Can I Make Mac and Cheese With Almond Flour
Low carb and keto-friendly pasta covered in a rich and creamy cheese sauce. This comforting macaroni and cheese tastes very similar to the real thing and is just 6 net carbs per serving.
I have been wanting to create a keto macaroni and cheese for a while. Most keto macaroni and cheese recipes I've come across use cauliflower as a substitute for the pasta. And while I love my cauliflower recipes, I really wanted to create a version that used pasta.
Last month, I shared with you my skillet lasagna using low carb lasagna noodles. This dish uses the same versatile low carb noodle recipe.
Keto Low Carb Pasta
This pasta is made with just 4 ingredients: almond flour, egg, xanthan gum and psyllium husk powder.
The dough works very much like traditional pasta dough. It can be rolled, shaped, etc.
Before the pasta is cooked, it even looks like regular pasta, though the brown color makes it look more like whole wheat pasta.
After the pasta is cooked, it does lose its brown color and turns a light gray due to the psyllium husk. Unfortunately, this can't be helped.
The cooked pasta is soft and has a texture very similar to regular pasta. It does have a slight grittiness due to the almond flour, but it just makes it taste like whole wheat pasta to me.
How to Shape Keto Pasta
The simplest way to shape this is by rolling out the dough and cutting into thin strips to form noodles.
However, my family really wanted something that looked like real macaroni and cheese so I played around with some other easy shapes that do not require a pasta maker.
Farfelle
Another easy shape is creating farfelle pasta. All you need to do is cut the dough into rectangles and then pinch the center of the rectangle in to create the bow shape. If you want wavy edges, use a pastry cutter to cut the rectangles.
Tube Pasta
The most time consuming was creating tube pasta. With the help of a chopstick, I was able to create penne, freeform elbow macaroni and macaroni pasta tubes.
First, the dough is wrapped around the thinner side of a chopstick. The edges are pinched shut and then you slide the dough off the chopstick. Using a pastry cutter or sharp knife, you slice into 1-inch tubes.
Slice straight for macaroni pasta tubes or elbow macaroni and diagonal for penne.
For this recipe, I used the macaroni pasta tube shape.
Keto Macaroni Cheese Sauce
Traditional cheese sauce for macaroni and cheese uses a flour roux to thicken the sauce. To keep this low carb, I left out the flour roux and used a combination of cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, cream cheese and heavy cream to create a cheese sauce that is equally thick, creamy and smooth.
After the pasta is cooked, it's stirred into the cheese sauce until all the pasta tubes are covered in sauce.
More Keto Pasta Recipes
Low Carb Lasagna
2 Ingredient Keto Pasta
Keto Low Carb Skillet Lasagna
3 Ingredient Keto Noodles with Garlic Butter Sauce
Pasta
- 1 cup superfine almond flour
- 2 tsp xanthan gum
- 2 tbsp +1/2 tsp psyllium husk powder
- 2 large eggs
Cheese Sauce
- 2 oz cream cheese cut into small cubes
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- ground black pepper to taste
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To make the pasta, add almond flour, xanthan gum and psyllium husk powder to a food processor. Pulse until evenly mixed. Add in eggs. Pulse until a dough forms.
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Remove dough from food processor and knead a few times.
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Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper until 1/16 inch thick. Shape dough however you desire. Noodles and farfelle are the least time consuming.
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To make noodle shape: use a pizza cutter to slice dough into thin noodle strands between 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.
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To make farfelle shape: slice dough into rectangles. Pinch middle together to form bowtie. If desired, you can use a pastry cutter to slice the rectangle to have wavy edges.
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To make tube pasta: wrap dough onto thin end of chopstick. Pinch edges closed and smooth out. Gently push the dough off of the chopstick while still maintaining the tube shape. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, slice into 1 inch long tubes.
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To cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add in pasta. Cook about 2 minutes or until pasta is soft. Drain pasta and set aside.
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To make the cheese sauce: add cream cheese, heavy cream, garlic powder and mustard powder to a medium, saucepan. Whisk over low heat until cream cheese is melted. Add in cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese. Whisk until cheeses are melted and sauce is smooth and creamy. If desired, season with pepper.
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Add cooked pasta and stir into sauce until pasta is covered evenly in cheese sauce. Serve immediately. Serve with fresh ground pepper and garnish with fresh herbs if desired.
- The keto pasta recipe came from Black Sheep Keto.
- I used this pastry cutter* to slice for the farfelle shape.
- Because the pasta uses psyllium husk powder, when the noodles are cooked they do turn a grayish brown color. This is normal when using psyllium husk. Some brands may turn food purple. I recommend using Now brand* which results in less discoloration.
- The pasta only takes about 2 minutes to cook. The pasta will be soft after it is cooked. Because of the almond flour, the pasta tastes more like whole wheat pasta.
- You can mix the pasta dough ingredients by hand if you do not have a food processor.
- *Some of the product links contained in this post are affiliate links. Much like referral codes, this means I earn a small commission if you purchase a product I referred (at no extra charge to you).
Serving: 0.25 of recipe , Calories: 472.48 kcal , Carbohydrates: 13.25 g , Protein: 14.55 g , Fat: 37.5 g , Saturated Fat: 13.79 g , Sodium: 414.35 mg , Potassium: 329.09 mg , Fiber: 7.72 g , Sugar: 1.85 g , NET CARBS: 6 g
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Can I Make Mac and Cheese With Almond Flour
Source: https://kirbiecravings.com/keto-low-carb-macaroni-and-cheese/