Veggies are healthy, and mac-n-cheese is not, or at least that’s what a lot of people believe. But we’ve created a healthy veggie mac-n-cheese, made with real food and a bunch of colorful roasted veggies. The result is nothing short of divine. You can even make it in the Instant Pot.
Servings : 6
Ingredients
Mac
- 1 lb 100% whole grain elbow noodles
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup cheddar cheese grated
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Veggies
- 1 cup green beans cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 pint grape tomatoes
- 1 cup broccoli cut into florets
- 1 cup cauliflower cut into florets
- 1 red bell pepper cut into 1 inch pieces
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
Instant Pot®
- Preheat oven to 400. Toss veggies in olive oil, then arrange in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until beginning to brown on the edges.
- While veggies are cooking, add pasta and 4 cups water to the insert of an Instant Pot®. Lock lid, and turn valve to sealing. Program for manual-high and 8 minutes. Allow 10 minute natural pressure release before releasing remaining steam.
- Add butter, cheese, milk, salt, and pepper. Stir well to combine and to melt the cheese.
- Stir veggies into the mac-n-cheese.
Stovetop
- Preheat oven to 400. Toss veggies in olive oil, then arrange in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until beginning to brown on the edges.
- While veggies are cooking, bring 6 quarts water to a boil. Add pasta. Boil 8 minutes. Drain. Stir in butter, cheese, milk, salt, and pepper. Stir to melt cheese.
- Stir veggies into mac-n-cheese mixture.
Notes
Feel free to vary your veggies here! Zucchini, onions, mushrooms, radishes, spinach, kale, or whatever veggies you like roasted, can be used in any combination. If you have finicky eaters who only like one veggie, then only include that one (or maybe that one and just one more to stretch their comfort zones a little, wink wink). The possibilities are endless.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Comments (2)
Healthy comfort food
This was so yummy, my uber picky son who barely eats anything had seconds. He loved it. This is going on our favorites list.