(vegan, gf)

Thanksgiving is all about the sides, and mac & cheese is the undisputed king of side dishes! I chose to make a vegan friendly version because I feel like the vegans and vegetarians of the world can sometimes get the short end of the stick when it comes to food at family gatherings and holidays. Believe me, I’ve been there. It’s usually a salad, a plain, depressed looking veggie, or some weird oily attempt at a pasta dish. Yuck. No, thank you.

So, this Thanksgiving I wanted to share a recipe for mac and cheese that will satisfy all of your guests; from the vegans to the carnivores. I also decided to use gluten free pasta, you can substitute regular if you’d like. I cook it right until it hits al dente. If you want your pasta to have more of a bite you can totally drain it about a minute or two before that. I’ve linked the exact pasta I used at the bottom of the ingredients list. It’s organic brown rice pasta that I get from Trader Joe’s (linked it in amazon just so you can see a picture of it), and we LOVE it!

This really is the creamiest, dreamiest mac and cheese. The butternut squash gives a great body to the sauce without making it too heavy and adds this wonderful silky mouthfeel. The addition of sage brings that cozy and savory flavor profile we’ve all come to expect on Thanksgiving.

*pictured here with my smoky vegan collard greens