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
Yield
~1.25-1.5 cups or approx. 4 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
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.
I just made a similar butternut squash sauce the other day and included cinnamon, allspice, and sage. It was fantastic! Subtle fall flavors really made the dish perfect for this “cheese” sauce.
I just bought a 22oz container of Nutritional Yeast on Amazon (gotta love Prime!) for $14.47, which is cheaper than what I found at Whole Foods.
Once I get the yeast, that butternut squash mac-n-cheeze is getting made pronto!
I buy my nutritional yeast at either Whole Foods, my local smaller scale health food store or online at Amazon.
I am definitely making this tonight! YUM!
Mmm..I really need to get my hands on some pumpkin.
My “recipes to make” list is getting way too long.
My favorite mix in for mac and cheese is broccoli! Always a winner :) You’re sauce looks amazing, I think I’ll have to try it this weekend!
Angela you have outdone yourself again! This looks amazing! I just bought a can of pumpkin so I may try this out today or tomorrow :)
I also started Weight Watchers and had a hard time since I feel like it’s geared a lot to meat. I plugged in your recipe to see how many “point” it is and it’s only 4 per serving! In case anyone wanted to know :)
:) Whoo!
To fellow Canadians, you can find it in the ‘spices’ section at the Bulk Barn!
Thanks Amy!
Angela this looks fantastic…I really adore the pictures too! Makes me want to dive under a blanket and watch a movie with a big bowl of this :)
I’m having the Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese as we speak. It is delicious, so so so delicious that I managed to consume 3/4 of the pan by myself yesterday *tap on the back*. I must confess that I wasn’t a fan of vegan cheese sauces until this one, and does this sauce ever take it home! As always, thanks for this recipe, you never cease to impress!
On a different note, I get my nutritional yeast from Loblaws/ the Superstore. I use Bob’s Red Mill, and I really do quite like it ;)
Glad to hear that Irini!
im making this tonight! your recipes never fail me and me too i been on such a pumpkin kick with all these blogs makin something pumpkin, im addicted to pumpkin pie oatmeal, your pumpkin smoothie and cck pumpkin bars, and now tonight pumpkin mac n cheese!! thank you<3
I bought a butternut squash to try this recipe! I am gonna have to stock up on pumpkin to try this one too!
I’ve made Mac and cheese with sweet potato before but that requires the added step of cooking sweet potato. I like the sounds of opening a can way better. The best part about adding squash/pumpkin/sweet potato to cheese sauce? My 2 year old gobbles it up!
Yes! I am so making this! I just got back from the grocery store and didn’t get any pumpkin…grr. That’s the only ingredient I’m missing! I’ll pick some up tomorrow and give this a whirl! I wonder if it would be tasty over roasted veggies?? The possibilities seem endless!
Yes I think it would be good over veggies!
This looks fantastic! I can’t get enough pumpkin in my life, and I love the idea of combining it with cheeze sauce. Awesome job (and I’m glad to hear it was so easy and non-frustrating)! :)
Oh yum! What a great sounding recipe. I’m going to try it this weekend, if not earlier. Thanks for sharing.
At first I thought it was a straw in the pumpkin sauce bottle and I thought “now THIS is a girl after my own heart.” Then I realized it’s a spoon… I SUPPOSE drinking the sauce ins’t the BEST idea, although, I’ll be tempted to when I make this!
You are the second person to say that! Next time I will put a straw in! lol
Can’t wait to make this! I have made the butternut squash version and it was delicious! It was my first attempt at a vegan cheese recipe too!!! What a winner to start with! I find nutritional yeast at a local healthy food store. It was hard to find, I needed to ask the owner. It was with vitamins and supplements! I do have a question though, is there a expiration date for nutritional yeast? The store only carried one size and it is massive!!! What else can I make with nutritional yeast?
Hi Diane, Here are a bunch of my recipes using nutritional yeast:
http://ohsheglows.com/recipage/?search_term=nutritional%20yeast
Tell me that isn’t (or is!) a straw in the cheeze sauce! I’ve got a dinner party coming up. Would it be wrong to put out a buffet of various cheeze sauces? :)
LOL!!! Nope it’s a dessert spoon but a straw is a good idea… ;)
SCORE!!!
I was all over that butternut…but didn’t feel like roasting one. But I DO have 6 lbs of pumpkin!
yes you do! :)