Low carb and keto-friendly pasta covered in a rich and creamy cheese sauce. This comforting keto macaroni and cheese tastes very similar to the real thing and is just 6 grams of net carbs per serving.
I have been wanting to create a keto mac and cheese for a while. Most keto macaroni and cheese recipes I’ve come across use cauliflower florets as a substitute for the pasta. And while I love my cauliflower recipes, I really wanted to create a version that used pasta.
Last month, I shared with you my skillet lasagna using low carb lasagna noodles. This dish uses the same versatile low carb noodle recipe.
Ingredients
- Superfine almond flour
- Xanthan gum
- Psyllium husk powder
- Large eggs
- Cream cheese cut into small cubes
- Heavy cream
- Garlic powder
- Mustard powder
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Black pepper
Optional garnishes: You can add chopped fresh herbs like basil, parsley, or thyme to garnish your pasta. You can also sprinkle additional cheese over the top for serving. If you want some spice, add some red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper to the sauce.
Keto Low Carb Pasta
This pasta is made with just 4 ingredients: almond flour, egg, xanthan gum and psyllium husk powder.
The dough works very much like traditional pasta dough. It can be rolled, shaped, etc.
Before the pasta is cooked, it even looks like regular pasta, though the brown color makes it look more like whole-wheat pasta.
After the pasta is cooked, it does lose its brown color and turns a light gray due to the psyllium husk. Unfortunately, this can’t be helped.
The cooked pasta is tender and has a texture very similar to regular pasta. It does have a slight grittiness due to the almond flour, but it just makes it taste like whole wheat pasta to me.
Keto Cheese Sauce
Traditional cheese sauce for macaroni and cheese uses a flour roux to thicken the sauce. To keep this low carb, I left out the flour roux and used a combination of cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, cream cheese and heavy cream to create a cheese sauce with the same flavor that is equally thick, creamy and smooth.
After the pasta is cooked, it’s stirred into the cheese sauce until all the pasta tubes are covered in sauce.
How to Shape Keto Pasta
The simplest way to shape this is by rolling out the dough and cutting into thin strips to form noodles.
However, my family really wanted something that looked like real macaroni and cheese so I played around with some other easy shapes that do not require a pasta maker.
Farfelle
Another easy shape is creating farfelle pasta. All you need to do is cut the dough into rectangles and then pinch the center of the rectangle in to create the bow shape. If you want wavy edges, use a pastry cutter to cut the rectangles.
Tube Pasta
The most time consuming was creating tube pasta. With the help of a chopstick, I was able to create penne, freeform elbow macaroni and macaroni pasta tubes.
First, the dough is wrapped around the thinner side of a chopstick. The edges are pinched shut and then you slide the dough off the chopstick. Using a pastry cutter or sharp knife, you slice into 1-inch tubes.
Slice straight for macaroni pasta tubes or elbow macaroni and diagonal for penne.
For this recipe, I used the macaroni pasta tube shape. Once you have your pasta made, you can make the keto macaroni and cheese.
Recipe Steps
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and boil it for about two minutes or until the pasta is soft. Drain it and set it aside.
Combine the cream cheese, heavy cream, garlic powder, and mustard powder in a medium saucepan. Whisk the mixture over low heat until the cream cheese is melted.
Add the cheddar cheese and Parmesan cheese. Whisk until the sauce is smooth and creamy. Season the cheese sauce with pepper, if using.
Add the cooked keto pasta to the sauce and stir until it’s evenly coated. Serve the mac and cheese right away.
More Keto Pasta Recipes
- Low Carb Lasagna
- 2 Ingredient Keto Pasta
- Keto Low Carb Skillet Lasagna
- 3 Ingredient Keto Noodles with Garlic Butter Sauce
Keto Low Carb Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
Pasta
- 1 cup superfine almond flour
- 2 tsp xanthan gum
- 2 tbsp +1/2 tsp psyllium husk powder
- 2 large eggs
Cheese Sauce
- 2 oz cream cheese cut into small cubes
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- To make the pasta, add almond flour, xanthan gum and psyllium husk powder to a food processor. Pulse until evenly mixed. Add in eggs. Pulse until a dough forms.
- Remove dough from food processor and knead a few times.
- Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper until 1/16 inch thick. Shape dough however you desire. Noodles and farfelle are the least time consuming.
- To make noodle shape: use a pizza cutter to slice dough into thin noodle strands between 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.
- To make farfelle shape: slice dough into rectangles. Pinch middle together to form bowtie. If desired, you can use a pastry cutter to slice the rectangle to have wavy edges.
- To make tube pasta: wrap dough onto thin end of chopstick. Pinch edges closed and smooth out. Gently push the dough off of the chopstick while still maintaining the tube shape. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, slice into 1 inch long tubes.
- To cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add in pasta. Cook about 2 minutes or until pasta is soft. Drain pasta and set aside.
- To make the cheese sauce: add cream cheese, heavy cream, garlic powder and mustard powder to a medium, saucepan. Whisk over low heat until cream cheese is melted. Add in cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese. Whisk until cheeses are melted and sauce is smooth and creamy. If desired, season with pepper.
- Add cooked pasta and stir into sauce until pasta is covered evenly in cheese sauce. Serve immediately. Serve with fresh ground pepper and garnish with fresh herbs if desired.
Notes
- The keto pasta recipe came from Black Sheep Keto.
- I used this pastry cutter* to slice for the farfelle shape.
- Because the pasta uses psyllium husk powder, when the noodles are cooked they do turn a grayish brown color. This is normal when using psyllium husk. Some brands may turn food purple. I recommend using Now brand* which results in less discoloration.
- The pasta only takes about 2 minutes to cook. The pasta will be soft after it is cooked. Because of the almond flour, the pasta tastes more like whole wheat pasta.
- You can mix the pasta dough ingredients by hand if you do not have a food processor.
- *Some of the product links contained in this post are affiliate links. Much like referral codes, this means I earn a small commission if you purchase a product I referred (at no extra charge to you).
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Cheese sauce was awesome. The macaroni, I made the thin noodles I didn’t care for and then my stomach didn’t appreciate the heaviness of them. No taste, more like a wholewheat noodle.
Thanks for letting us know!
I am allergic to all nuts what type of flour can I use instead of almond flour
I don’t have a substitute at this time
Oh Man!! You are genius , Jennifer ?
Mac and cheese again after 4 years abstinence!!
Every time I read a chic lit and the heroine comforted herself with mac and cheese, I would groan with longing.
This is a lovely recipe. I did the macaroni tubes and your chopstick method worked really well.
I decided to plunge my chopstick into coconut flour for extra “unstickness” ?
Wish I could post my food pic for you.
It really was lovely till the last bite.
Thank you soooo much for a lovely recipe….(that works!!)
Love Genny .
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!