Hidden Veggie Cheddar Cheese Sauce
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This rich, creamy cheddar cheese sauce is perfect for your favorite pasta, nachos, fries, or veggies. The secret? It’s made with low-fat milk and full of sweet potato!
I have a SUPER picky kiddo. We joke that all she eats are refined carbs and dairy. So this cheddar cheese sauce is an ideal way to sneak a veggie and at least a couple vitamins into her diet. She has NO clue that there’s a sweet potato in this sauce and bonus – the potato’s bright orange color makes this sauce look closer to the Kraft variety, which rates highly for my picky kid.
This cheddar cheese sauce is super versatile. Make a quick and healthy stove top mac and cheese with it. Or pour it over a baked potato filled with broccoli. Or drizzle it over a plate of your favorite tortilla chips for nachos.
You can even make this cheese sauce ahead of time so it’s ready and waiting for you in the refrigerator on a night when you’re tired and don’t feel like cooking. Just toss it with your favorite cooked pasta and dinner is served.
Ingredients
- Sweet potato – One large sweet potato will be enough for this sauce. Don’t try to pack too much in or you’ll end up with too thick of a sauce.
- Low fat milk – You can use non-fat, 1/2 %, 1% or 2%. Dairy milk only.
- Cheddar cheese – Buy a block of mild or medium cheddar cheese and shred it yourself. It’ll melt so much better than what comes pre-shredded in the bag.
- Butter – You can use salted or unsalted butter, whichever you have on hand.
- Flour – Used to thicken the sauce. Swap it for cornstarch if you need this to be gluten free.
- Dijon mustard – I put a little dijon mustard in all of my cheese sauces. It gently cuts through the richness of the sauce. You won’t notice it’s there, but you’ll miss it if you skip it.
- Salt and Pepper – A classic combination. Adjust to your personal preference.
- Nutmeg – I use a pinch of this spice to enhance all my milk-based sauces.
- Roasted garlic – Make sure you use roasted garlic cloves and not raw cloves. Raw cloves are too strong and will make your sauce inedible.
How to Make Hidden Veggie Cheese Sauce
Prep the sweet potato
Peel sweet potato and chop into 1 inch pieces. Place sweet potato cubes in a microwave safe bowl or steamer. Cover potatoes with water. Place a cover over the bowl/steamer and microwave on high for 5 minutes or until cubes are easily pierced with a fork.
Drain water from potatoes, reserving 1/4 cup of the liquid. Let stand 10 mins to cool.
Place cooked sweet potatoes into a food processor or blender. Add a little bit of the reserved water and puree until no lumps remain, adding additional water, a little at a time, as necessary. Set aside.
For the cheese sauce
Melt butter in a large skillet. Whisk in flour and cook – stirring continuously – until the butter/flour mixture begins to brown.
Whisk in milk, dijon mustard, cheddar cheese, salt, nutmeg, and pepper. Stir in sweet potato puree. Mash 4-5 cloves of roasted (not raw) garlic. Add garlic to sauce, stirring to incorporate.
Taste your sauce and add more salt or pepper depending on your preference.
Enjoy!
Homemade Cheddar Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 2 cups low fat milk
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup butter
- 3 Tbsp flour
- 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg
- 4-5 cloves roasted garlic
Instructions
Prep the sweet potato:
- Peel sweet potato and chop into 1 inch pieces. Place sweet potato cubes in a microwave safe bowl or steamer.1 medium sweet potato
- Cover potatoes with water. Place cover over bowl/steamer and microwave on high for 5 minutes or until cubes are easily pierced with a fork.
- Drain water from potatoes, reserving 1/4 cup of the liquid. Let stand 10 mins to cool.
- Place cooked sweet potatoes into a food processor or blender. Add 2 Tbsp of reserved water and puree until no lumps remain, adding additional water, 1 Tbsp at a time, as necessary.
- Set aside.
For the cheese sauce:
- Melt butter in a large skillet. Whisk in flour and cook – stirring continuously – until the butter/flour mixture begins to brown.¼ cup butter, 3 Tbsp flour
- Whisk in milk, dijon mustard, cheddar cheese, salt, nutmeg, and pepper.2 cups low fat milk, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1 Tbsp dijon mustard, ½ tsp pepper, 1 tsp salt, ⅛ tsp nutmeg
- Stir in sweet potato puree.
- Mash 4-5 cloves of roasted (not raw) garlic.4-5 cloves roasted garlic
- Add garlic to sauce, stirring to incorporate.
- Taste your sauce and add more salt or pepper depending on your preference.
- Enjoy!
Tips for Cheddar Cheese Sauce
While you’re making the sauce, cook a 1 pound box of your favorite pasta. Toss the hot pasta with the finished sauce and voilà! Stovetop skillet mac and cheese!
I’ve tested this with 2%, 1% and Fat Free dairy milk, all with great success. I do not recommend making it with plant milks. If you can’t do dairy, this isn’t your recipe.
This sauce freezes best when made into mac and cheese first. Since we’re a family of 3, we don’t usually eat an entire box of pasta in one meal. I’ll often make a full box, toss it with the sauce and then freeze half of what I’ve made in an oven-safe dish for another meal. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat the mac and cheese in the oven, covered, at 350 degrees for 25-30 mins or until it’s heated through. Sprinkle some fresh cheddar cheese on the top before baking if desired.
Make the sauce, cool it, and place it in the refrigerator. The night you want to use it, heat it up on the stove in a pan over low heat, stirring frequently. This sauce becomes VERY thick when chilled. After you’ve reheated it, add a couple tablespoons of milk to the sauce if you’d like it thinner.
Use this creamy sauce on anything you’d like! Baked potatoes, loaded french fries, broccoli, cauliflower, nachos, mac and cheese, tacos – the possibilities are endless! Any food you want to eat with a creamy cheese sauce, you can enjoy with this cheddar cheese sauce.
Turn Cheddar Cheese Sauce into a Meal
Stir your cheddar cheese sauce with cooked noodles for some mac and cheese. Then serve it with slow cooker whole roasted chicken and some roasted brussels sprouts with apples.
Sounds delicious, Katy!
Thanks!! 🙂
Sounds wonderful! Going to give it a try. ????
Thanks, Sherry! Would love to hear what you think of it!