Dairy-Free Chicken Strip Mac & Cheese

Here's a kids meal for adults, too with dairy-free mac and cheese.

Dairy-Free Chicken Strip Mac & Cheese

Who can resist macaroni and cheese and crispy chicken strips? Not me! Here’s a meal that even our dairy intolerant crowd can enjoy. Family friendly, fun and lighter than the original recipes. You can make either on their own or together for a balanced meal! The dairy-free macaroni and cheese is an awesome side, but can be used as a base for so many complete recipes- buffalo chicken macaroni…Broccoli mac and cheese… Hamburger mac… you name it! Adding the nutritional yeast to this recipe gives it a little extra cheesy punch. Double the sauce recipe for extra gooey mac! The lightened up nuggets are the perfect balance between battered and grilled chicken. A little crunch, and a lot of flavor. If you have some carbs to spare, you can certainly add another tablespoon or two of flour to the batter. Serve it all up with some steamed broccoli and there is your balanced meal!

SERVING SIZE: 1/5 macaroni recipe & 3oz chicken strips (raw weight)

Recipe & Photography By: Heather Dahlenburg

Prep Time1

Cook Time45

Total Time1 45

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 425kcal

Ingredients

Dairy-Free Macaroni and “Cheese”

1 box banza chickpea pasta shells
4 oz Daiya cheddar shreds (or another dairy-free cheese substitute)
1 cup non-dairy milk
2 tbsps dairy-free butter substitute
1 tsp mustard powder
optional: 1.5 tsp nutritional yeast

Copycat Chick-fil-a Chicken Strips:

16 oz Chicken breast cutlets
1/2 cup pickle juice
1 tbsp non-dairy milk
1 egg
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp non-dairy butter substitute
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Macaroni and “cheese” :

in a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil.
Cook pasta according to package directions.
While pasta is cooking, melt non-dairy butter in a small saucepan.
Whisk in mustard powder (and optional nutritional yeast).
Pour in non-dairy milk and bring to a simmer.
Whisk in cheddar shreds and stir frequently, until completely melted.
Once pasta is fully cooked, drain water and mix with cheese sauce.
Salt and pepper to taste
Enjoy!

Copycat Chick-fil-a strips:

Prepare chicken by trimming fat and slicing the breasts into strips.
Marinate chicken strips in pickle juice for at least 1 hour (overnight is best).
In a ziplock bag, mix non-dairy milk with the egg.
Remove chicken from pickle juice and add to the bag containing egg mixture.
Mix to coat chicken.
Add flour, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper to bag and thoroughly coat
chicken (do not drain the egg wash, it should be pasty).
In a medium frying pan, heat 2 tbsp non-dairy butter.
In batches, fry chicken strips until golden brown and fully cooked through (about 3 minutes per side).

Nutrition