JL Fields, of JL Goes Vegan, is letting me share her recipe for Mac and Cheese with Soy Curls from her book, Vegan Pressure Cooking.
JL’s book has a great intro to pressure cooking and cooking time charts. There are chapters on beans and grains, soups and stews. one-pot meals, sides, dips and even a few sweets. Before you know it, you’ll be cooking all your meals in your Instant Pot or pressure cooker
I don’t have a stove-top pressure cooker, but this came out great in my Instant Pot. It reminds me of a faux chicken casserole only with pasta in place of rice. You could use this recipe as a jumping off point. Next time I’m going to turn it into a South of the Border dish with some beans, green peppers, tomatoes, chili powder and maybe even some green chilies or jalapenos.
Let me go back a bit and explain what soy curls are and where you can get them. They are a dehydrated soy product made of non-GMO soybeans. While they look a lot like TVP they are made with the whole soybean and tvp is made from defatted soy flour.
You can always buy them on Amazon, but you can also order them from the Soy Curl website, or find out if they are in your area from the Butler Soy Curl website.
You can see them rehydrated above. They are great in a bbq sauce, mixed in pasta or used in your favorite childhood casserole. I usually chop them up a bit because they are too long to be bite-sized.
I mostly followed the recipe, but I did add 1 teaspoon of a chili powder blend and 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika. I love a little smoky flavor!
Instant Pot Vegan Mac and Cheese With Soy Curls
This easy and comforting dinner is a snap to make. Plus it's a one pot meal your whole family can get behind. This recipe is from JL Field's wonderful book, Vegan Pressure Cooking from Fair Winds Press.
Ingredients
- 2 cups Soy Curls
- 2 cups warm water, plus 2 cups cool water
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons “chicken style” seasoning
- 1 cup spelt elbow pasta
- Approximately 2 and 1/2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 ounces shredded vegan cheese
- Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Place Soy Curls in a container large enough to cover with warm water and soak for 8-10 minutes to re-hydrate then drain excess water.
- Heat vegan butter on medium-high heat in an uncovered pressure cooker.
- Add onion and garlic and sauté until onion is translucent.
- Stir in Soy Curls and Chik-Style seasoning and sauté for about five minutes.
- Add pasta, the remaining 2 cups of cool water (or as needed enough to cover the pasta), stir, add nutritional yeast, stir well, pat down the soy curls and cover the pressure cooker.
- Bring to pressure.
- Cook at low pressure for five minutes. Use a quick release method.
- Uncover, stir and taste. Stir in optional vegan cheese and/or salt and ground black pepper.
- Let sit for about five minutes before serving.
Nutrition Information
Amount Per Serving Calories 486Saturated Fat 13gSodium 228mgCarbohydrates 59gFiber 9gSugar 6gProtein 18g
Christie says
I’ve never heard of soy curls. I’ll have to check them out. This looks like a great meatless dinner.
Florian @ContentednessCooking says
Fantastic spin on mac n cheese! never heard before of sox curls! Thank you for introducing me to something new!
Marlynn @ UrbanBlissLife says
I’ve heard so much about soy curls lately and am enjoying seeing different ways people are using them. This is a great twist on an old favorite! And, I’m still fascinated by the Instant Pot.
April @ Girl Gone Gourmet says
Thanks for explaining what an instant pot is! I’ve heard about them, but didn’t realize they’re like a pressure cooker. Such and interesting recipe — sounds delicious!
swayam says
have never made mac n cheese with soy curls! Looks delicious 🙂
Jamie | The Kitchenarium says
Nutritional yeast is such a magical ingredient isn’t it?! I haven’t seen soy curls in the store yet. I will need to keep my eyes open next time.
Kari says
great way to make an American classic dish vegan – and I’ve never heard of soy curls
Melissa says
Did not turn out for me at all. Directions are very confusing and poorly written. It was way too watery and lacked flavor. Sad I wasted soy curls 🙁
Kathy Hester says
I’m sorry you weren’t fond of this.
Melissa says
How can something so easy taste so good? Thanks for sharing this!
Tina says
When you say bring to pressure then cook at low pressure for 5 minutes.. how do i set the Instantpot to do that? Normally I choose manual then set time. Is that what you mean?
NEw to t e instsnt pot
Kelly says
I used organic rice pasta and it turned out great!
Jordan says
Really unattractive, but very yummy!
I made this and it turned out really well despite a bunch of little substitutions (no fresh garlic, normal pasta, altered seasoning based on what I had). It did come out a little watery but I just put saute mode back on until I cooked off the excess water.
Anita Faye Leclercq says
What would you use in place of vegan butter in the soy curl mac and cheese recipe?
Kathy Hester says
I would use unsweetened non-dairy milk or aquafaba.
Mike G. says
HI, is the pasta cooked or uncooked before putting into the Instant Pot ?
I’m guessing uncooked but not sure as I’ve never cooked pasta in an instant pot – thanks !
Kathy Hester says
It is uncooked – the extra water in the recipe is to cook the pasta in the IP.