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Bacon Mac and Cheese

The ultimate comfort food – gooey, warm, and filling – this Bacon Mac and Cheese is cozy and delightful. No need to worry about triggering a flare though if you can't have dairy – this one is dairy-free! Also Paleo and AIP friendly.
*Note – this serves 4 people as a side, or 2 people as a main dish
MEAL PREP: You can make this mac and cheese up to 5 days ahead of time, store in the fridge, and reheat as needed. I really do recommend reheating as I don't like the texture as much when it's cold.
You can also freeze the sauce for up to 3 months. To do this, make the sauce, let it cool, put into a freezer-safe container or bag, lay flat in your freezer until frozen, then place somewhere in your freezer for storage. (This method allows you to get a lot more into your freezer.)
Then when you need the cheese sauce, you can thaw it in the fridge overnight and reheat, or push it out of the container into a pot on the stove and gently reheat (if it is having a hard time coming out of the container/bag, put the container/bag in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes).
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

For the cheese sauce:

  • 1/2 cup Water
  • 1/4 cup Arrowroot Powder or Tapioca Starch
  • 1.5 cups Coconut Milk or Tigernut Milk for coconut-free AIP
  • 1/3 cup Nutritional Yeast
  • 2 tbsp Coconut Oil or Avocado Oil or Olive Oil
  • 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar or White Wine Vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Turmeric
  • 1/8 tsp Mace
  • 1 tsp Sea Salt

For the Pasta:

  • 1 package Jovial Foods Cassava Flour Elbows see Notes for other alternatives
  • 4 slices Bacon

Instructions

  • Cook the bacon in a pan until done, set aside.
  • Put a pot of water on to boil, then cook the pasta according to the package directions.
  • Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, whisk together the water and arrowroot. Then whisk in the remaining sauce ingredients.
  • While whisking constantly, bring the sauce mixture to a boil over medium heat. It will thicken noticeably once hot – continuing whisking for another 1-2 minutes, then remove from the heat.
  • Drain the pasta, finely chop up the bacon, and add the pasta and bacon to the pan with the sauce. Mix together and serve warm. (Option: reserve a bit of the bacon to sprinkle on top)

Notes

Unfortunately, I do know sourcing the Jovial Foods Cassava Flour Elbow Pasta can be difficult or impossible for some of you. And as of the time I write this, they are the only AIP elbow pasta that I know of that you can purchase.
However, if you cannot find it, here are some alternatives:
  • Hearts of Palm Pasta – these won't be elbow shaped, but they are storebought. Make sure to find a brand that doesn't have any non-AIP ingredients, like citric acid. The Natural Heaven brand is ok as of now.
  • Sweet Potato Noodles – you could make sweet potato noodles and just cut them a lot shorter than usual
  • Make your own – Nicole at Heal Me Delicious has several recipes that could work – Hand Rolled AIP Pasta and AIP Gnocchi
  • Zucchini Noodles – the old zoodle standby – again, maybe cut the noodles a bit shorter?
  • Diced roasted or steamed sweet potatoes or butternut squash – while not quite “noodles”, these could be another comforting way of eating this because you'll still “sink your teeth” into these and be small and bite-sized
  • Steamed broccoli – maybe this is a different dish entirely, but who doesn't love cheese sauce on broccoli?