Babybel Plant Based:

3 delicious recipes using Babybel Plant Based…a fantastic vegan Velveeta alternative

Introduction

In 1968, a man named Spencer Silver accidentally invented the adhesive used for Post-It notes. The funniest part about this story is that the minimally sticky adhesive product was actually the exact opposite of what he was trying to invent…an incredibly strong adhesive for the aerospace industry. If you want to learn more, read the entire story, Post-It Notes – Invented by accident.

I’m no Spencer Silver, but I did manage to stumble upon a wonderful discovery while trying to create something completely different!

The Search Continues

If you’ve read my post Winner, Winner, Ice Cream Dinner, then you probably saw me mention that I have been trying to find a recipe for a dairy free pizza. We recently removed dairy from my son’s diet due to health reasons, and pizza is his absolute favorite dish.

The search has been going on for several months without much success. I have experimented with several brands of dairy free cheeses and crusts. In addition to my frustration, I’m pretty sure I’ve traumatized my son from eating pizza ever again.

Then one day, I was walking in Sam’s Club and noticed a bag of Babybel cheese that said plant based and dairy free. In an effort to continue my search for the perfect mozzarella replacement, I decided to give it a shot. Want to try it too? Go to Babybel Plant Based to find it near you!

With a house full of skeptical people, I opened the package to investigate. I unwrapped the wax coated wheel and gave it the sniff test. It smelled like cheese! But will it pass the taste test? Yes! It tasted like cheese! With a slightly more hopeful group, I proceeded to slice up the wheels and assemble the personal pan pizzas.

The Epiphany

Once done, we each took a piece, crossed our fingers, and took a bite. At the same time, all four of our faces turned green...not because of the taste, but from the creamy, melty texture. This was NOT the winning pizza cheese.

However, a lightbulb went off in my head. This cheese reminded me of something else…Velveeta! Cue my inner evil scientist…Wahahahahahaha!!!!

“What if I melted this down and added salsa to it…I bet it would taste just like queso dip…”, I thought while inspecting the failed experiment more closely.

I grabbed a bowl, tossed in some more unwrapped wheels, topped it off with salsa, and threw it into the microwave. As I removed the hot dish, we anxiously surrounded the bowl for a taste. Sure enough, one a time, we each dipped our chips. Silence….then smiles! It tasted just like queso! But my inner evil scientist was not satisfied quite yet…

Now that I had found a dairy free, Velveeta alternative, the ideas started flying. Mac n cheese, cheese sauces, cheddar soups, casseroles…the possibilities are endless! However, I decided to stick with my three favorites to start…queso, macaroni and cheese, and alfredo sauce.

#1 – Queso

This is the easiest, and most loved, Babybel Plant Based recipe in our house so far. Both my husband and my daughter scarf the entire bowl down every time I make it. Not only does it not last long, but I get asked to make more of it constantly. We love our Mexican food and this was a great healthy addition to the rotation!

Usually, we keep it simple…served hot with a side of chips. However, this time, I used it as an additional topping for a great Mexican rice recipe I found on The Flavor Mosaic.

We made a dinner out of the rice dish by adding in a pound of taco meat and topped it with unsweetened coconut yogurt (a great dairy free sour cream alternative), lime juice, olives, and shredded lettuce.

In queso you missed it (get it? Too cheesy? Sorry, I’m done being punny..) Check out my post Cinco, Seis, SIETE de Mayo for more Mexican dish ideas.

Recipe

Ingredients

13 Babybel Plant Based wheels, unwrapped
1/4 salsa of choice (I prefer picante medium)
1/2 tsp cumin, optional
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, optional

Add in ideas: Ground beef, taco meat, diced chicken, Pico de Gallo, Rotel

Directions

Combine ingredients in a microwave safe bowl.
Microwave 2-3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until fully melted and combined.
Serve warm with tortilla chips or on top of Spanish rice.

#2 – Macaroni and Cheese

During summer break, I’m always looking for easy recipes to throw together for my kids’ lunch. Boxed mac n cheese was a popular choice until our family went dairy free. One day while the kid’s were playing outside, I decided to give my Babybel Plant Based experiment a shot. After all, they’re outside, and won’t notice what ingredients are being added, right?

A little backstory…my family knows I try to sneak healthy things into their food. Most of the time I get away with it. Like when I add in some extra garlic and greens to spaghetti sauce. Sometimes though, I’m not so successful. Like the time my husband found carrots in his chili…he was less than impressed. But this time, I was curious to see anyone would noticed.

I boiled the noodles, added the cheese with the milk, and seasoned to taste. Something was missing. It was good, but was missing that extra cheesy flavor. I started to brainstorm…then it hit me! In the past, Paleo recipes call for nutritional yeast to replace cheese. Fortunately, I had some on hand and sprinkled it in.

Eureka! Success! I rang the dinner bell and my kids came running. I plopped a spoonful onto each plate and didn’t say a word. And then…waited.

I watched both kids get excited over “mom’s homemade mac n cheese.” Little did they know, no Velveeta was involved. The first bites went down well. No comments, no complaints. Until, my daughter looked up and said, “this is dairy free isn’t it?”

I burst out in laughter as she finished her statement “..but it’s really good! I can hardly tell!” As a bonus, my son, who is the pickiest eater alive, said nothing and polished off his plate. At that moment, I knew, I had a winner!

Recipe

Ingredients

5 cups water
2 cups elbow noodles
13 Babybel Plant Based wheels, unwrapped
1 cup almond milk
2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

*Add in ideas: Bacon, jalapeño, veggies, ground beef, taco meat, sliced chicken, buffalo sauce

Directions

Bring 5 cups of water to a boil in a medium-large pot. (Don’t forget to add some salt to the water. It makes pasta more flavorful)
Once boiling, add in elbow noodles and boil until tender. Drain.
Return drained pasta to the pan and add Babybel wheels and milk. Heat until melted, stirring frequently.
Add in nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

#3 – Alfredo

After a successful attempt at both queso and macaroni and cheese, I was feeling confident enough to branch out even further. I browsed through my mental rolodex of recipes until I stumbled upon one of my favorite comfort foods…chicken alfredo.

In general, sauces and condiments that are plant based are difficult to come by. Any that can be purchased prepackaged are very expensive and don’t taste anything like the original they’re crafted after. So, it’s always exciting when I discover a sauce option that tastes authentic without sacrificing clean eating.

The best part of creating this recipe, was that I already had a foundation from the mac n cheese sauce. I simply eliminated the nutritional yeast and added in garlic and onion. It was that simple!

Everything came together quickly. As my noodles boiled, I sautéed my Italian chicken breasts. When the noodles were done, I dumped them into the strainer and used the now empty pan to quickly assemble my sauce (this reduces my post dinner dishes by repurposing one pan…score).

As soon as the sauce was complete, I re-added the noodles into the pan with the sauce and tossed them until they were evenly coated. Then, I added in my chicken and dinner was served! Easy, peasy, and oh so saucy!

Recipe

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1/2 of an onion, diced
13 Babybel Plant Based wheels, unwrapped
1 cup almond milk
salt and pepper, to taste
Noodles of choice

*Add in ideas: sliced chicken, bacon, veggies, diced tomatoes, greens, Italian seasoning

Directions

Preheat the oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic and onion and sauté until fragrant.
Reduce heat. Add milk and Babybel wheels. Cook until cheese is melted.
Season to taste and add in your noodles of choice. (I prefer spaghetti squash but my family likes thin spaghetti). Toss until fully coated.
Serve hot with toppings of choice

Conclusion

The world is a huge place. More and more people are switching to plant based diets. As a result, the health food market is constantly growing and changing. New products are appearing on store shelves and paleo, food allergy safe, vegan, and plant based options are getting easier to find.

This is great news for families like ours, who are constantly inventing and experimenting with foods that work for our individual dietary restrictions. Keep checking back for more healthy recipes as my cookbook pages just keep growing! Want to see something specific? Head over to the Messy Masterpiece Contact page to let me know what you’re looking for!