Photos by Kate Lewis, Copyrighted by Fair Winds Press
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine macaroni covered with a silky butternut squash sauce. Now open your eyes, toss a few things in your slow cooker and get cooking! A dinner of Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Macaroni can be yours.
It’s a healthier version of traditional mac and cheese and it makes just enough for two or three servings. Please note that it’s made in a 1 1/2 or 2 quart small slow cooker.
In the morning, you add the butternut squash, tomatoes, water, garlic and spices so that it can cook down all day while you are at work. You will puree this in the evening for the base of your sauce.
Photos by Kate Lewis, Copyrighted by Fair Winds Press
In the evening, toss in some nutritional yeast (for a bold cheesy flavor), your favorite unsweetened nondairy milk and uncooked macaroni. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes for the pasta to cook. You do need to be close by because you’ll check the pasta every 10 minutes or so, until it’s al dente.
As a bonus, it’s no-added oil and it can be made gluten-free with the simple substitution of gluten-free pasta. You can substitute any winter squash or even sweet potato and still get very similar results. This recipe is from my book, Vegan Slow Cooking for Two or Just You.
What’s your favorite ingredient to add to your vegan mac and chez?
Slow Cooker Cheezy Butternut Squash Macaroni
This is mac ‘n’ cheez that’s all grown up. It’s covered with a rich butternut squash and nutritional yeast sauce that’s as nutritious as it is delicious. It's from my book, Vegan Slow Cooking for Two.
Ingredients
FOR THE MORNING
- 1 1/2 cups (210 g) cubed butternut squash or other winter squash
- 1/2 cup (90 g) chopped tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups (355 ml) water
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Three 3-inch (7.5 cm) sprigs fresh thyme or 1 1/2 teaspoons (1.5 g) dried thyme
- One 2-inch (5 cm) sprig fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
FOR THE EVENING
- 1/4 cup (24 g) nutritional yeast flakes
- 1/2 to 1 cup (120 to 235 ml) unsweetened nondairy milk
- 1 1/2 cups (158 g) uncooked whole-wheat macaroni (*use gluten-free)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- ** Please note - this recipes uses a 1½ to 2 quart slow cooker **
- In the morning: Add the morning ingredients to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 7 to 9 hours.
- Thirty to 45 minutes before serving: Purée the contents of the slow cooker in a blender with the nutritional yeast and ½ cup (120 ml) of the nondairy milk. Add the mixture back into the slow cooker and turn it up to high. Stir in the macaroni, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.
- Stir well and add more milk if the sauce is getting too thick. Cook for 15 to 25 minutes more or until the pasta is al dente. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Make sure to check on the pasta every 10 minutes or so until you get good at gauging how fast it will cook in your slow cooker. It cooks faster in the smaller slow cooker.
Recipe Notes
Make this dish even healthier by adding in some chopped greens or fresh broccoli. You can’t have too much of this good thing.
Marcia says
What a wonderful recipe, it sounds delish! So clever to use the slow cooker instead of the traditional way. This means you will be able to enjoy it all times of the year without suffering in a hot kitchen, quite a gift, thank you!
As far as using a larger slow cooker vs. a smaller one, besides cooking quicker in the smaller one, is there any other things we need to watch out for? We have a 5 qt. slow cooker, any suggestions or changes necessary?
Thanks again! I’m REALLY looking forward to making this (maybe tonight)!
Kathy Hester says
You can up the amount if you want to cook it in a larger slow cooker. One of the resons I like to do it in a smaller one is that it’s 3/4 full making it easier to time the pasta.
With that said I would at least double the recipe if not triple it, and you may need to add a little more liquid in if you larger slow cooker runs hot (boils on low). Make sure to stir the pasta when you look in on it so it cooks evenly. I’m sure you can do it just make notes of the times and any changes you make so it will be even easier next time. 😉
Ashley says
Do you have to use yeast? If not what would be a good supplement? Thanks!
Kathy Hester says
You can leave it out if you want to. It does help it taste “cheesey”, but the butternut squash will work fine on its on. If you do decide to try it make sure it’s nutritional yeast which is very different from brewers or bread yeast 🙂
Claire says
Hi, This looks great and I’m looking forward to making it – please could you tell me, are the chopped tomatoes fresh ones or tinned? Or would either be OK? Thanks 🙂 x
Kathy Hester says
You can use either and it will work fine. 🙂
Patricia Ann says
I love your recipes and I am really interested in your oats book as I follow Dr. Esseltyne. Have you shared at least one recipe that will be coming out in the new Easy Vegan Cookbook?
Kathy Hester says
Here are 3: A Creole Corn Okra Soup, Carrot Dogs, and an Asian Corn Cabbage soup.
Patricia Ann says
Thanks for sharing… Creole Corn Okra Soup – My husband loves corn and I love okra so maybe this dish would work for both of us. Carrot Dogs – I have to admit I miss those horribly unhealthy hot dogs… but part of it is the mustard, onion and relish… the ingredients look great. Asian Corn Cabbage Soup – I love Asian and Cabbage. Can’t wait to try these recipes. I will definitely be purchasing your Oats cookbook and will keep your others in mind as well.
Christy says
Can I use a can of Butternut squash instead of fresh?
Kathy Hester says
You sure can!
Susan says
Can I use frozen butternut squash instead of fresh?
Kathy Hester says
You certainly can.
June says
I made this yesterday as per the recipe ingredients and instructions. While the sauce was pretty good (though not much like actual macaroni & cheese), the macaroni itself came out very glue-y and of poor texture. I wound up baking it afterwards to try to fix it some. That helped, but not a lot.
I’d advise reducing the water in this recipe by at least half, then making the macaroni in the standard manner (boiling until al dente). Then combine the macaroni and sauce as you might with tomato sauce.
Thank you for the recipe, Kathy. I will use it in the future as a sauce.
Kathy Hester says
Pasta is the slow cooker can be very tricky, but some people like would rather not dirty up a second dish. It’s great to just make the sauce in the slow cooker and cook the pasta separately.
If you want to make the sauce creamier, you can add a 1/4 cup cashews to the slow cooker and puree all the cooked ingredients, then serve over pasta. I made this nut-free and no-oil added due to a reader request.
June says
Thanks for your response. I’ll try the cashew trick.
Being of Italian heritage, I’m probably picker than most about my pasta texture.
Kathy Hester says
That totally makes sense. Also you might want to try making a cauliflower alfredo by blending cashews, cooked cauliflower, nutritional yeast and a little salt and pepper. Sometimes I sneak in some basil too.
Ruth says
I am not a vegan but am happy to eat meatless dishes of all kinds. Gotta say, this one just did not make me happy. It was edible after pouring on the salt….and there was a weird after taste. Reminded me of vegetarian foods from the 70s.
Emma says
Hi I’m in the process of making this right now… stupid question… do you chop the herbs! Or remove them before blending!
Kathy Hester says
If you used fresh herbs, remove the stems before blending.
Chrissy says
I love this mac and cheez! I made mine without tomatoes (because I hate the texture) and it came out super sweet. I had to add some serious salt and pepper but once I did, it was amazing. I made a huge batch and we ate on it for days. Reheats in the microwave well too.
KK says
This recipe came out awful! I followed the directions to a “T” and it came out bitter and lacking flavor. There’s way too much water in this recipe and the rest is missing flavor. Will not be making again.
Kathy Hester says
I’d be happy to help you trouble shoot it if you want. If there was too much water it could be that your slow cooker is older or cooks at a lower temperature.
Suzanne says
I’m interested in making this and have 2 questions. Is it ok to use regular cow’s milk? Would I use the same amount? Also, I definitely want to make the pasta separately. So what I decreased the amount of water?
Kathy Hester says
I’ve never made it with cow’s milk, but I think it would work. You would use less liquid if you cook the pasta separately.
Lisa Smith says
I thought the dish was quite bland so I garnished it with raw pumpkin seeds which added texture and more flavor. I also added truffle salt which gave it a nice punch.