Yesterday’s joke has actually turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy; I’ve been eating pumpkin non-stop all week. And I can’t seem to stop. Maybe there is some truth to my Long Weekend Hangover theory after all. Pumpkin does make everything better.
Oh, and I have a great Pumpkin chia pudding recipe coming up. It might be one of my all-time favourite quick & easy pumpkin recipes. It’s that exciting.
But so is this cheeze sauce…
I was thrilled to find out that many of you went crazy for my Butternut Mac ‘n Cheeze recipe. This recipe might go down as one of the most popular in 2011. I received all kinds of comments, tweets, Facebook comments, and emails about this recipe last week. It’s always good to know that you guys enjoy the same crazy things that I do!
I knew a pumpkin version of this cheeze sauce was not far away. Many of you commented and told me that you made a pumpkin version and it turned out great. I was pretty excited about how quickly it would come together. All I had to do was stir in a cup of canned pumpkin at the end of making the sauce. Quick and easy!
There’s no blender required. No food processor. Just a stove top (but I’m sure you could also make this in the microwave too).
This Pumpkin Cheeze sauce exceeded my expectations. I couldn’t keep my spoon out of it.
Ok, Ok, it was my finger. Sue me.
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Pumpkin Mac ‘n Cheeze Sauce
Dear KD & Velveeta, deepest sympathies. xo
Adapted from Butternut Mac n Cheeze.
Yield: ~1.25-1.5 cups or approx. 4 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp Earth Balance (or other non-dairy butter replacer)
- 3/4 cup unsweetened and unflavoured Almond milk
- 1 tbsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch or flour)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 6 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- Kosher salt & black pepper, to taste (I used 1/2 tsp salt)
- herbs/seasonings, to taste (sage or cinnamon would be nice!)
1. Add Earth balance in a pot over low-medium heat.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together milk and arrowroot powder (or cornstarch or flour) and garlic powder until clumps are gone. Add into pot and whisk.
3. Stir in nutritional yeast, Dijon, S & P and whisk over low heat until thickened (about 5-7 minutes or so). Lastly, add in 1 cup of canned pumpkin and stir until combined and heated through.
Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Nutritional Info: (per serving, based on 4 servings): 138 kcals, 4 grams fat (1 gram sat fat), 18 grams carbs, 6 grams fibre, 11 grams protein, 2 grams sugar.
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This was so easy I wanted to shed tears of happiness. I’ve been having my share of frustrations with recipes over the past couple weeks and to have something come together perfectly on the first try was welcomed.
I love how orange the sauce is too. I never thought I would see the day when I would eat a cheeze sauce and feel healthy! The nutritional info was also a pleasant surprise (see end of recipe). I forgot how much protein and fibre nutritional yeast has in it!
I also wanted to point out that I made a couple adjustments to the original recipe. I cut the milk down to 3/4 cup instead of using 1 cup to make the sauce a bit thicker. I also cut down the salt to 1/2 tsp instead of 3/4 tsp. Lastly, I increased the nutritional yeast to 6 tbsp instead of 5 tbsp. I’ve updated these changes in the Butternut sauce recipe too.
I made two servings of pasta and added enough sauce until I felt like it was enough.
…which is a lot. :)
Bring it on!
As for which version I like better?
It’s close. I would have to say the butternut version wins by an inch. You really cant beat fresh, roasted butternut! With that being said, I know I will end up making this version more often just because it’s so easy.
Now, you can spice up this sauce any way you’d like.
I think a little cinnamon stirred in would be lovely to bring out the pumpkin flavour. I actually added some dried sage (after the photoshoot) and that was nice too.
I served it with red kidney beans and sautéed kale and a sprinkle of Herbamare. I also used some leftover cornbread topping and mixed it into my mac ‘n cheeze. Great idea.
Wondering where to purchase nutritional yeast? You can find it in the natural foods section of many grocery stores (Loblaws/Superstore carries it) as well as bulk food stores and health stores. I’m sure you can find it online too. For those of you who purchase nutritional yeast, please leave a comment and let me (and others) know where you buy it!
What other ways do you think this sauce could be adapted? Any other mix-in ideas? Any other vegetables?
I vow to try them all.
Just made this now. It’s really good! Must say I added 2 extra tablespoons of nutritional yeast, 2 extra tablespoons of of earth balance, and a 1/4 cup more almond milk. I prefer a little thinner texture with more of a butter flavor. Haven’t quite gotten the whole brown rice noodle cooking thing down yet though – man they are difficult!!
A tbs of tahini does wonders for this amazing sauce!
good to know, thanks!
Does it taste okay without the the yeast? I have a food sensitivity to yeast and am trying to stay away from it. I also can’t have cashews or soy among other things. I am trying to go vegan because I feel like It would be healthier, but I absolutely love cheese. I came across this recipe and it looked great, except for the yeast…will it still be good without it?
I don’t think it tastes good without the yeast, as the nutritional yeast is what gives it the cheezy flavour. Sorry about that!
I’ve had my eye on this for a while, but nutritional yeast isn’t something I’ve ever seen in the shops here (even health food shops) so it’s had to wait until I could order some online. Definitely worth it though! I did change it a little – I didn’t use any form of fat at the beginning and based on the end product, I don’t think it was necessary at all! I did use sweetened almond milk (I’ve only seen one brand here) so that might have made up for the lack of added fat. I needed to use quite a bit more than in the recipe – probably because I used cornflour (starch) rather than arrowroot. I also used chilli powder rather than garlic powder (which I didn’t have). However, the biggest change I made was to use sweet potato instead of pumpkin. I baked my sweet potato in the microwave then scooped the flesh out into the sauce. I then blended it using a hand blender, which also blended the yeast flakes in beautifully. I had 100g of the sauce with 50g (dry weight) pasta, 100g petit pois peas and a handful of chopped watercress – came to 318 calories! So, delicious and extremely healthy. I’ll certainly be making it again, and I’m planning what to do with the remaining sauce already.
Just to add – I gave my distinctly carnivorous brother a spoonful of the sauce when I pulled it out of the fridge for lunch today. He said it was “pretty good”. Then I told him that it didn’t have any cheese in it. I believe his exact words were: “What sort of witchcraft is this?”
hah!
Claire, I’m glad you mentioned the no fat. I was hoping I can make this fat free. Sounds like it works out just fine. #wfpb #oilfree
Just made some of this for tonight’s stormy dinner! I figured it would be nice and hearty to carry us through the hurricane. I might have gone a bit nuts with seasonings (I don’t know how but some liquid smoke got in there…and cayenne, sage, and paprika. WHAT?!) but it tastes soo yummy with the last of my frozen-so-it-might-not-survive-the-storm spinach that I needed to use up!
This is amazing!! Over colorful pasta shaped like pumpkins and leaves, this made the perfect Halloween dinner. My pumpkin was a bit lumpy so I whipped out the immersion blender to get it silky smooth. Perfecto!
OMG! this was so good and so easy to make! I sauteed some kale, mushrooms, onions and veggie sausage to add to the pasta cheeze mix, will definitely make this again!
I’ve recently grown fond of using my mac and cheese to stuff a squash. This sauce sounds like a fabulous way to incorporate the squash into the sauce itself. Om nom nom!
I just made this for supper and it was DELICIOUS!
Would this be good If I added broccoli to it??
I had to finally leave a comment thanking you for creating this recipe! I have made it at least five times in the last six months, and I am in love with it. I follow the recipe pretty exactly, and always try to use tri-color pasta, and it tastes phenomenal even leftover! I had never considered adding broccoli, but the above commenter has inspired me, so I will be adding some to my dish tonight when I make this for the sixth time! Mmm.
Im so happy to hear that Emily! Thanks for trying :)
Hi Angela!
I’ve been following your blog for quite some time, and you are awesome! I have made this sauce several times, and I tweak it a bit each time. This time I used President’s Choice “Sweet with Heat” mustard instead of the dijon (doubled it actually), and it was fabulous. If you haven’t already tried this mustard, it will change your life. I also added hot banana peppers to spice it up! Thanks :)
Take Care,
Jill
Hey Jill, Thanks for your lovely words! I appreciate it. :) Love your tweaks to this recipe.
just made this,
added organic ketchup, smoked paprika, nama shoyu (raw soy sauce), onion powder, and lots more nutritional yeast. good idea girlllylyy. it would be so good with salsa or beans like real mac and cheese too
Looks like a great recipe and I hope to make it today!
But I’m a little confused about part of the instructions. When you say “store in the fridge for up to 7 days” does that mean it needs to be refrigerated for that long or that’s how long you can store it if you want?
It will keep in the fridge for about 7 days or so – just an estimate :)
Wow thank you so much this is delicious I didn’t have mustard so made without and was yummy
I made this yesterday and it was really delicious! Thanks for such a great recipe. I really appreciate the short ingredient list and how easy it is to make!
If you add a little bit of chili powder and or some petite diced tomatoes drained & some canned diced jalepenos, it becomes a nacho pumpkin mac and cheeze, or just pumpkin nacho cheeze, YUM!
ABSOLUTELY AMAZED at this recipe. after looking on this site many times, have always enjoyed the recipes, but this was incredible. one thing – I didn’t have plain milk, so I used the vanilla – it had a sweet / cheese sauce type taste – very similar to what you might find in an upscale restaurant, maybe like a hollandaise of sorts. this will be used often. cannot thank you enough for sharing this recipe with your readers.
for anyone in ottawa, i buy my nutritional yeast in bulk at market organics downtown. it’s super cheap there!
Thanks so much for posting this recipe, I made it for lunch for my multi allergic one year old and it was a hit! I only ommited the nutritional yeast since he can’t digest that well and it was still so tasty served over steamed broccoli and cauliflower! My question is have you ever experimented with different flavors using this same method? I was thinking of next time trying a cup of mashed cauliflower n place of the pumpkin for a vegan Alfredo?
Hi Ashley, I haven’t but I do have a great butternut squash sauce on the blog which is my all-time favourite :)
See here for the recipe: http://ohsheglows.com/2013/10/21/smoky-butternut-squash-sauce-with-pasta-and-greens/
I absolutely loved this recipe!! Someone gave me 5 pumpkins from her garden and I have been eating pumpkin literally ALL WEEK…haha actually maybe longer. But anyways, I made a huge pot of this recipe and mixed in a ton of kale. It is DELICIOUS! I’m eating a big bowl of it now haha. I also used white pepper and one of those vegetarian chili spice packets to add a little kick to it, and it turned out SO good! :)
My 16 yo daughter has decided she doesn’t want to eat meat anymore and I am totally clueless on what to cook her …….. I found this recipe and THIS IS AMAZING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I didn’t have the yeast this time (have to go and find it – that’s a new ingredient for me) but it was BLOODY AWESOME
Just made this. I accidentally bought organic pumpkin pie filling instead of plain pumpkin. As I was making the sauce, I realized my mistake when I tasted it and it was too sweet and spiced. I added more dijon mustard, sprinkled a bit more nutritional yeast, puréed and added a bit of onion, and threw in some shredded Daiya cheddar. That helped a lot. In the end, I baked the whole thing like it was a casserole, and sprinkled more Daiya on top. The end result was absolutely delicious.
absolutely delicious!!! eating it right now!!! And yes, heading out for seconds any minute LOL
I sauteed a sweet onion with the Earth Balance. It was delicious!
I just started trying vegan meals. I have hyperthyroid and want to enjoy the foods I can eat.
Thanks for showing me that health done not have to be bland.
Mmmm, genius….nom..nom…nom. Must find something to dip in it!
Hi! First of all, I want to stress that this is in no way a criticism. I LOVE your website, most of my family does actually. We suffer from so many allergies and this is one of the only sites that caters to all of those. Thank you so so much!
One of the issues that I came across with this recipe was a sharp smoky flavor at the end. Here are all the differences from my process to yours. I used Smart Balance, cornstarch and Bob’s Red Mill brand nutritional yeast instead of Earth Balance, arrowroot. The sauce was in no way burned and it took about 3 minutes to cook instead of the 5-7 minutes you said it would take to thicken.
Is one of my ingredients off or is there something else I’m doing wrong?
Thanks again!
Hey Rachel,
Thanks for your feedback! I’m not sure why your version would have a smoky flavor? Hmm…maybe it was the canned pumpkin? I find some brands can taste quite different than others. I haven’t used smart balance before so I’m not sure if that would impact the flavour too. Sometimes nutritional yeast can have an off-putting flavour to some people if you aren’t used to it, so maybe try cutting that back a bit if you try it again. Hope this helps!
Reducing the nutritional yeast definitely helped. Thanks!
Awesome! I can’t wait to try that! Amybeth Hurst, Portland, ME
This was soooo goooood! My boyfriend loved it too!
I had the cheeze sauce the next morning on Ezekiel toast with a fried egg on top.
Now that’s all I want in my face. Yum.
Wow made this with added pimp kin spice mix and an extra tablespoon of spicy mustard and OMG my meat eater friends couldn’t get enough!!!
Yum just made this and it was awesome!!! I made a few pumpkin sauce recipes in the past and my preschooler rejected them but he liked this one. Even my husband who hates squash ate it. I love squash and will definitely be making this again!! It was so easy yet so delicious. My new favorite recipe. Thanks!!
IT IS MIND BLOWING BUT FOR ME IT WAS MORE LIKE 1 PORTION THAN 4..
I have to say, this is one of my ALL TIME favorite recipes. It’s so easy too!
How do I make the “cheese” sauce less bitter? I used flakes as opposed to nutritional yeast powder if that is my problem?
As I’m eliminating as much fat as possible from my diet I didn’t use the earth balance. Still tastes great! I imagine it would just add a creamier texture?
I made a version of this tonight. As I had more than a cup of pumpkin, I used about 250ml of milk and (sneakily) added in a can of puréed cannellini beans and fresh garden garlic.
I dry fried some finely chopped mushies, which I stirred through the sauce.
I topped the plated up meal with toasted sunflower seeds.
The children declared it was the best Mac and Cheese, to date. So this is my new ‘go to’ recipe.
Thank you. :)
Do you think the cheeze sauce will bake well? I really want to make a vegan version of this cauliflower mac n cheese: http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/mac-and-cheese-style-cauliflower/
Wow. Just WOW. It’s so good, I don’t even know where to start: it’s creamy, flavourful, smooth. I used coconut oil in place of butter, fresh garlic (sautéed it first), dried basil (love it) and only about two tablespoons of nutritional yeast (still getting used to it) and the sauce turned out a success! Thank you for sharing, you’re such an inspiration for me!
i know this is a super old recipe but i wanted mac and cheeze and i had all the ingredients so i tried it. just for readers who aren’t a huge fan of dijon, i would greatly reduce or leave it out–the dijon flavor was too much for me but i just ended up doubling all the other ingredients (maybe tripling the nooch because i’ve never had a sauce with too much nooch ;) ) and it was very good! next time may put in 1/3-1/2 of the dijon
and i just realized my mistake (and feel very stupid)–i put in 2T dijon rather than 2t. oooooops! i imagine with the 2t it will turn out much better on first pass :) i’m still enjoying my bowl of mac and cheeze greatly! thanks for all the great recipes! just ordered the OSG cookbook today
Just want to say that I wanted to make this when I couldn’t lay my hands on squash, so I used the contents of a drained can of carrots. I’ve never bought canned carrots before, but they worked brilliantly for this.
I tried this today and it is just awesome. Loved it! Thank you!
Hi… Can I add guar gum to this recipe to make it sliceable?
I just made this sauce. I did not have any good mustard so I left that out. I mixed some of the sauce with gluten free rice pasta, peas and sauted mushrooms and baked it. I am not vegan (just focused on eating more nutrients and plant foods) so I added a sprinkle of real cheese to the top. Sooooo good!
Hi Amanda, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Just discovered this last week – my first mac&cheese since going dairy free two years ago, and it was truly amazing. I added in sage and tons of bacon crumbles (not quite vegan!) and it was spectacular. Disappeared way too fast. Do you have any experience in freezing individual portion sizes of this sauce? Or freezing it pre-mixed with the pasta? Thanks so much!
My daughter is vegan, she loves that daya mozz. cheese, would the flavors go together if i layer some in there?
I’ve been trying more vegetarian and vegan recipes to try and lose weight and improve my overall health. Although, I can’t seem to take the full leap into veganism due to not being able to easily find vegan substitutes in my area, this cheese is still my go to! Not only is it packed with vitamins, it’s low fat! My boyfriend and I love nachos and I’ve recently been using refried beans instead of meat and this cheese made into a queso is wonderful! Sadly, since I am on a budget and have to shop at Aldis, I had to use a tsp of real butter but – my thought process is I’m still eating better than I was before, no processed bag cheese today!
Thank you for this recipe! I plan on making it tonight for dinner… I was looking for something savory to do with a can of pumpkin I’ve had kicking around the cupboard. I’m sure it will be delicious because every other recipe I’ve tried from your 2 books has turned out wonderfully. Thanks for being so inventive and sharing with us :-)
Warmly,
Nicole
So I tried this recipe last night and I was skeptical that it would be as good as ‘real’ mac and cheese, but knowing that it would still be yummy I went for it and I have to say I really liked this receipe. It was super easy to make and follow the instructions. It made a lot of food (which reheated well.) My only thing is I’d say think of this as ‘pumpkin cheeseish pasta” instead of mac and cheese and it’s a winner! I added bread crumbs on top which really helped it for me, and also served it with braised garlic kale in the same bowl which I thought was awesome!!