What a mouth-full!
Oh, how I love pasta and creamy vegan cheese sauce and roasty toasty caramelized broccoli.
Especially this time of year!
I hate hate hate turning on my oven during the summer. I am very much someone who enjoys air conditioning, and anything that makes it harder to enjoy said air conditioning is a no-go from me.
In fact, I frequently tell people that, if I needed to get rid of all of the technology in my life and keep just one, air conditioning would be my one.
It’s true. Ya girl hates to be hot. Hence being anti-oven in the summer time.
But! The weather here in Pittsburgh magically turned crisp (especially at night) on September 1, and I’ve been very pro-oven recently. We’ve been roasting vegetables like mad, and I knew I needed to create a recipe including some.
Enter: This recipe!
We’re using the oven! We’re boiling pasta! We’re making a vegan cheese sauce from scratch in the Instant Pot! It sounds like a lot, but it really isn’t. Everything can be going at the same time so it’s ready at the same time.
It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing, my friend. And you’re gonna love it.
The vegan cheese sauce is something incredibly special. It’s adapted from my favorite vegan cheese sauce in America’s Test Kitchen’s Vegan for Everybody cookbook.
This cookbook is my absolute fave (see my gushing review here). Every recipe is a complete and total slam-dunk, and their cheese sauce is other-worldly.
It takes a while to cook on the stove and then blend in a blender, and I was curious if I could throw everything in the Instant Pot instead and still have a really killer sauce.
Turns out: you can! And it’s so easy. Just add everything to your Instant Pot, let it cook for 8 minutes, and then blend with an immersion blender until creamy. Add a touch of vinegar for that cheesy tang and lots of black pepper, and you are ready to rumble.
As for the pasta, feel free to use your favorite short cut pasta. I love fusilli and gemelli, but elbows would work too. Heck, even a bean-pasta would work great here for some extra protein.
I love this recipe because it’s like a grown-up version of mac and cheese with broccoli.
We’re growing it up it by:
- Roasting the broccoli instead of steaming it
- Making a simple vegan cheese sauce in the Instant Pot from scratch
But! It’s simple enough to be a weeknight meal.
Man, are we winning this dinner thing or what? High fives all around.
PrintPasta with Roasted Broccoli and Instant Pot Vegan Cheese Sauce
Roasted broccoli, pasta, and from-scratch vegan cheese sauce in the Instant Pot… but this meal is simple enough to be a weeknight meal! You and your fam will LOVE it.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Instant Pot, Roast, Boil
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
THE ROASTED BROCCOLI:
- 2 heads broccoli, florets removed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil
- salt + pepper
THE VEGAN CHEESE SAUCE:
- 2 and 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons dried mustard powder
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 5 ounces cauliflower florets
- 3/4 cup raw cashews, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar
- pepper, to taste
THE PASTA:
- 1/2 pound short pasta (like fusilli, gemelli, or elbows)
Instructions
- BROCCOLI: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- Spread your broccoli on your baking sheet and drizzle with your oil. Season with salt and pepper, and mix with your hands so all florets are coated.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until caramelized to your liking.
- CHEESE: Add your almond milk, nutritional yeast, turmeric, tomato paste, mustard, and garlic to the pot of your Instant Pot. Quickly mix to combine. Add your cauliflower, cashews, oil, and salt in an even layer.
- Add the lid to your Instant Pot, set the vent to Sealing, and Pressure Cook on High for 8 minutes.
- After 8 minutes, immediately and carefully release the steam. Remove the lid.
- Using an immersion blender*, blend your cheese sauce until smooth and thick. Add your white vinegar, and blend to combine. Taste, and season with additional salt and a generous helping of freshly cracked pepper. Set aside.
- PASTA: While the broccoli is roasting and the cheese sauce is Instant Potting, cook your pasta according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
- ASSEMBLE: Add your broccoli and pasta to a large bowl. Cover with your desired amount of your cheese sauce (you may have some left over, which is why I don’t recommend putting everything into the cheese sauce). Mix to combine and serve!
Notes
Cheese sauce is adapted from America’s Test Kitchen’s Vegan for Everybody cookbook. It’s my fave! Check out my review here. Their sauce is made on the stove, so if you don’t have an Instant Pot, I’d suggest snagging that book and trying that recipe! The cheese sauce that this cheese sauce is based on can be found on page 184.
*Alternatively, you can carefully pour everything into a high-powered blender to blend until silky smooth.
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