Bacon Mac and Cheese
The ultimate comfort food – gooey, warm, and filling – this Bacon Mac and Cheese is cozy and delightful. No need to worry about triggering a flare though if you can't have dairy – this one's dairy-free! (Paleo, AIP, Dairy-free)
I did a survey of my AIP membership (The Autoimmune Collective), asking what their favorite comfort food was – and what they missed the most, and the resounding answer was mac and cheese.
Yeah…. I agree.
So I present you with a dairy-free, Paleo and AIP-friendly mac and cheese. In fact, it's a delicious BACON mac and cheese!
Alternatives to store-bought elbow pasta
Unfortunately, I do know sourcing the Jovial Foods Cassava Flour Elbow Pasta can be difficult or impossible for some of you. And as of the time I write this, they are the only AIP elbow pasta that I know of that you can purchase.
However, if you cannot find it, here are some alternatives:
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- Hearts of Palm Pasta – these won't be elbow shaped, but they are storebought. Make sure to find a brand that doesn't have any non-AIP ingredients, like citric acid. The Natural Heaven brand is ok as of now.
- Sweet Potato Noodles – you could make sweet potato noodles and just cut them a lot shorter than usual
- Make your own – Nicole at Heal Me Delicious has several recipes that could work – Hand Rolled AIP Pasta and AIP Gnocchi
- Zucchini Noodles – the old zoodle standby – again, maybe cut the noodles a bit shorter?
- Diced roasted or steamed sweet potatoes or butternut squash – while not quite “noodles”, these could be another comforting way of eating this because you'll still “sink your teeth” into these and be small and bite-sized
- Steamed broccoli – maybe this is a different dish entirely, but who doesn't love cheese sauce on broccoli?
Bacon Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
For the cheese sauce:
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1/4 cup Arrowroot Powder (or Tapioca Starch)
- 1.5 cups Coconut Milk ((or Tigernut Milk or Sweet Potato Milk for coconut-free AIP) or dairy-free milk of choice if not on AIP )
- 1/3 cup Nutritional Yeast
- 2 tbsp Coconut Oil (or Avocado Oil or Olive Oil)
- 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar (or White Wine Vinegar)
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric
- 1/8 tsp Mace (or Nutmeg if not on AIP)
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
For the Pasta:
- 1 package Jovial Foods Cassava Flour Elbows (see "Alternatives" section above in post for other alternatives)
- 4 slices Bacon
Instructions
- Cook the bacon in a pan until done, set aside.
- Put a pot of water on to boil, then cook the pasta according to the package directions.
- Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, whisk together the water and arrowroot. Then whisk in the remaining sauce ingredients.
- While whisking constantly, bring the sauce mixture to a boil over medium heat. It will thicken noticeably once hot - continuing whisking for another 1-2 minutes, then remove from the heat.
- Drain the pasta, finely chop up the bacon, and add the pasta and bacon to the pan with the sauce. Mix together and serve warm. (Option: reserve a bit of the bacon to sprinkle on top)
Notes
Meal Prepping the AIP Mac and Cheese
You can make this mac and cheese up to 5 days ahead of time, store in the fridge, and reheat as needed. I really do recommend reheating as I don't like the texture as much when it's cold. You can also freeze the sauce for up to 3 months. To do this, make the sauce, let it cool, put into a freezer-safe container or bag (I've been loving these reusable freezer bags!), lay flat in your freezer until frozen, then place somewhere in your freezer for storage. (This method allows you to get a lot more into your freezer.) Then when you need the cheese sauce, you can thaw it in the fridge overnight and reheat, or push it out of the container into a pot on the stove and gently reheat (if it is having a hard time coming out of the container/bag, put the container/bag in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes).
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