Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese (gluten-free, whole grain options)
This sweet potato mac and cheese is incredibly creamy and sneaks in a little added nutrition thanks to the sweet potato! With gluten-free and whole grain options.
This recipe comes from Lauren of Healthy Food For Living. She has a new e-book out called The Kid’s Daily Plate: A Week’s Worth of Healthy Mix ‘N Match Toddler- and Kid-Approved Meals.
Being as I have the palate of a picky five year old, it felt like this book was written just for me. ;) All of the recipes are super simple, fuss-free and especially perfect for little ones.
The recipe in the book is actually for sweet potato mac and cheese cups but with Thanksgiving coming up, I wanted to make it more Thanksgiving-friendly.
It’s really easy to make the mac and cheese cups, but I only have one oven and that’s dedicated to turkey and these whole wheat dinner rolls.
Do you have a favorite turkey recipe? I think I’ll try this Easy No Fail Brined Turkey this year!
The first time I made this easy sweet potato mac and cheese recipe, I didn’t have the full amount of cheese on hand and it had the weirdest effect. I swear… it tasted like Cheetos! It was delicious. :D
The next time, I used the full amount of cheese and it tasted exactly like regular mac and cheese. If you want a more pronounced sweet potato taste, try adding more puree.
I used white cheddar and the mac and cheese still had this lovely orange color to it. I’ve been using white cheddar because up until writing this post, I thought all orange cheddar was artificially colored.
It looks like some cheddar is, but other cheddar is dyed naturally using the seeds of an annatto tree (you can read more about that here, if you like). I think I’ll still stick to white cheddar! I don’t feel like I’m missing anything flavor-wise.
This sweet potato mac and cheese is perfect as-is but it’d also be easy to personalize! I like to keep things plain with just some added garlic powder, but Mr. Texanerin loved his with bacon.
I think next time I’ll add some ham for a little added protein. Whatever you add, it’s sure to be delicious! :)
What’s better than cheese + carbs? More cheese + carbs! Next time I make this sweet potato mac and cheese, I’m also going to make these Gluten-free Cheddar Herb Muffins from Fearless Dining to go along with it. This gluten-free sweet potato casserole would also be awesome!
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I. Love. Sweet Potatoes. They’re my favorite everything. I never have thought to make sweet potato mac & cheese. You’ve opened up my eyes to a new horizon! Ha!
Haha. If you love sweet potatoes that much, then you have to try this! ;)
I love that you added sweet potato! Such a fun twist!
Thanks, Nicole!
First off, gooey and creamy sweet potato mac and cheese is exactly what I am dying to have tonight. For some reason, with our cooler weather and my constant hunger, I am craving all things comfort!
And who knew that cheese was artificially colored?! Guess I just devoured my cheese rather than contemplating its coloring ;)
Makes sense to me (that you’re craving all things comfort!) And some cheese is SO orange that I had my suspicions. ;)
This is a wonderful dish. The peas and dill gave it a new and delightful flavour. Came out really well! I would make this again for son’s birthday, next week! Thanks a lot for sharing. :)
Peas and dill sounds like an interesting addition! So happy that you enjoyed it and I hope your son will like it, too, and have a happy birthday! Thanks for your feedback. :)
Erin! You picked a great recipe – I love it! It looks sooo creamy and delicious, I want to grab that bowl right out of my monitor! If we ever DO get together, I’ll prepare veggies for you in every way I can think of… there *must* be something you like other than potatoes!! :)
That sounds like a terrible thing to do. ;) You’d be so sad! I can guarantee it.
Love this!! I always like a comforting meal that is also good for you. Pretty sure my son would love this too!
Thanks! And I hope he would! :)
My daughter is super picky about veggies and meat. It’s a textural thing for her. The meat thing started very young then she found out where meat is from and became a vegetarian. Which made life a bit complicated because some veggies were palatable to her. I learned to get super creative with the ones that worked. So I totally get where you’re coming from with veggies. I love a lot of them but can’t eat many because of my IBS. Dark greens are a big no-no for me. But sweet potatoes are a-okay. So this has to happen in my house. We were just talking about making a big batch of homemade mac n cheese. Perfect timing.
For me it’s the taste and texture. So… everything about them. ;) Cooking for a kid who doesn’t like veggies OR meat must be difficult. I hope she’ll grown to like veggies! People always said that to me but it hasn’t happened, yet. I hope you’ll enjoy the mac and cheese if you try it! :)
OK…uhhhhh, this is seriously genius! Pinning!
Thanks for pinning! And I agree. I was so excited when I came across this recipe in Lauren’s ebook!
I’m dying over how creamy this looks! I always hide butternut in my mac and cheese, but I need to try sweet potato next time. Super smart!!
I’ll have to try butternut next time! Sounds good.
Wow that looks so creamy and delicious!! My kids would lick their bowls clean :)
Not you, though? That’s the best part! ;)
So creamy, yummy! And such a great way to slip in some added nutrition and flavor!
I totally agree! Every little bit is a help for me. :)
Never would have thought to put sweet potato in mac n cheese! This is genius!
Neither would I! Lauren is just awesome like that. :)
So funny that you hate all veggies! I LOVE them! This sounds like a super tasty way to get some veggies in though!
I so, so wish I liked them!
cool fact about orange cheese! love this recipe.
I thought so, too! :)
I love sneaking in the sweet potato. My daughter goes crazy for mac ‘n cheese. Any way to get it a little healthier counts!
Agreed! It all counts. :)
Love the addition of sweet potato. Everybody would love this!
I bet they would! :D
Love the use of sweet potato to make this creamy and delicious! Such a smart idea!
Thanks, Amy! Lauren did an awesome job with this recipe. :)
Such a great way to hide your veggies! It is okay, there are some things I have tried that I do not like and people have said I am cooking them wrong, but you cannot like everything in the world!!
Yes! Everyone seems to think that there must be a way for me to like veggies. But there simply isn’t. ;)
Looks so yummy! What a color and so creamy..
Thanks you, Medeja!
Yay for delicious vegetables! I usually like to puree butternut squash into mac and cheese but haven’t tried it with sweet potato. Kind of excited to go easy on the cheese (for the first time ever) if it means that it tastes like cheetos!
Haha. I bet it’ll depend on the brand and combination of cheese you use. Although I did it twice with two different types of cheddar and got the Cheeto effect both times. ;) And Pecorino Romano! I used about 1/4 of that each time.