Name: Pumpkin Mac 'n Cheeze Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
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!)

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

Vegan, gluten-free, grain-free

Yield
~1.25-1.5 cups or approx. 4 servings

Prep time
5 minutes

Cook time
10 minutes

Total time
15 minutes

Dear KD & Velveeta, deepest sympathies. xo. Adapted from Butternut Mac n Cheeze.

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!)

Directions

Add Earth balance in a pot over low-medium heat.
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.
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.

Nutrition Information

(click to expand)

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.

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Stephanie Geary

13 years ago

I can’t wait to try this! And the butternut squash version. I bought my nutritional yeast at Whole Foods Market in the states…I think Stop and Shop may also carry it in their organic section as well. I have also noticed that you can find just about anything on amazon.com including grocery items.

Angela Liddon (Oh She Glows)

Author

Reply to Stephanie Geary

Thanks Stephanie!

Cat @Breakfast to Bed

The butternut squash one made my night. I can’t wait to try this one!!

Angela @ Eat Spin Run Repeat

Hmmm…. in my head, I’m not sure if I can bare to mix nutritional yeast into beloved pumpkin, but you’ve never steered me wrong, so I’m sure it must be good!! Sounds like your hands might be turning just as orange as mine are! ;) Have a great day Ange!

JEM

I buy my nutritional yeast at Whole Foods as well and it is normally in the vitamin aisle.

Stephanie

Reply to JEM

I also found it in the baking aisle next to the regular yeast packages (at least at the one in Dedham, Massachusetts!).

Angela – umm, it kind of looks like you have a straw in the first picture of the cheeze sauce. I mean, I don’t blame you, I’d probably use a straw for it, but I’m just saying…lol!

Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table

The amount of excitement I felt when I read the title of this post is a little embarrassing. :)

I’m making this as soon as I get back in town!! Despite my own vacation hangover, I read thins and immediate though about how good it would be with the Amarone wine I posted about today. LOL!

Reply to Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table

I like the way you think :)

Cupcake Kat

I’ve been eating pumpkin everything since last saturday. I swear, the other day, the only thing I could taste in my mouth was pumpkin and that was hours after eating! This sounds so good. I might make it this weekend

The Mrs @ Success Along the Weigh

Will try this. I will not tell the hubby it is “cheeze.” hee hee

Claire @ Live and Love to Eat

This sounds SO amazing – perfectly savory. Am I crazy or do I not see pumpkin in the ingredient list?

Reply to Claire @ Live and Love to Eat

I knew I was forgetting something!!! haha. whoops. Updated.

jenn

Can’t wait to try this. One thing – you don’t have the pumpkin listed as an ingredient so until you read the steps – you don’t know how much pumpkin to use. :)

Reply to jenn

Sorry, I added it in!

How I forgot to add in pumpkin of all things if beyond me. ;)

Aubrey

Yum!! This looks fabulous. I made your pumpkin gingerbread smoothie (minus the oats & chia seeds) yesterday and it was fantastic! Looks like this recipe is up next as I too am on a pumpkin kick!

I buy my nutritional yeast at Sprouts here in the states (Texas) but I know Whole Foods and H.E.B. carry it as well :)

VeggieGirl

I HAVE TO MAKE THIS OMG

Florence

oh gosh, I will definitely try this! I swore off baking for a few weeks, and I’m glad I can eat pumpkin in savoury dishes as well :) <3

By the way did you know nutritional yeast is a great source of vitamin B12? I think you forgot to add the 1 cup pumpkin to the ingredient list

Moni'sMeals

AWESOME ANGELA! This looks great!
I think you have to be one of those people who love pumpkin, love squash, and love to take new challenges w/ food to understand how good this sauce must be! Epsecially for Fall. I can’t wait to try it. I know I will luv!

I would most likely hit it with some cayenne pepper too cuz that is just how I roll. :)

Faith @ For the Health of It

That looks so gooey I can hardly stand it! Mac and cheese has always been all all-time fave of mine – one of the things I miss the most about dairy!

Jenna

The recipe sounds delicious. I will be trying this weekend with the leftover pumpkin in my fridge.

My whole foods, at least, carries nutritional yeast in the bulk section…it’s a lot cheaper than the pre-packaged kind in the vitamin aisle.

Ashley

I still have yet to make the butternut version, but I think I’ll just skip straight to this one! And pumpkin chia pudding is THE BEST. I only like it blended up though…not a fan of soaked chia seeds. ;)

Vanessa

angela. you are my hero! this looks ammmazing. i loved the acorn squash version as well. i made this with kabocha squash and it pretty much rocked my world. thanks again for sharing. =) hope you had a lovely thanksgiving!

I loved your butternut squash recipe but I think this looks easier! You should put together a ‘pumpkin compliation’ a meal of all pumpkiny goodness- main, sweet, drink :)

Greta

Ha, I was about to say what Claire said – perhaps the cup of pumpkin puree should be in the ingredient list as well as in the instructions :> This sauce looks amazing! It’s weird, I bought nutritional yeast a while ago BECAUSE I wanted to use it in “cheese” sauces, but I haven’t made one yet. I’ve used it for a lot of other things, though! But I think the time has come.

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Vegan Pumpkin Mac ‘n Cheeze Sauce