It’s that time again. Rushed home and there’s nothing to make for your crowd of hungry animals. You dig through the pantry, plain cashews, a package of soy curls you forgot you had, a box of pasta, and a bottle of barbeque sauce. In about an hour, your whole family is smiling and shoving food happily into their (quiet) faces. Bliss. This vegan barbeque soy curl mac can make this dream a reality.
Cooking from your pantry
But it’s not a dream! This recipe calls exclusively for pantry staples, something I sware by. A well-stocked pantry can save the day when faced with grumpy toddlers and flustered parents. While not an exhaustive list, I try to keep the following things on hand so I can whip up something in a pinch, this One-Pot Vegan Barbeque Soy Curl Mac included.
- Pasta, all sorts
- Canned tomatoes
- Canned coconut milk
- Rice, Brown and White
- Spices (see my spice basics here)
- Nutritional Yeast
- Carton vegetable stock
- Not Chicken vegetable bouillon
- Frozen vegetables including
- Mixed (corn, green beans, lima, carrot)
- Spinach
- Cauliflower
- Peas
- Corn
- Onions
- Potatoes
- Soy Curls
- Dried Beans (red, black, garbanzo, navy)
With these things on hand and just a little planning – every evening can end with a comforting home-cooked meal in less time than it takes to fold the laundry that is … still on the couch.
What are Soy Curls?
Soy curls come in all shapes and sizes. A common brand Butler Foods produces products that share the shape and texture of strips of chicken. The curls are made from non-GMO soybeans that have been cooked and texturized. Soy Curls are dehydrated, so they need about a 10-minute soak in a bath of warm water before they’re ready to use. Soy curls have around 120 calories and an impressive 11 grams of protein per serving. Having a couple of soy curl recipes you are comfortable with can make it easy to add extra protein to all your favorite meals.
After soaking, the strips can be marinated in any seasoning you would like, sauteed in a hot pan just like chicken, or baked for extra crispiness and used in any number of recipes. You can marinate them in teriyaki and throw them onto a kale salad with sesame seeds, or toss them in Franks Red hot and add them to a vegan buffalo wrap. Just spitballing here. Really the possibilities with soy curls are endless, but today we’re making my favorite – Barbeque. You can totally make your own barbeque sauce, but I’ve always loved Sweet Baby Ray’s Original. It’s accidentally vegan and so freaking good.
Roasting the soy curls helps to release a little of the moisture and firm them back up a bit. I like to let them get nice and crispy, almost charred in places – but you don’t have to let them go that long.
Cashew Cheese
The next star of our easy weeknight barbeque soy curl mac is the cheeze! Raw cashews, when soaked, drained, and blended, create an absolutely dreamy creamy sauce. The cashew base, much like the soy curls, can be flavored to suit whichever cuisine you’re making that day. Add some lemon juice and salt for a stand-alone base that can be added to thicken soups, top tacos as a vegan sour cream, or sweetened and cooled for raw cheesecakes.
For this sauce, we’re staying with the classic flavors of macaroni and cheese, but there are some key standouts that may not be as common. Tumeric gives the sauce a subtle yellow color without adding too much flavor, and nutritional yeast, or Nooch in the vegan community, gives the sauce a cheezy flavor. Another secret weapon in making bomb-ass vegan cheeze sauce is miso or soy sauce, not too much. These fermented ingredients impart the umami required for a really savory mac.
Lastly, for this recipe, I wanted to try something new. Something I hadn’t seen done before. See, I liked bake mac, but it winds up being a little too stiff by the time the topping is golden brown. So, I added a secret (not so secret anymore) ingredient – full-fat coconut milk. WOAH. Big-time game-changer, and I’m never going back.
So now you know everything about making the world’s easiest weeknight rush barbeque soy curl mac. Now go forth and eat noodles.
One-Pot Vegan Barbeque Soy Curl Mac
Equipment
- 1 Dutch oven Anything with a lid will do, and if that's not available a 9×12 baking dish topped with aluminum foil during the first bake period will work fine.
Ingredients
Soy Curl Barbeque Chicken
- 1 and ½ cup Butlers Soy Curls
- 1 Tablespoon Vegan chicken Bouillon If you have vegetable bouillon or broth that would work too.
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon Braggs Liquid Aminos soy sauce is fine
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ cup barbeque sauce Sweet Baby Rays or your favorite vegan brand
Mac Sauce
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least an hour If you have a high powered blender like a Vitamix, soaking for 15 minutes in hot water is plenty.
- 1 cup water or broth
- 2 Tablespoons Braggs Liquid Aminos
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1/2 can full fat coconut milk
The Rest
- 1 lb curly or hollow pasta. Penne, rigatoni, even farfalle would be fine
- 1 onion sliced thin
- 2 Tablespoons vegan butter
- 4 cups kale, spinach, or both
- ¼ cup vegetable broth
- ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 3 teaspoons sliced vegan butter
- Extra barbeque sauce for the topping
Instructions
- Set the oven to 425. Add the soy curls to a large bowl and cover with water. Add a small plate to the top to keep everything submerged while they rehydrate.
- While the oven is preheating, start your onions. In a large Dutch Oven, add the vegan butter and onions. Set the heat to low. Sprinkle with salt, and stir frequently. These will take approximately 30 minutes to caramelize perfectly, but it's pretty hands off except for the occasional stir.
- Make the soy curls. Drain the soy curls in a colander and squish them down a bit with your hand to squeeze out some of the water. Add back into the bowl they were soaking in. Add all the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place in the preheated oven. Bake, turning occasionally, until much of the liquid has evaporated, and the edges are getting a little crispy, about 30 minutes. Toss in more barbeque sauce and set aside.
- Once the soy curls are in the oven, make your sauce. Drain the cashews and add all sauce ingredients to a high speed blender. Blend until completely smooth.
- When the onions have carnalized a bit, add the spinach and kale with some of the vegetable broth. You might have to do this in stages to get it all to wilt down and make room. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. When just al dente, drain and add to the kale and onion mixture.
- Time to assemble! Add the sauce, baked soy curls to the Dutch Oven. Mix until everything is distributed evenly.
- Flatten the top of the noodles a bit with a wooden spoon, and sprinkle the panko bread crumbs on top. Add the sliced vegan butter to the top and sprinkle with salt. Add a drizzle of extra barbeque sauce to the top, cover, and place in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the lid. Turn on the broiler and let the top brown for 1 to 3 minutes until just golden. Allow to cool for 10 minutes if you can.
