Fat-Free Vegan Cheesy Broccoli Made With Sweet Potatoes!

Growing up, if vegetables weren’t doused with oil or butter, you can bet that they'd be covered in cheese. The classic cheesy broccoli is the perfect example.

The traditional cheesy sauce that you would pour over vegetables consists of melting butter, milk and the cheese of choice. Or worse...maybe you used a powdered cheese formula and mixed it with water.

Either way, it contained through-the-roof amounts of fat and sodium that result in a sluggish food coma.

But this cheesy broccoli recipe is of its own kind.

Being a Culinary Gym recipe, of course, it's free of dairy and salt, but this one's also free of nuts or any other added fats making it completely fat-free!

So you should find comfort in being able to drizzle freely while keeping the energy levels high to carry you through the rest of your splendid day!

The base of this recipe is sweet potato, which gives it that awesome cheesy color but also the perfect drizzly consistency like traditional cheese sauce.

This oil-free sauce is a great way to add some pizazz to any vegetable or starch because even I can get bored with plain ol’ broccoli and potatoes.

It can also make a great as a pasta sauce, dip, vegetable bake, or the finishing touch to your Buddha bowl! Get creative with it and let me know what you think!

Cheesy Broccoli Made With Sweet Potatoes

By Chef Katie Mae

Makes 2–4 servings | Ready in 30 minutes | Stores 5 days in the fridge

INGREDIENTS

• ½ yellow onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced (8 oz)
• 1 cup water
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon stoneground mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt-free seasoning (i.e. Benson’s Table Tasty)
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 lb broccoli, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Add the onion and sweet potato to a medium sauté pan over medium heat. As you start dry-sautéing the veggies, add the garlic. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.
2. After a few minutes when the onion starts to turn translucent, add just enough water to cover the diced sweet. Cover, bring to a simmer, and gently cook until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
3. In a blender combine the water, nutritional yeast, mustard, salt-free seasoning, and black pepper. Add the cooked sweet potato, onion and garlic. Blend into a creamy cheezy sauce.
4. To steam the broccoli, you can either 1) place it in a steam basket in a pot over medium-high with an inch of water, or 2) add it to sauté pan over medium heat with about ½-inch of water and cover. Either way, cook for about 5 minutes, or until the broccoli is tender with a bright green color.
5. Transfer the cooked broccoli to a serving bowl. Drizzle the sweet potato cheezy sauce over the broccoli. Feel free to toss the broccoli so it’s all coated in the sauce. Serve promptly.