Healthy, high-protein mac and cheese

A one-pot recipe from guest Beth Bollinger!

Hello, I hope you’re having a great week and gearing up for a festive Fourth of July weekend if you’re in the U.S.! I just returned home yesterday and it feels so great to be home after weeks away. Today,

Beth Bollinger

is back as a guest author for me and she’s sharing a healthy, high-protein mac and cheese recipe. I know it’s going to be good and can’t wait to give it a try!

Enjoy! I’ll be back to my regular content next Thursday.

In the meantime, there are many summer recipes perfect for July Fourth celebrations over on the blog! (Like keto strawberry shortcake and low-carb blackberry crumble and high-protein pasta salad!) And if you’re browsing my Substack recipe archive, you might enjoy this summer salad or these healthy burger bowls with roasted “taters” or these chipotle pork chops with fresh peach salsa!

Thank you for being here!

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This healthy, high-protein mac and cheese recipe by Beth Bollinger is gluten-free, grain-free, low-carb, keto, and includes dairy-free subs! It uses a combination of lupin pasta and cauliflower and there are several options for yummy toppings, too.

Beth: If you haven’t tried lupin pasta, please do! Lupin is high in protein and fiber and low in carbohydrates. It just might be the perfect gluten-free, grain-free pasta. Lupin is an excellent source of complete protein for vegans or vegetarians. You could swap out lupin pasta for an alternative, but it will change the nutrition profile significantly. Swaps include edamame pasta or chickpea pasta; just be sure they are organic because many contain high levels of glyphosate, used in the drying of the beans. Glyphosate is not used on lupin beans.

Recipe by Beth Bollinger

Serves 4-6

Cook Time: on the table in under 20 minutes!

Equipment

large pot or Dutch oven

spoon

grater

Ingredients

• 8 ounces lupin pasta

• 1 pound fresh cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized pieces (about 1/2 head of cauliflower) or a 12 ounce bag of frozen cauliflower rice!

• 1 ¼ cups whole milk (A2 milk, or cashew milk if you need to sub)

• 1 ½ cups filtered water

• 2 teaspoons sea salt, plus more to taste

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 8 ounces coarsely grated sharp cheddar this is about 2 cups, (I used goat cheddar from Bella Capra)

• black pepper to taste

Optional toppings:

• Green onion

• Parmesan

• GF panko

• GF panko + parmesan (½ and ½)

• Bacon, cooked and chopped

• Prosciutto, cooked and chopped

Method

1. In a large pot, combine the uncooked pasta, chopped fresh or frozen cauliflower, milk, salt, and garlic powder, and 1 ½ cups of water, and stir to combine. The pasta may not be fully submerged, but that’s OKAY!

2. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium to gently simmer. Cook, stirring often to ensure even cooking and to keep the noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pot, until the pasta is tender and the liquid resembles heavy cream and coats the noodles, about 8 to 12 minutes.

3. While the pasta cooks, grate the cheese and prepare any toppings you want to add to the finished mac and cheese.

4. If the liquid evaporates so much that you don’t see any between the noodles, add ½ cup water. Adjust the heat as needed to maintain a gentle simmer.

5. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the grated cheese. The cheese will melt as you stir it in and coat the noodles. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Enjoy as is or top with chopped cooked bacon, crispy prosciutto, parmesan cheese, sliced green onion, or whatever you like! If you like bread crumbs on your mac and cheese, mix panko and parmesan (½ and ½) and broil until browned and melty. Enjoy!

Substitutions

To make this dairy-free:

Sub cashew milk instead of dairy milk

Sub dairy-free cheese instead of cheddar

Other:
Instead of Cauliflower, try broccoli.

Use your favorite sharp cheese instead of cheddar.

Nutrition Cronometer

1 serving if the dish is divided into 4 servings:

446 calories

41 g protein

1 g net carbs

25 g fat

1 serving if the dish is divided into 6 servings:

297 calories

27 g protein

0 g net carbs

16.6 g fat

Coupons

Lupin Pasta use code NEST20

Vera Salt use code BETH

Healthy High Protein Mac + Cheese

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