Vegan Mac N’ Cheeze Recipe for Dehydrating
Considerations for dehydrating your food:
Add low or no oil to the dish. Oil can cause the dehydrated food to become rancid and spoil it.
Cut all of the ingredients into small, consistent sizes. This helps them dehydrate and then rehydrate at a more similar rate.
Potency of flavour tends to be diminished during the dehydration process, so consider adding a bit of extra spice during the cooking process.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp water or olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1 cup peeled and grated potatoes
3 cloves garlic, diced
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp mustard
2 tsp salt
⅔ cup raw cashews
1 cup water, more as necessary
¼ cup nutritional yeast
2 to 3 tsp apple cider vinegar
8 ounces macaroni noodles
1 head of broccoli, florets cut into small bites
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooking Instructions:
Fill a medium pot with water, add a pinch of salt, and put on high heat.
In a separate frying pan or pot, add either 1 tbsp water or olive oil and place on low-medium heat for two minutes. Add the onion. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
Add the grated potatoes and diced garlic to the frying pan. Cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Add water 1 tbsp at a time to the frying pan if needed to prevent the potatoes from sticking.
Transfer the frying pan contents (onion, potatoes, and garlic) to a blender or food processor. Add garlic powder, onion powder, mustard, salt, raw cashews, 1 cup water, nutritional yeast, and apple cider vinegar to the blender or food processor. Blend contents until smooth and creamy. Add additional water if needed during the blending process.
Once the medium pot of water comes to a boil, add the macaroni noodles. Stirring occasionally. Once the noodles are almost cooked, add the broccoli. Allow the broccoli to cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove pot from heat and strain noodles and broccoli.
Mix the noodles, broccoli, and sauce from the blender or food processor all together in either a large pot or bowl. Salt and pepper to taste if needed.
Please note: during the dehydration process, the flavours tend to lose intensity and become more subdued. If you try the mac n’ cheeze and it tastes like the perfect amount of flavour, consider adding more salt to compensate for the loss of flavour during the dehydration process.
Dehydrating Instructions:
Most consumer grade dehydrators should work for this process. I have one by Hamilton Beach. You can either use the tray liners that come with the dehydrator or parchment paper. I prefer using parchment paper, since it’s easier to remove the food once it’s been dehydrated.
Line all of your dehydrator trays.
Transfer the mac n’ cheeze onto the tray using a spoon. Spread it out so that it is in a single layer. Eg. two macaroni noodles side by side instead of stacked on top of each other. You will start to get the feel for how thick of a layer your dehydrator can handle. I have had my food develop mold when the layer was too thick before, so keep that in mind.
Once the dehydrator is full, turn it on and set the temperature. I usually use 160F and set it for about 20 hours. This meal usually takes 12-18 hours to fully dehydrate on my dehydrator.
You may need to run the dehydrator twice if the entire pot of food does not fit on the dehydrator trays. I usually put the leftover food in the fridge and then transfer it onto the trays once the first round is fully dried and removed.
Run the dehydrator until the food is completely dry. When you touch each ingredient it should be firm and not squishy nor soft.
Weigh out each camp serving and store in a vacuum sealed bag or similar. Each serving should be 150-200g (5-7 ounces) of dried food. Although you may find a different weight works better for you.
Now you’re done! I usually find this recipe makes about 4-5 x 150g camp meals; however, the amount does vary. I hope you enjoy this tasty mac n’ cheeze while out in the backcountry!
Rehydrating Instructions:
Hot meal instructions:
Place your dehydrated food into your pot.
Cover your meal with water.
Bring water to a boil.
Turn off your stove and cover your pot.
Let sit for ~10 minutes.
Take off lid and enjoy!
Cold soak instructions:
Place your dehydrated meal in your designated cold soaking container a few hours before you want to eat it.
Pour water into container to cover meal.
Let sit for ~3-4 hours.
Enjoy!
*Some of my links are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
