Macaroni And Cheese Dry Mix Recipe (Dairy Free)
A Macaroni And Cheese Dry Mix may seem a little unbelievable, especially without dairy. I know.
But yes, it exists! It just happens to be vegan, but it’s delicious for non-vegans too. The flavor of this Clean Eating Macaroni And Cheese Dry Mix is definitely that of nutritional yeast (the main ingredient) which most people consider to have a cheesey-type flavor.
I will say that there is some processing involved in the making of nutritional yeast, as many of you may already know. That being said, when you can’t have dairy, this is a really nutritional substitute. Those who are very strict with clean eating may want to avoid this, but I don’t make mac and cheese that often, so at the very least, it falls into my 80/20.
I actually had made a version of this in a dairy free cooking class I took. But I lost the recipe and wouldn’t want to repost somebody else’s recipe here anyway. At least not without permission! So I set about creating my own and I think I actually like it better!!
STORAGE
You can make one batch of this Clean Eating Macaroni And Cheese Dry Mix and have it last a good long while. Just keep it in an air-tight container and it should keep for up to 1 year in a cool, dry place. But from what I’ve read, you can keep it up to 2 years if you store it in the freezer. The choice is yours. Just be sure the container is food-safe. Something that is particularly important when something will be sitting around for longer periods of time.
The Clean Eating Macaroni And Cheese Dry Mix recipe below is for the mix itself. So here’s how you would want to actually make your mac and cheese using the mix.
MAC & CHEESE
Please keep in mind that these amounts are suggestions for getting started with this. But the final dish is highly adjustable to your own tastes. So adjust the amount of Clean Eating Macaroni & Cheese Dry Mix and milk to your liking to create the consistency you prefer. Add a little salt and pepper and you’re good to go!
Also note that the sauce will thicken and become a bit drier after about 1-2 minutes of stirring (and also as it sits), so you may need to add a bit more liquid at that point if it gets too dry. You’ll want to add a bit more when you reheat as well.
2 cups cooked pasta +
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (regular milk works fine if you prefer it) +
2 tbsp. Clean Eating Macaroni & Cheese Dry Mix = Mac & Cheese
NOTES ON THE INGREDIENTS
The best and most affordable way to purchase nutritional yeast and arrowroot powder are in bulk. Once they package those items, the price jumps up a lot. So try to find them in bulk if you can. Arrowroot powder is particularly cheap in bulk. I usually buy it one or two pounds at at time because I also use it to make my own deodorant!
However, if you can’t find it locally, the next best thing is to shop for it online. I found some decent prices on Amazon.
- You can find the Nutritional Yeast Flakes here. (affiliate link)
- You can find the Arrowroot Starch / Flour here. (affiliate link)
YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY THESE CLEAN EATING RECIPES:
CLEAN EATING MACARONI AND CHEESE DRY MIX RECIPE:
Clean Eating Macaroni & Cheese Dry Mix Recipe (Dairy Free)
Ingredients
- 2 cups nutritional yeast
- ¼ cup arrowroot powder
- ¼ cup garlic powder
- ¼ cup onion powder
- 1 tbsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1 tbsp. turmeric
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a food-safe, air-tight container and store either in a cool, dark place or in your freezer.
- TO MAKE MAC & CHEESE:
- 2 cups cooked pasta + 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (regular milk works fine if you prefer it) + 2 tbsp. dry mix = Mac & Cheese
Notes
Nutrition
From the Gracious Pantry archives, originally posted 12/19/16.
We made the dry mix tonight (about 1/4 the original recipe) and the mac & cheese-ish. It was delicious! We’ve been trying to do a dairy-free diet and somethings are hard to substitute. We found a pretty good mac & cheese that uses a base of butternut squash, but it is fairly time consuming to make. This was quick and easy and delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Lauren – Fantastic!!! I’m so happy you enjoyed it! 😀
Our fave mac & cheese brand is Annie’s, and I typically buy gluten-free, which is around $3/box. For such a small amount of pasta, it really adds up… and the dry cheese powder isn’t cheap, either, if you want to buy that separately. I love nutritional yeast and use it for lots of things, and specifically wanted a mix that incorporated it. It’s really hard to get that true cheese flavor with something other than cheese, but I found this a really good starting point.
Since we aren’t dairy-free, I took the cue from the boxed directions, using gluten-free boxed pasta ($2/box compared to $6 for two boxes of mac & cheese) and added melted butter along with the milk and mix. The first time I made it, it was lacking. Next time, I added some olive oil, used whole-milk yogurt for the milk, and added chipotle chili powder. Yum!
Karla – That sounds wonderful! So happy you enjoyed it! 🙂