Vegan Chickpea Tetrazzini Casserole is a cozy comfort food dish that perfect for dinner in the cooler fall and winter months. It’s made with pasta, mushrooms, and a sneakily healthy cauliflower cream. It’s dairy-free with a gluten-free option.
Vegan Chicken Tetrazzini
You know how once you notice something, you keep seeing it everywhere? Well, I keep seeing recipes for chicken tetrazzini online. I’m not sure if it’s suddenly become a popular dish or if now that I’ve noticed it, it’s popping up everywhere.
Chicken tetrazzini is pasta dish that’s made with chicken, mushrooms, spaghetti or linguine, cheese, and a creamy sauce. I’ve never actually had it, but it seems like something I would have liked when I was a kid.
It also seems like something that’s easy to veganize! In this recipe, I’ve used chickpeas instead of chicken. The “cream” is made with cauliflower, and nutrition yeast gives the dish a cheesy flavor. Green peas give it a pop of color.
Chickpea Tetrazzini is Easy to Make!
- This dish can be made in just a few easy steps!
- First, boil the cauliflower in water.
- While the cauliflower is boiling, cook the pastaal dente.
- Sauté the mushrooms and
- Mix the boiled cauliflower together with a little water and nutritional yeast until it’s smooth and creamy.
- Mix together the cooked pasta, mushrooms, peas, and cauliflower cream.
- Then place the mixture into a casserole dish and bake.
- Dinner is ready!
Making Vegan Chickpea Tetrazzini Casserole
When I make this dish, I have a few pots and pans going at the same time on the stove, since so much of the cooking is inactive. The pasta boils in one pot while the cauliflower boils in another. And I cook the mushrooms and garlic in a large pan at the same time.
When cooking the pasta, make sure you cook it al dente, which means “to the tooth.” Al dente pasta is cooked and edible, but still slightly firm. This will ensure that it doesn’t get too mushy while it’s baking in the oven.
Tetrazzini is usually made with noodles, such as spaghetti or linguine. If you follow a gluten-free diet, make sure your pasta is gluten-free.
If you’re feeling impatient and don’t want to wait for a casserole to bake, you can serve it without baking it. You’ll just need to make a few adjustments:
- Cook the pasta until it’s done, to your liking.
- Add the peas to the pan with the mushrooms about 3 minutes before the mushrooms are done. Make sure they’re thawed if they were frozen.
- Heat the blended cauliflower cream in a sauce pot until heated throughout.
- Then, just toss everything together and serve!
Vegan Chickpea Tetrazzini Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 medium-sized head of cauliflower chopped into florets about 5 or 6 cups
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 pound of crimini or white button mushrooms sliced
- 1 teaspoon neutral-flavored oil
- 2 15- ounce cans chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 cup peas fresh or frozen
- 12- ounce package of whole grain or gluten-free spaghetti or linguine cooked al denté
- Sea salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350° and lightly oil a 9x13-inch casserole dish.
- Place the cauliflower in a large pot and fill it with enough water to cover it plus two inches. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low and allow it to simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the cauliflower is fork-tender
- Drain the cauliflower, saving the cooking the water. Allow the cauliflower to cool slightly, and then place the it in a blender with 2 cups of the cooking water and the nutritional yeast. Blend it until it’s smooth and creamy.
- While the cauliflower is cooking, place the garlic, sliced mushrooms, and oil in a large pan and cook over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, or until the mushrooms are soft and the garlic is fragrant.
- In a large bowl, mix together the cooked spaghetti, mushrooms and garlic, cauliflower cream, chickpeas, and peas, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Place the mixture into the prepared casserole dish for 35-40 minutes, or until the mixture is bubbly and heated throughout.
Other comforting recipes you might enjoy include:
- Broccoli and Rice Casserole
- Roasted Mushroom and Caramelized Onion Shepherd’s Pie
- Cheesy Primavera Mac
- Vegan Buffalo Chicken Lasagna
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