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vegan cheese sauce

Vegan Mac & Cheese (with Carrot Potato Cheese Sauce!)

March 14, 2019 By julia

Time to get saucy! Carrot Potato Cheese Sauce-style.

This week is all about creating that decadent flavour and texture, amping up the nutrients, and ditching the high fat, high calorie ways of those usual culprits in your typical creamy or mac n’ cheese pasta sauce (I’m lookin’ at you butter, cheese and heavy cream).

This sauce is so healthy, that there’s no shame in drinking it from the blender.

Actually, it’s highly encouraged.

When you’re just dying for that creamy pasta experience…but you don’t want to dose yourself with a big ol’ bowl of heavy cream sauce, this is the pasta sauce for you.

Carrots and taters to the rescue.


Vegan Mac & Cheese (with Carrot Potato Cheese Sauce!)
 
Save Print
Prep time
10 mins
Cook time
30 mins
Total time
40 mins
 
A super healthy version of your typical mac & cheese, but still so creamy, flavourful and more than satisfying!
Author: Jules
Recipe type: dinner, lunch
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • Pasta noodles of choice (around 450g)
  • 1 large head of broccoli florets, chopped (save stalks for your next hummus plate as dippers!)
  • 1 package vegan sausage (I used Field Roast from Spud. You can use code: 'CRVAN-MURJUB for 20$ off your first order)
  • Smokey Vegan Parmesan

  • Carrot Potato Cheese Sauce:
  • 3 medium-sized russet potatoes, chopped
  • 4 large carrots, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • ¼ cup miso paste
  • ⅛ cup dijon
  • ¾ cup nutritional yeast
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • ¾ cup unsweetened, unflavoured soy milk
  • pinch of salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Steam potatoes and carrots for 10-15 minutes (until you can poke a fork through them)
  2. Add all the sauce ingredients to your blender, including the carrots and potatoes
  3. Bring your pasta pot to a boil.
  4. Place broccoli in the steamer (add more water if needed), and steam for 5 minutes.
  5. Back to the blender: blend sauce ingredients until smooth (you may need to use a tamper to help in the beginning, but it should blend on its own. Let it blend for a couple of minutes for optimal creaminess)
  6. Cook pasta of choice 1 minute less than what directions say.
  7. Meanwhile, heat a pan to medium, add 1 tsp of oil (avocado is best), then the vegan sausage. Cook for 5 minutes, flipping around every minute or so.
  8. *OPTION: to use 1 less pan, wait until the pasta is finished, and add the sausage to the bottom of the pasta pot while the pasta sits in sink in the strainer*
  9. Strain, pasta, then put back into the pot with the broccoli and sausage.
  10. Add the sauce to the pot and mix until each pasta noodle is super creamy delicious!
  11. Whip up some Smokey Vegan Parm to sprinkle on top!
3.5.3226

 

Tag @hookedonplants if you make this! I love seeing your creations.

For more inspiration and info on eating plant-based, sign up to my emails for weekly inspiration, recipes, plus a free PDF on How to Get Hooked On Plants!

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Filed Under: Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, Recipes, Sauces/Dressings, Uncategorized Tagged With: carrot cheese, carrot cheeze, carrot potato sauce, hooked on plants, kids pasta, mac & cheese, plant based mac & cheese, potato cheese sauce, ready in 30, sauce, vegan carrot sauce, vegan cheese, vegan cheese sauce, vegan dinner, vegan mac & cheese, vegan macaroni and cheese, weeknight dinner

Easy Vegan Cashew Cheese Sauce | 7 Ingredients

March 29, 2018 By julia

The good ol’ days of broccoli and cheese sauce are making a comeback, this time in the form of this next-level raw vegan cashew cheese sauce.

Totally nostalgic…who’s with me on that?

In the attempt to get me to eat those veggies in any way possible… cheese sauce, and sometimes mayo, made it onto the plate beside those greens.

It worked like a dream, just like this new & improved eat-yo-veggies cashew cheese hack will.

Something special happens to broccoli when it’s paired with a creamy, tangy, cheesy sauce. Dip away with all the other veggies, and you’re easily munching away on greens like their goin’ outta style.

All you need to do for this recipe is soak the cashews, blend it all up, and then drizzle, spread, dip, scoop…

I’m all about the sauce.

If you’re looking for a veggie-based cheese sauce option, check out this Mind-Blowing Nut-Free cheese sauce recipe I posted not too long ago.

Either one is perfect for a colourful side dish for a holiday like……. Easter!

Benefits:

  • Cashews are packed with healthy fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) to help the absorption of the fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and vitamin K) found in the nutrient-dense greens. Plus, these healthy fats help brain development and memory!
  • Nutritional Yeast (NOOCH) is a vegan’s best friend. Not only does it taste cheesy, but it also is packed with Vitamin B12 (which comes from microorganisms in soil), the one nutrient that you might be lacking in on a vegan diet.
  • Turmeric is a magical ingredient. Not only does it change any recipe into a smashingly colourful dish, but it’s also one of the most powerful anti-inflammatory ingredients out there. Add a bit of pepper to increase the bioavailability of the curcumin in the turmeric by 2000%!


Easy Vegan Cashew Cheese Sauce
 
Save Print
Prep time
30 mins
Cook time
5 mins
Total time
35 mins
 
Answer that cheese craving with this super easy vegan cheese sauce, ready to be best friends with anything that calls for cheese. Pizza, pasta, veggies, nachos, you name it!
Author: Jules
Recipe type: sauce, condiment, snack
Serves: 5
Ingredients
  • 1 cup raw cashews (soaked at least 30 minutes and rinsed)
  • ¼ cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • ⅛ tsp sea salt + pepper
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • ¼ cup + 2 tbsp plain unsweetened plant based milk (I used almond)
Instructions
  1. Blend all ingredients in high-speed blender until smooth! You might have to turn it off and scrape down the sides with a spatula every now and then...
  2. Use it for dipping, drizzling, spreading... anything! Pizza, pasta, cracker plates, or saucin' anything up!
3.5.3226

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Filed Under: Appetizers, Dinner, Gluten Free, Oil Free, Raw, Recipes, Sauces/Dressings, Uncategorized Tagged With: 7 ingredient cheese, cashew cheese sauce, cheese sauce, easter side dish, hooked on plants, nut cheese, plant-based cheese, plant-based cheeze sauce, raw vegan cheese, ready in 5, vegan cheese, vegan cheese sauce, vegan dinner idea, vegan dip, vegan easter, vegan sauce, vegan staple, what vegans eat

Mind-Blowing Multi-Purpose Vegan Cheese Sauce (Nut-Free)

February 8, 2018 By julia

This nut-free vegan cheese sauce may be the answer to all of your cheezy needs.

If nutty vegan cheese is too heavy for you to digest but you still want to curb that cheezy craving for all the things, you’ve come to the right place.

That cheezy pasta, or that cheezy dip for your chips, or that cheezy sauce all over your broccoli…

There’s not a thing in this world that I wouldn’t put this stuff on…well ok, maybe that’s a bit extreme.

While I may not douse my oatmeal or chocolate cake in this goodness…this stuff is still magic.

While surfin’ the waves of the inter web, you’ll come across vegan cheese sauce recipes based on cashews, sunflower seeds, or beans. This one, however, puts the veggie kingdom on the pedestal.

That’s right. Carrots and cauliflower can magically turn into cheese sauce. It’s possible, and it’s delicious.

What I love about this is sauce that you can devour a ton of it with zero guilt. It’s packed with nutrients + fibre, yet low in calories and fat. Sometimes the sauces made from nuts (as delicious as they are), can be a little heavy, ya know?

Vegan Cheese Sauce

To create a simple + yum pasta, just cook up your fave noodles, pan sear, then chop up some vegan sausages (the Gusta or Field Roast brands are yum), steam some broccoli florets, then mix everything together with this sauce. Top it all off with green onion and vegan parmesano (make this easy parm recipe, or find yourself some amazing Violife cheese to grate)!

Benefits:

  • Cauliflower is super nutritious, so don’t let the lack of colour fool ya’. This white magic is packed with folate, vitamin C, vitamin K, and vitamin B6. Plus, it’s a cruciferous vegetable, aka a cancer-fighting super veg with a good dose of antioxidants.
  • Carrots are known for their mega-dose of beta-carotene (an antioxidant that our body converts into vitamin A). What this means for you, is healthy skin and mucus membranes, a stronger immune system, and better eye health and vision.
  • Miso paste is an awesome addition, not only for the flava, but also because it’s fermented. Fermented foods do wonders for your gut aka microbiome aka microflora. This is where most of our bacteria lives! Since around 1/10 of our cells are human and 9/10 of our cells are bacteria, we’ve got to keep these bacterial cells happy by feeding them fermented foods. Eat that miso up.

Mind Blowing Vegan Cheese Sauce (without nuts)

Mind-Blowing Vegan Cheese Sauce (No Nuts)
 
Save Print
Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
10 mins
Total time
25 mins
 
This nut-free, vegan sauce is a light option for that cheezy comfort food feel. It's perfect for pasta or a dip with veggies and chips!
Author: Jules
Recipe type: Comfort Food, dinner, lunch, appetizer
Serves: 5 cups
Ingredients
  • 1 head cauliflower, roughly chopped
  • 6 carrots, chopped
  • ¾ cup nutritional yeast
  • ½ large sweet onion, diced (or 1 tbsp onion powder)
  • 2 cloves garlic (or 1 tbsp garlic powder)
  • 1 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp miso paste
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • ⅛ tsp smoked paprika (optional, but gives it a nice smokey flavour)
  • 1 cup plain almond milk (or any other plain plant-based milk)
Instructions
  1. Steam the cauliflower and carrots until soft (about 10 minutes)
  2. Meanwhile, (unless you're using onion and garlic powder), oil-free sauté the onion and garlic for about 7 minutes. Heat the element to medium, then add the chopped onions and garlic. Let the bottom of the pan brown, then add 1-2 tbsp of water to de-glaze the pan. As the onions cook, continue adding bits of water to prevent sticking if needed
  3. Add the onion, steamed cauliflower, and carrots to the blender with the the rest of the ingredients
  4. Blend until smooth!
  5. If using as a dip, put in and oven safe dish and broil on high for 3 minutes.
  6. Or, mix in with pasta, pour over roasted veggies, or just eat it by the spoonful 😉
3.5.3226

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Filed Under: Appetizers, Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, Oil Free, Recipes, Sauces/Dressings, Uncategorized Tagged With: carrot cheese sauce, cauliflower cheese sauce, cruelty free, dairy-free, easy recipe, high nutrient, hooked on plants, low fat, nut free cheese sauce, oil free, plant based cheese sauce, plant-based, vegan, vegan cheese, vegan cheese sauce, vegan comfort food, vegan dinner, vegan lunch

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Hi, I'm Julia! I like to simplify plant-based eating and make yummy recipes. I'm a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, certified plant-based chef, Olympian, and I make cereal (Jules Fuel). Enjoy! Read more

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hookedonplants

🌱 Olympian | Chill Vegan | RHN & Chef
🏠 Whistler Realtor @jules.eliz.murray @living.in.whistler
☀️ Retreats

Who wants a cat?! 🐈‍⬛ Adopt Turnip & Parsn Who wants a cat?! 🐈‍⬛ 
Adopt Turnip & Parsnip :) 

Check out their bios on @whistlerwag website under Adoptables. 

Why buy when you can rescue these cuties !? 

Did you know when you work with us (Team Longmuir Murray @living.in.whistler - to find or sell your home in Whistler, a part of our closing gift alwayyyys is a donation to @whistlerwag ❤️ 

Who here is ALSO quite obsessed with all animals? 

#animalrescue #whistleranimals #adopt #catrescue
Pro tip: Stay consistent. You’ve got this 🐾 Pro tip: Stay consistent. You’ve got this 🐾

P.S. Wondering what all the cuteness is about?

Only for the bestest dog food ever: @virchewdogs
🇨🇦 Woman-founded
🚚 Delivered to our door
🌱 Plant-powered
🧴 Perfect for sensitive skin (just ask Zak)

Use code hookedonplants for a discount — link in bio or just message us ‘DOG FOOD’ & we’ll send more info. 

~ With love, Zak & Tez 🐶💛
Whistler people! Name where this is from & I’ll Whistler people! Name where this is from & I’ll give you extra high fives today 🏆 
The OG rainbow collard wrap 🤤 

PS: if I were to create a Whistler Vegan Guide, drop in the comments what can’t be missed ??!!

#whistlerveganguide #whistlervegan #veganwhistler #plantbasedfinds #plantbasedwhistler #vegantravel
15 Minute Protein-Packed Vegan Pesto ChickUn Fettu 15 Minute Protein-Packed Vegan Pesto ChickUn Fettuccine 

1) Soak soy curls in water for 10 mins, then strain and pan-fry in olive oil & @bragg liquid aminos
2) In a pan, sauté 1 onion, lots of crushed garlic, 8-10 sliced mushrooms 
3) Add vegan pesto (used @love.legrand), nutritional yeast, and the pan fried soy curls to that pan. 
4) Boil pasta of choice (drop your fave pasta below… macaroni? Penne? Fettuccini?
5) Strain then pour pasta into the pan of goodness & mixy mixy
*** optional: add mushroom benefits with 1 tbsp each of @staywyldorganics Immunity Blend powder, and extra protein with @complement unflavoured protein powder. Use ‘hookedonplants’ for a discount - links in bio. 

 
🤤 Devour. 

Anything can be veganized. 👌 

📌 Save this for your next 15 minute dinner recipe idea.

#vegandinner #veganpasta #pestopasta #15minuterecipe #easyrecipe #easyveganrecipe
Ok, I’m biased… but this mama has to be the mo Ok, I’m biased… but this mama has to be the most inspiring plant-based athlete out there.

@stephaniejdsloan always supporting, motivating, moving, adventuring (in braids), and top-cheffing it up with the goodness of whole plant foods.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing mama’s out there. 💕 

#momsrule  #nomeatathlete
#plantbasedathlete #veganmom #mothersday
This isn’t just any tofu scramble… it’s next This isn’t just any tofu scramble… it’s next-level creamy and eggy thanks to 2 secret weapons:

🥄 Hummus for texture 
🧂 Black salt (kala namak) for that eggy flava flave

Serve it up with avo, tomato, and a drizzle of hot sauce for the ultimate #MothersDayBrunch moment 🥑🔥

🌱 Tofu Scramble Recipe - from the #hookedonplantsarchives 

Ingredients:
	•	½ large yellow onion, diced
	•	2 cloves garlic
	•	6 white mushrooms, sliced
	•	1 red pepper, diced
	•	1 tsp each: garlic powder, onion powder, paprika
	•	½ tsp turmeric
	•	1 tsp cumin
	•	½ tsp black salt (kala namak)
	•	¼–½ cup nutritional yeast
	•	½ cup hummus (use your fave — or try my Roasted Garlic one!)
	•	1 block medium or soft tofu (~350g)

Directions:
	1.	Sauté onion in a hot pan (no oil needed). Let it brown, then splash with water to deglaze as needed.
	2.	Add mushrooms, garlic, and red pepper. Cook for a few minutes.
	3.	Stir in spices + ¼ cup water.
	4.	Add hummus and mix until incorporated.
	5.	Crumble tofu into the pan with your hands (tiny crumbles = perfect texture).
	6.	Stir everything together and cook for a few more minutes until golden and hot.

Top with avo, tomato slices, hot sauce… or wrap it up in a tortilla 🌯

💌 Save this for your next brunch or breakfast for dinner (the best) and tag @hookedonplants if you make it!

#TofuScramble #VeganBrunch #EasyVeganMeals #HookedOnPlants #MothersDay #HummusHack #TofuScramble #BreakfastforDinner #PlantBasedProtein #VeganComfortFood #WeekendEats
… vegan for a decade and she’s still kickin’ … vegan for a decade and she’s still kickin’ 👌 

Plants have all the protein 🌱 💥 Who here is early in their plant-based journey? Need some tips? 

🐾 PS: These rescue dogs are thriving on plants too. Check the link in bio for info 🐾 

#vegan #veganolympian #plantbased #plantbasedtips #vegannutrition @virchewdogs
@alohaanimalsanctuary needs support right now. ➡ @alohaanimalsanctuary needs support right now.
➡️The GoFundMe page is linked in @alohaanimalsanctuary bio.

A few years ago, I had the beautiful experience of volunteering with Aloha Animal Sanctuary, and supporting their team with @complement products to help the volunteers and founders thrive—so they could give their best selves to the animals.

It’s a dream of mine to spend more time physically supporting farm sanctuaries. 
And to have my own one day… 💫 
… to rescue animals like the lucky ones you see here, living out their best lives.
Just putting that out there 🌱✨

💪🏽 The work, love and energy the founders have poured into Aloha is incredibly inspiring, but it comes with its challenges… Funding expenses being the main one. 

If you’ve got even $5 to spare, it could make a huge difference in helping save Aloha.

Since I don’t have my own sanctuary (yet!), the least I can do is share, volunteer, and spread the word.

& look back on the cute animal pics from my few days there. 

🐾 Hug a dog today. 
🐾Reconnect with the magic animals bring into this world.
🐾Donate if you can. 
🐾Visit a sanctuary. 
🐾Support the people doing this heart-led work.

🩵🐖🐓🐐
Need a serotonin boost? Hug a dog today. 10/10 re Need a serotonin boost? Hug a dog today. 
10/10 recommend.

PS: dogs can thrive on plant-based diet and it may actually extend their life 🎉 If you have sensitive pups, or don’t feel like feeding other animals to your family animals or want to try a more sustainable dog food for 🌍 try feeding them a vegan option. Check out the studies on @virchewdogs site, and try their starter pack (link in bio). Developed with vegetarians. Feel free to use ‘hookedonplants’ for a discount. 

Zak & Tez just love it. 
Tez actually vibrates with excitement every time. 😆 

#vegandogs #plantbaseddogs #dogfood #vegandogfood#adoptdontshop #rescuedogs #rescuedogsrule
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