leaves and reserved pasta water. Then blend until smooth, about 2-3 minutes in a high speed blender.
VERY IMPORTANT: all ingredients must be WARM OR HOT otherwise your sauce won't be as creamy and smooth.
If you forget to reserve pasta water, use warm or hot water to replace. Use extra caution when blending hot liquids.
(Optional): If you'd like to add sautéed mushrooms and scallions to your mac, slice scallions thinly and place into a frying pan on medium heat with a splash of grapeseed oil for 2-3 minutes. Then add thinly sliced mushrooms with a pinch of salt. Cook until mushrooms release most of their juices, and add a tablespoon or two of soy sauce. Finally, let mushrooms reabsorb sauce (1-2 minutes), then remove from heat.
In the empty pasta pot, add pasta, ½ of the sauce and mushroom mixture (if desired). Stir until combined, adding more sauce as needed. Serve immediately.
Hint: for the creamiest sauce, ingredients must be warm or hot, otherwise the cashews won't fully break down, and the sauce won't be as creamy.
💭 FAQs
There are a few key elements. Roasted butternut squash makes a velvety sauce, while the softened cashews and pasta water thicken our sauce. Onions, garlic, lemon juice and thyme add flavor.
In this recipe, we use lemon, onion, garlic and thyme to flavor the already velvety and savory butternut squash.
Warm some coconut or oat milk in the microwave or on the stove before adding to sauce in place of pasta water. In a pinch, you can also use hot water. You may need to add more butternut squash or cashews to make up for the lost starch.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
Pro Tip 1: Make sure your sauce ingredients are warm or hot! This will help the cashews break down. Don't underestimate the thickening power of the warm pasta water...
Pro Tip 2: Store mac and cheese in the fridge and reheat in microwave for 1-2 mins when ready to eat. Good for 2-3 days.
Leftover cheese sauce can also be stored in the fridge. Use on nachos or pasta! Good for 2-3 days.
🍜 Related Recipes
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Baked Vegan Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- Butternut cheese sauce
- 1 ½ cups roasted butternut squash
- ¾ cup softened cashews
- 1 shallot
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 2-3 ladles of pasta water ¾ - 1 ½ cup, depending on your sauce and blender's power
- ½ lemon juiced
- Salt to taste
- Everything else:
- 1 lb macaroni
- Salt pepper and cooking oil such as grapeseed
- 1 package mushrooms optional
- 3 scallions or 1 extra shallot optional
Instructions
- Prepare butternut squash: Preheat oven to 350 F. Cube butternut squash (removing seeds and skin), toss with oil, salt and pepper and roast for 45-60 minutes, flipping halfway through. Squash is done when the edges start to brown slightly. The squash will be soft like a sweet potato.
- Prepare pasta and sauce components: Start boiling salted water in a pasta pot and prepare pasta according to package instructions. When pasta is finished, reserve 2-3 cups of pasta water. On another burner, boil cashews for 15 minutes. If finished before pasta and butternut squash, leave in warm water until ready to blend. Meanwhile, sauté thinly sliced shallot in a frying pan with a tablespoon of oil for 2-3 mins. Add minced garlic and cook for another minute, then set aside off the heat.
- Blend sauce: combine warm butternut squash, warm pasta water, cashews, shallot/garlic mixture, and remaining sauce ingredients until smooth (2-3 minutes in a high speed blender, longer in other blenders).
- Optional - sauté mushrooms: in the same frying pan, add a tablespoon of oil on medium heat and sautee sliced scallions or extra shallots for 2-3 minutes. Then add thinly sliced mushrooms and cook until they release juices. Add a tablespoon of soy sauce and cook for another minute or two until mushrooms reabsorb juices.
- Mix it all together: in the empty pasta pot, combine pasta, half the sauce, and mushroom mixture. Stir until sauce is well distributed, adding more sauce if needed. Serve immediately.
Julie says
This butternut squash mac embraces its butternut squashiness. It's creamy and smooth, but doesn't try ~too~ hard to be cheese, which is awesome.
Angela Milnes says
so happy you love the recipe, Julie. It's one of my favorites.