A Creamy Pumpkin Mac n' Cheese Recipe To Obsess Over

It doesn't get much more fall than pumpkin Mac n' Cheese! This gluten-free recipe is perfect on a cold night or for Thanksgiving.

Jump to Recipe

The Perfect Autumn Pasta

As temperatures drop and fall arrives, nothing beats cozy comfort food. Even in San Diego's mild winter, I crave hearty dishes, especially pumpkin-flavored ones! My latest obsession is Creamy Pumpkin Mac n' Cheese, featuring a velvety texture that's neither heavy nor overly sweet. This gluten-free recipe works beautifully as a main dish or a Thanksgiving side, ensuring your guests will come back for seconds!

Easy, Creamy & Flavorful

Making pasta is easy, especially for beginner cooks, but there are tips for achieving a great dish. Gluten-free pasta can be tricky, so it's important to choose the right type. My favorites are Banza and the Barilla Chickpea Pasta, both of which hold their texture well and reheat beautifully. For this recipe, I recommend using elbow pasta or pasta shells.

After cooking the pasta, reserve at least three tablespoons of pasta water—it’s key for creating a creamy sauce. Lastly, avoid rinsing your pasta to keep the starch that helps the sauce cling.

A Balanced Pumpkin Sauce

Any good mac n' cheese recipe, like my stuffed squash acorn Mac n' cheese recipe, comes down to the sauce. This sauce is delicious because it's flavor, texture and consistency. First, the flavor is balanced. Pumpkin is inherently sweet so it's important to have some savory spices to balance it so it doesn't overpower the dish. Second, the texture is perfectly creamy. All of the ingredients are incorporated well. Finally, the texture... much like the consistency but an important difference. The consistency of our sauce is thick without drowning the gluten-free pasta.

Let's Get Into It

While a homemade sauce may seem intimidating, I promise this step-by-step process makes it a breeze! First, we'll be making a roux. A roux is a combination of butter and flour. To make the roux, first start by melting one and a half tablespoons of unsalted butter in a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Once the butter begins to melt, reduce the heat to medium-low and whisk in three tablespoons of gluten-free all purpose flour. It's important to add the tablespoons one at a time. This will ensure that you have time to build your roux and incorporate the ingredients slowly.

Once your roux is thick, it's time to add the milk and turn it into a béchamel sauce! I like to use coconut milk instead of milk or cream because cream can be so heavy. Whisk in half a can of the coconut milk, then add the rest from the can. Stir for another few minutes until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.

Before we adding in the pumpkin puree, add in two teaspoons of dijon mustard to the béchamel sauce. Dijon mustard is great in sauces because it adds a tangy, savory flavor. This will help balance out the sweetness from the pumpkin. Once incorporated, we're going to take our béchamel sauce and turn it into a mornay sauce by adding cheese! Combine three fourths cup of grated gouda cheese and one half cup of parmesan cheese in a bowl. Slowly fold in the cheese, pouring one fourth of the cheese into the sauce at a time. Whisk to melt the cheese into the sauce.

Finally, it's time to add in the pumpkin puree! We'll only be using four ounces of pumpkin puree here because a little goes a long ways. Whisk in the pumpkin until the sauce becomes a beautiful orange color. Then balance the pumpkin by adding in two teaspoons of paprika, one teaspoon of black pepper, half a teaspoon of nutmeg and half a teaspoon of salt. Mix then remove the sauce from heat.

Combing Everything

Now that we have our cooked pasta, pasta water, and sauce... it's time to combine it all! Start by whisking the pasta water into the sauce. Continue to whisk in the pasta water until thoroughly combined and smooth. Then slowly pour the creamy pumpkin sauce over two eight ounce boxes of cooked boxes. Here's a tip, pour in a little bit of the sauce at a time then stir. You'll use most, if not all of the sauce. However, it is much easier to incorporate if you pour in a little bit of the sauce at a time.

Once the pasta is coated in the sauce, all that's left to do is add the minced chives. I love to use chives here because while they have an "onion-y" taste, they are much more mild. They pair much better in this dish than green onions. Mince about two tablespoons of chives, then sprinkle them over the top of the Mac n' Cheese. Then, grab a serving spoon and dig in!

Why It's Perfect for Thanksgiving

Although Thanksgiving is a fall holiday, besides pumpkin pie there isn't many pumpkin centered dishes. The meal is much more savory between gravy, stuffing, and turkey. While, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes are on the sweeter side, there's still no central side dishes like this one! While Mac n' Cheese is not always a must side dish, this one definitely is. It brings some fall inspired flavors into the meal and is a dish that even little ones will love!