Creamy Paleo Mac and Cheese (Video Recipe)

I’m honestly thrilled with how this Paleo mac and cheese turned out—the dairy-free “cheese” sauce tastes remarkably authentic. Below is a concise summary of the recipe steps and detailed instructions to make this creamy, vegetable-based sauce and serve it over cauliflower or your preferred base.

Step #1

Steam the cauliflower using your preferred method. An Instant Pot works great for quick steaming. If you’re skipping the cauliflower, prepare whatever base you plan to use instead (pasta, broccoli, etc.).

Step #2

Sauté the vegetables and simmer them in coconut milk until tender and reduced to a thick consistency.

Step #3

Blend the cooked vegetables and coconut milk into a very smooth sauce, then stir in an egg yolk to enrich and thicken the mixture. Pour the sauce over the steamed cauliflower and toss to coat.

Coconut milk mac and cheese in a turquoise bowl — Paleo mac and cheese with cauliflower

Notes About This Recipe

This is a family-friendly, nostalgic mac and cheese made without dairy. Instead of relying on nutritional yeast or cashews, this sauce uses simple vegetables and coconut milk to create a rich, velvety texture and a naturally cheesy color (a bit of carrot helps with that).

The method is straightforward: sauté vegetables (including carrot for color), add coconut milk and simmer until very soft and the liquid has thickened, then puree until smooth. Adding a hot egg yolk to the puree gives the sauce a creamy, almost custard-like finish that closely mimics traditional cheese sauce without using any actual cheese.

The flavor is outstanding—my picky eaters love it. It’s delicious on cauliflower, broccoli, clean pastas like spelt, or other vegetables. My daughter even insisted it was real cheese until she found a small unblended piece of carrot!

We often serve this with simple homemade chicken tenders. My quick method: place tenders in a cold pan with oil, season with salt, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and paprika, dust with your preferred flour or starch (einkorn for clean eating or arrowroot for Paleo), then cook over medium heat until both sides are golden. It pairs nicely with this mac and cheese.

This version gives you the classic comfort-food taste while keeping the dish lighter and dairy-free. No guilt—just a satisfying, veggie-packed sauce. How will you serve it, and do you think it tastes cheesy?

Paleo Mac and Cheese Recipe

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4.6 from 38 reviews

Author: Rebecca Baron
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Category: Side Dish
Cuisine: Paleo

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Description

This sauce is essentially blended vegetables and coconut milk, reduced and pureed into a silky, dairy-free “cheese.” It’s wonderful over steamed cauliflower but is equally delicious over pasta, broccoli, or other vegetables.

Ingredients

Scale

FOR THE CAULIFLOWER:

1 ½ heads cauliflower
2 T ghee
½ t salt
½ C water

FOR THE CHEESE SAUCE:

2 T ghee
1 small yellow squash or 1 cup cubed butternut squash
1 small carrot, peeled and diced
½ small sweet onion, diced
½ t garlic powder
¾ t ground mustard
1 t salt
1 can coconut milk
1 egg yolk
Pepper, to taste

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Instructions

FOR THE CAULIFLOWER:

Option 1: Trim the cauliflower into florets. Place in an Instant Pot with 1 cup water and steam on manual for 6 minutes.
Option 2: Trim the cauliflower into florets and place in a large sauté pan with 2 T ghee, ½ t salt, and ½ cup water. Cover and cook over medium-high for about 5 minutes until mostly tender, checking that the water doesn’t evaporate. When nearly tender, remove the lid and sauté a minute or two until lightly caramelized in spots. Turn off heat, cover, and keep warm.

FOR THE CHEESE SAUCE:

Heat 2 T ghee in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the squash, carrot, onion, garlic powder, ground mustard, and 1 t salt.
Sauté about 5 minutes until the onion is translucent. Add the can of coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Let it simmer about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the coconut milk has reduced and thickened by roughly two-thirds.
Transfer the vegetables and reduced coconut milk to a blender and puree until completely smooth. With the blender running, add the hot puree to a bowl and immediately whisk in the egg yolk (the heat will gently cook the yolk), or briefly blend the yolk into the hot puree. This step thickens and enriches the sauce.
Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
Pour the sauce over the hot cauliflower and toss to coat evenly.
Serve immediately.