Spiralized zucchini mac and cheese

Mac and cheese just got a healthy makeover with this spiralized zucchini mac and cheese recipe! Seasonal zoodles are coated with a vegan cheeze sauce and topped with a delicious oat crumble for your next weekday dinner!

Mac and cheese just got a healthy makeover with this spiralized zucchini mac and cheese recipe! Seasonal zoodles are coated with a vegan cheeze sauce and topped with a delicious oat crumble for your next weekday dinner!

Funny back story on this recipe… I first stumbled across Greenhouse Juice at The Detox Market back in Toronto. Since then they own storefronts, multiple retailers, stunning blog and now their official cookbook, it’s safe to say that Greenhouse has become a Toronto staple. Turns out my former classmate, Emma did the branding for Greenhouse Juice.

I was so excited to pick up the cookbook – it was truly love at first sight. It includes their trademark juice recipes, but also expands to include so much more like breakfast, snacks, DIY tutorials for things like nut milk and delicious recipes like this Spiralized Zucchini Mac and Cheese.

I emailed Emma asking if she wouldn’t mind if I shared a recipe from the book. She kindly replied yes and asked, which one I wanted to share. I had been eyeing the Spiralized Mac and Cheese and I was so grateful when she granted me permission to share. When I was reading the recipe notes, I noticed that the recipe was actually developed by a friend of Greenhouse, nutritionist Tara Tomulka who I ALSO went to high school with!

You could say our school produced some pretty badass women! Enjoy the recipe and if you want to support one of my favorite Toronto companies, definitely grab yourself a copy of The Greenhouse Cookbook!

Now let’s dive into the recipe…

How to Make Zucchini Noodles

First things first, you have to make zucchini noodles. There are a few different ways you can go around this depending on the kitchen appliances and supplies you have on hand. The easiest option in my opinion is by using a spiralizer. I have had mine for more years than I can count and am still obsessed. A great investment! To make zucchini noodles, all you do is slice off the ends, set the zucchini between the two spiralizer ends and spiralize away!

If you don’t have a spiralizer you can use a vegetable peeler or just a knife to cut noodle shapes. Fair warning: this method creates more of a thin and wide ribbon instead of a substantial curly noodle. Still gets the job done though!

Can You Use Frozen Zucchini Noodles?

More and more grocery stores are carrying pre-made zucchini noodles and frozen zoodles. From what I’ve seen pre-made are much spendier than just buying a zucchini but they will do the trick if you’re short on time or don’t have a tool to make zoodles. I have found that frozen zoodles can release a ton of water during baking so I don’t recommend those for this recipe.

Vegan Cheese Sauce! How to make it:

This vegan cheese sauce is made from a base of blended nuts and spices. The recipe calls for a mixture of cashews and Brazil nuts which I thought was so interesting! I love how creamy Brazil nuts are so of course they’d make a great sauce base. If you don’t have any Brazil nuts on hand you can substitute for more cashews.

Soak your nuts in water for at least 2 hours and then combine with water, mustard, garlic, nutritional yeast, olive oil, lemon juice, turmeric, apple cider vinegar and salt. Blend in a high-speed powered blender until smooth.

Combine your sauce and zucchini noodles in a baking dish and then top with the star of this recipe: the oat crumb crust. Bake until golden brown and warmed through!