This is a perfect dinner for those crave-y days when you’d rather turn to healthy comfort food than end up face down in something that will make you feel gross afterwards. This dish manages to be light rather than heavy, while also being creamy, and satisfying.
For a gluten-free, grain-free, or flour-free meal, browse the gluten-free pasta aisle of a natural foods store. There are tons of flourless pastas out there these days. My favorites are chickpea and lentil pasta, I think they have the best texture.
The sauce is really simple and tasty, and comes together in 1 minute. I use plant-based milk for creaminess, nutritional yeast for “cheesiness,” white miso for a bit of umami, garlic and onion powder for flavor, and a bit of arrowroot powder to thicken. No need to cook this sauce, just stir it in a cup with a fork and pour over the hot cooked pasta. Boom. If you want an extra melty and thick sauce, stir it into the pasta and then place back on the heat for a minute or so, it will thicken and become stringy and delicious.
Ingredients*
Protein
- 6 oz cooked legume pasta my favorite is chickpea pasta
Cheesy Sauce
- 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 Tbsp plant based milk of choice
- 1 tsp white miso paste
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp arrowroot powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions.
- Stir the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl.
- Add hot pasta to the sauce and stir. The heat from the pasta will thicken the sauce. If the sauce is too thin, place the pot of pasta and sauce over low heat and stir for a minute or so, it will thicken up. If it's still too thin, add a pinch of arrowroot powder and gently heat while stirring. If it's too thick, add milk to thin.
- Add veggies like peas or broccoli florets if desired.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste
Video
Notes
- Use legume pasta such as chickpea or lentil pasta for a grain-free, gluten-free, or flour-free meal.
*Affiliate Link Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning that I earn a small commission on sales made from my links at no extra cost to you. The products I recommend in my posts are only brands that I can personally recommend and use myself.
For an even more indulgent meal, add a spoonful of plant-based cream cheese into the sauce, or another cheese of choice.
Can’t wait to try this!!!
This looks amazing…I think you may have a typo though. In the explanation you mention that 6 oz of cooked legume pasta is a protein, but in the recipe you only list 4 oz. Thanks for continuing to create such amazing food and recipes. I am almost 2 years in and live by your recipes on repeat almost everyday! Thank you!!!!
Whoops, your right it’s 6 oz. Thanks for pointing that out Marla! It’s habit because I usually count pasta as grain on maintenance and I do 4 oz. I fixed it in the recipe, should be correct now.
Does the milk also not count as protein?
Technically it does, but it’s such a small amount that I don’t bother. You can count it as 1/6 of a protein if you want to deal with that math. I always count a couple of TBSP of milk as a condiment.
Blending steamed cauliflower into the sauce will stretch out the creamy goodness without taking away from fat serving also. 🙂
Great idea!
Hello Katie! Regarding your BLE-Friendly Cheesy Noodles I’d like to know what brand you’ve used for the chickpea pasta. Also, confirm to me if 6oz of pasta is the correct amount for one serving. Thank you, very much:)
Yes, 6 oz is correct. I love Banza pasta. You can see my pasta brand recommendations on this post: https://katiesbrightkitchen.com/2017/07/30/delicious-melty-eggplant/