Now that I am an adult and have been living the dairy free life for years now, I don’t feel restricted or like I am missing out on anything tasty. As a kid, I drank all the milk and ate all the pizza and mac and cheese. Did it bother me then? Probably. I truly can’t remember how dairy made me feel until my high school years. Even then, I still ate dairy and just dealt with the consequences. It wasn’t until after college I took dairy completely out of my diet and started feeling so much better.
Avri on the other hand, was born with a dairy intolerance and will most likely have this intolerance her whole life. I don’t want her to miss out on flavorful foods, fun “kid” meals or ever feel restricted. So, I try to create and make fun dairy free alternatives from my childhood. And that is where I got the inspiration for this recipe! My mac and cheese never had broccoli or any type of vegetable in it, but vegetables are important! And hey, maybe you have a toddler that doesn’t like broccoli but won’t even notice it in the recipe because the cheese sauce hides the taste! I used venison hot dogs in this recipe because they are our favorite and what we had. Otherwise, Applegate has grass-fed beef and even turkey hot dogs that would be a good option.
Feel free to use any dairy free alternatives you like. I made sure to note what I specifically used in this recipe. You could also change up the broccoli and add chopped green beans, peas, spinach, cauliflower or kale. Or, just keep it even more simple with just the macaroni and cheese. Enjoy!
- 3 tbsp ghee*
- ¼ cup gluten free flour
- 1½ cups dairy free milk, I used Oat Milk
- ¼ cup plain dairy free yogurt, I used Forge Cashew Yogurt
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 7 ounce package dairy free cheddar cheese shreds I used VioLife
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 8 ounce box noodle of choice, I used chickpea noodles
- 6 hotdogs, I used venison hot dogs
- 3-4 cups broccoli florets, chopped and steamed, I used frozen broccoli cuts
- Start cooking the noodles according to the directions on the box. Drain and rinse and set aside. While noodles cook, start boiling the hot dogs. You only need to boil the hot dogs for 5-10 minutes or until they are hot all the way through. Set hot dogs aside. Once cool, cut hot dogs into pieces.
- In the pot the noodles were in (large pot) over medium heat, add the ghee. When melted, whisk the flour in until thickened. Add milk, yogurt and nutritional yeast. Whisk until smooth. Cook, whisking often until mixture thickens (3-5 minutes).
- Add the cheddar cheese shreds whisking until fully melted and combined.
- Add the noodles, broccoli and hot dogs to the cheese mixture. Mix until fully combined.
- Enjoy!