Protein Packed Healthy Mac and Cheese
A healthy mac and cheese recipe that is packed with protein, broccoli and spinach. Perfect as a full meal and a sneaky way to get your kids to eat more veggies.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 box 8 oz Barilla Chickpea Rotini
- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 1 Tablespoon organic butter
- 1 cup milk I used unsweetened almond milk
- 1 Laughing Cow spreadable cheese wedge
- 1 1/2 cups 6 oz reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese (more, if needed)*
- 1 handful chopped baby spinach
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil pasta & broccoli: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add chickpea rotini pasta, return to a boil and cook for a total of 8 minutes, adding in the broccoli florets at the four minute mark. Drain pasta and broccoli.
- Add remaining ingredients: In the same large pot over low/medium heat add butter, milk, salt and pepper. Once butter has melted add in drained pasta and broccoli, spreadable cheese wedge and shredded cheese. Let cheese melt a little, about 30 seconds. Use a spoon to stir everything together until pasta is well coated with cheese, adding more cheese if needed. Add in chopped baby spinach and toss until wilted.
- Serve: Serve immediately with additional salt and pepper, if needed.
Notes
- Pasta: As I mentioned above, I love using legume pasta to amp up the nutrition count. That said, you can totally use whatever pasta you prefer.
- Veggies: Not a fan of spinach and broccoli? Feel free to use other veggies!
- Cheese: I used organic Irish cheddar cheese and shredded it myself. In case you were wondering, let me just confirm that real cheese is 100x better than powdered cheese or even pre-shredded cheese. Fresh is always better and shredding the cheese takes no time at all. However, you can use whatever you prefer including reduced fat cheddar cheese.
- Vegan + Dairy Free: If you want to make this recipe vegan or dairy-free you can use vegan butter, vegan shredded cheddar cheese and 1 Tablespoon of vegan cream cheese instead of the spreadable cheese wedge.
Nutrition
Serving: 1(made with reduced fat cheddar cheese) | Calories: 395kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 38mg | Sodium: 354mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 3g