Butternut squash mac and cheese is a wonderful and hearty dinner. The butternut squash adds colour, flavour and nutritional value. This version is suitable for vegans.
We love macaroni cheese and the grown ups in our household usually eat it with a green salad on the side.
The kids however, tend just to polish off the macaroni and sauce so I came up with this easy way to add some veg to the dish.
Since turning vegan I've made several different versions of mac and cheese.
Cauliflower and cashews both make delicious versions.
But personally, I adore this butternut squash mac and cheese the most.
It's the most delicious colour and so incredibly creamy.
Butternut squash mac and cheese is great for picky eaters
This is a great hidden vegetable meal for picky eaters - especially those that avoid vegetables.
The butternut squash is completely blended into the sauce. These days I tell my kids exactly what's in their dinner - no secrets here.
And while they turn their noses up at chunks of butternut squash this mac and cheese is always gobbled up happily.
Babies love this too
Butternut squash mac and cheese is a great dinner for babies and toddlers too. You may wish to use larger pasta shapes to make it easier for our baby to pick up.
The salt can be left out for babies and toddlers.
Ingredients
To make this butternut macaroni cheese you will need the following ingredients:
- Onion
Roasted with the butternut squash for sweetness and flavour. - Butternut squash
The hero ingredient of this recipe, butternut squash is roasted and then blended into a sauce. - Olive oil
For roasting. - Sea salt
To add flavour - can be omitted for babies. - Oat milk
To help make the sauce nice and creamy - can be substituted with your favourite milk. - Nutritional yeast
A brilliant vegan ingredient. Usually fortified with nutrients, it gives a delicious savoury taste to your cooking. - Salt and pepper
To taste - salt can be left out for babies. - Macaroni
I love to use the elbow shaped pasta when I can get it - use whatever you have available and substitute with larger pasta shapes if needed. - Breadcrumbs
I use wholemeal breadcrumbs, which I make myself using the ends of the loaves that my kids don't eat!
How to make butternut mac and cheese
- Chop your onion and butternut squash and add to a roasting dish with salt (omit for babies) and olive oil.
- Roast in the oven until soft. Remove and allow to cool a bit.
- Place the roasted squash and onion in a blender with the oat milk and nutritional yeast.
- Blend until smooth.
- Cook your macaroni according to the packet instructions. Drain your macaroni when ready and place in a roasting dish. Pour over the sauce.
- Mix well.
- Top with breadcrumbs and bake for 20 minutes in the hot oven.
Make in advance
You can make this entire dish in advance and reheat it. However, I prefer to make just the sauce in advance and cook the pasta and bake it when I'm ready to eat it.
If you want to make it ahead - either the sauce or the whole dish - simply allow to cool completely then store in the fridge. When ready to eat reheat until piping hot.
Freezing
As above, while this dish can be frozen, I would recommend freezing the sauce rather than the whole dish.
It's perfectly fine to freeze the cooked macaroni, but it will go soft when you reheat it.
More recipes you might like
- Three hidden vegetable macaroni cheese (vegetarian)
- Cauliflower pasta sauce (vegan)
- Cashew sauce (vegan)
Pin butternut squash mac and cheese for later
How to make butternut squash mac and cheese
If you have made this recipe I would love it if you’d leave a comment and rating below. Thank you!
Butternut squash mac and cheese
Ingredients
- 1 kg butternut squash peeled and diced (a medium butternut squash)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Sea salt to taste
- 300 ml oat milk or milk of choice
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 300 g dried macaroni
- 85 g wholemeal breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan)/200°C/gas mark 6.
- Chop the onion and place in a roasting tin. Add the chopped butternut squash and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and stir well.
- Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, stir, then return to the oven for a further 20 minutes or until soft. Allow to cool a little.
- Meanwhile bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add 300g macaroni. Stir well then cook according to the packet instructions until soft. It can be a little al dente as it will cook further in the oven.
- Transfer the cooled squash to a blender and add 300ml oat milk, 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast and some salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. You may need to do this in two or three batches depending on the size of your blender.
- When cooked transfer the macaroni to an oven proof dish. Mix with the butternut sauce and top with the wholemeal breadcrumbs.
- Cook in the oven for around 20 minutes until the top is bubbling and the breadcrumbs have turned golden brown.
Nutrition
This recipe was converted to a vegan recipe and the photographs were updated in February 2021.
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Meg
I use the bbc good food recipe. Mash up half of the butternut squash and mix it into the cheese sauce. It tricks my very fussy daughter into eating it.
Mandy Mazliah
Thanks for commenting Meg. I will definitely try that next time. I'm trying really hard not to hide vegetables all the time in the hope of getting them more used to seeing them on their plate but sometimes needs must!