The only way to make baked purple sweet potatoes anymore delicious is to stuff them with roasted garlic broccoli and the creamiest vegan cheese sauce! Dairy-free and gluten-free.
Potatoes stuffed with broccoli and drenched in ooey-gooey cheese sauce was one of my favorite meals when I was little. I would request less broccoli and more cheese, please! I don’t think that ever happened but I still tried.
My mom aways made us very healthy dinners, so, cheesy broccoli stuffed potatoes were more of a treat meal on special nights when we got to request something for dinner. Like, if we got a good grade on a test or did something extra nice for someone.
Old school cheesy broccoli stuffed potatoes aren’t exactly the healthiest meal but I still loved it. Now, that I’m a vegetarian trying to transition to being a full time vegan, I have to come up with replacements for certain things that I used to love aka cheese.
Vegan Cheese Sauce
Say hello to the best vegan cheese sauce you’ll ever taste! Hello, lover.
This vegan cheese sauce tastes so similar to dairy cheese sauce that I really think it would be pretty difficult for anyone that didn’t know to tell the difference. It doesn’t have the same stringiness that dairy cheese does but it’s super smooth and creamy just like melted cheese is. It also makes amazing healthy macaroni and cheese!
The creaminess comes from the potatoes and cashews that are blended together. If you’re nut-free, you can use chickpeas in place of the cashews. I’ve made it both ways and I really can’t tell a difference.
The color of the vegan cheese sauce comes from…drum roll, please!
…Carrots!
All natural colors here, folks. No artificial anything. You can actually feel good about eating this vegan cheese sauce!
Purple Sweet Potaotes
If I find purple sweet potatoes or purple cauliflower at the grocery store, I always get them! They’re just too pretty to leave behind. My mom always told be that naturally purple foods are very good for your body. It’s true, mom’s right again, purple sweet potatoes have more antioxidants than orange sweet potatoes or white potatoes.
This vegan cheese sauce would be delicious slathered over crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside baked potatoes too. I’m sure I’ll be making that version in the future since I can’t always find purple sweet potatoes but you know I always try to make meals healthier if I can.
You could serve these broccoli stuffed sweet potatoes with vegan cheese sauce as the main course with a side salad for a light dinner or as a healthy side dish to lentil soup or chickpea salad sandwiches.
Broccoli Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Vegan Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
Potatoes
- 4 large purple sweet potatoes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- sea salt to taste
Cheese Sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup onions, sliced (about 1/4 of a large onion)
- 1 medium potato, peeled and chopped into 1-inch cubes
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup raw cashews, soaked
- 1 cup vegetable broth
Broccoli
- 1 head broccoli, florets cut off
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Sweet Potatoes -
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Rub olive oil all over each potato and prick with a fork a few times.
- Place the potatoes on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast for 1 hour or until easily pierced with a knife.
Vegan Cheese Sauce -
- Put raw cashews in a bowl, cover with water and let soak for one hour. Drain the water and set aside.
- Saute onions in olive oil in a large pan over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add peeled and diced carrots and potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add 2 cups of water, bring to a low simmer, cover, and let cook for 30 minutes or until everything is tender. Drain leftover water and let cool completely.
- Add cooled potato carrot onion mixture to the blender along with the garlic powder, paprika, 1/4 tsp sea salt, dijon mustard, soaked cashews, vegetable broth and pepper to taste.
- Blend on high until smooth and creamy. Pour the sauce back into the pan and heat it up.
Broccoli -
- Cut the florets off the stem.
- Lay washed broccoli on a parchment lined tray. Drizzle olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper over the top and toss to coat evenly.
- Roast at 425 degrees for 20 minutes or until tender.
- Stuff each potato with broccoli and pour the hot vegan cheese sauce over the top.
- Optional - top with green onions.
Broccoli Stuffed Potatoes withe Vegan Cheese Sauce Notes –
- You can substitute chickpeas 1:1 for cashews.
- The reason I say to let the vegetables cool before blending them is because I had my blender cup explode all over my kitchen once when I tried to blend hot veggies. Be very careful!
- If the sauce is too thick, add additional vegetable broth (or water) until the desired consistency is reached.
- You don’t have to use broccoli, you could stuff the potatoes with roasted cauliflower, bell peppers, zucchini, beets or asparagus.
If you make these broccoli stuffed potatoes with vegan cheese sauce please share it on Instagram using the hashtag #StaceyHomemaker so I can see your delicious creation!
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What would you drizzle this vegan cheese sauce over? Let me know in the comments!
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