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)