Comfort food in a mouth-watering healthier bite size rendition. Get in the kitchen and impress your friends, fam, room mates and yourself. Your taste buds will be leaping for joy with these vegan and gluten free friendly Mac ‘n’ Cheese bites!

Now you’re asking yourself, how on earth are we going to get that ultra cheesy flavour of good old regular Mac ‘n’ Cheese? Our secret is Knowrish Well’s tantalising new Better Cheddar powder. Full of wholesome, plant based ingredients and spices to help mimic the taste of cheddar, this powder is a game changer. Thanks to the Lucuma, Turmeric, and Nutritional Yeast in the Better Cheddar powder, along with the Hulled Hemp Seeds in the gluten free crumb, you’ll be enjoying super foods in delicious disguise. 

These bites are super perfect on their own or you pair them with a dipping sauce (something pesto-y would work magic) or even have them with a light, simply leafy green salad. We’re not going to pretend this is the easiest recipe we’ve ever made but your prep work will be seriously rewarded when it comes time to eating these savoury, cheesy, comforting mouthfuls.

This recipe also features a little bit of spice thanks to the inclusion of chilli which helps to elevate the flavour. If you’re not so fond or a little sensitive to spice, then you can easily omit this when making the mix.

If you give this recipe a try, we wanna know! Don't forget to tag us #KnowrishWell in your Instagram post so we can see your, er, balls. Happy noshing KW fam!

VEGAN GLUTEN FREE MAC 'N' CHEESE BITES

VEGAN - GLUTEN FREE

MAKES: Approx 30 bites

PREP + COOK TIME: 45 min

INGREDIENTS

2.5 tbsp Knowrish Well Better Cheddar Powder
180 g small shaped Gluten Free Pasta (we used macaroni)
2 tbsp Olive Oil
¾ Cup Cashews, soaked in water for at least 1 hour then drained
2 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
Lemon Juice, 1 good squeeze
Fresh Parsley: 1 tsp finely chopped parsley stalks, ¼ cup chopped parsley leaves (loosely packed)
½ fresh long red chilli (seeds included), finely diced
Pepper & Salt to taste
75 g (1/2 cup) Gluten Free Breadcrumbs
55 g (1/4 cup + 2 tbsp) Hemp Seeds, hulled
1 Vegetable Stock Cube
¼ cup Almond Milk
0.5 L – 0.75 L Vegetable Oil for frying (you might need more depending on the size of the sauce pan)

MAKE

1. Cook the pasta al dente according to instructions on the packaging and add a vegetable stock cube in the cooking water. When cooked, drain the pasta but save the stock as we will use this for the next step. Once drained, rinse the pasta with cold water to prevent the pasta from over-cooking.
2. To prepare the cashew paste, add to a blender (or use stick blender) the drained cashews, ¾ cup pasta water and almond milk, and blend until very smooth paste/sauce forms.
3. In a medium saucepan, sauté garlic, parsley stalks and chilli on low heat in 2 tbsp of olive oil for about 5 minutes, ensuring the garlic does not brown.
4. Once fragrant, add 2 tbsp of gluten free flour, stirring continuously for about 3 minutes. Add the cashew mixture and 2.5 tbsp of Better Cheddar powder and stir until thick and combined. Lastly, add ¼ cup of parsley and lemon juice, salt & pepper to taste and stir to combine.
5. Add the pasta to the sauce and combine until all pasta is coated in the sauce. Refrigerate until mixture has cooled down.
6. Combine gluten free breadcrumbs, pepper & salt to taste (be generous with the salt!) on a deep plate.
7. Take the pasta mixture out of the fridge and use a tablespoon to scoop out the mixture bit by bit, then compress and roll the mixture between the palms of your hands to shape into balls. This will get messy! Then roll the balls through the crumb mixture and coat evenly. Place the balls on a piece of baking paper.
8. When you have no pasta mixture left, add vegetable oil to a frying pan, until it reaches about 2-3 cm high. Heat the oil on medium heat. First add one ball to the oil to test if it is hot enough; if it immediately starts sizzling then you know it’s hot enough! Gently add the pasta balls one by one into the oil to fry. Do this in batches as they need enough room to brown up evenly and to prevent the oil from cooling down too much. Fry for approximately 3-4 minutes, turning half-way, until golden brown all over. When they are done, place the Mac ‘n’ Cheese bites on a plate with paper towels to absorb any excess oil.
9. Enjoy these bits by themselves or serve with your favourite dipping sauce (we suggest pesto)! These are absolutely irresistible!