30 minute meal right here! Feeding your family veggies has never tasted so good! Cheese meet veggies… 🙂
For real though, who doesn’t love some mac n cheese? It’s like an American diet staple. Please let’s remember the best mac n cheese DOES NOT… I repeat… DOES NOT come out of a box! Kraft Annies Velveeta. Even the “better” organic boxed mac n cheese still has a nice little packet of cheese powder stuff right inside the cute little bunny box. Now please, someone… anyone… what IS that stuff?
How, just how I ask… do you get cheese powder like that? Don’t know, don’t care! *finger snap* because anyone who has a stove can make their own mac n cheese with just a few ingredients PLUS veggies. Incase you think you are not included in that “anyone” even my mom can make homemade mac n cheese, and let’s just say she’s not kitchen savy.
That’s real cheese right there! Cheese powder say what? That’s what I thought! In your face cute bunny packets!
Ok, now that I verbally abused the Annie’s bunny I’m just going to keep explaining how amazing one pot meals are that take LESS THAN 30 minutes to make. This reminds me so much of my Unprocessed Hamburger Helper recipe, in that it is made the same way. Instead of ground beef, I sautéed those lil baby bellas with a clove o’ garlic, and then I added the other goodies, put a lid on that baby, and let a little heat work it’s magic. Now, let’s not just walk away from our stove like those baby bellas don’t need supervision because they do. This pot needs stirred a little more then the Unprocessed Hamburger Helper but it is still very low maintenance and easy.
If you are looking for a little more oommmph in your pot, go ahead and throw in some shredded chicken. A little protein goes a long way, so chicken could bump this meal up on the “I’m full scale” if you need it. 😉
Now excuse me while I go eat what is left in that pan!
One Pot Veggie Mac N Cheese
By Published: October 1, 2014
- Yield: 3-4 Servings
- Prep: 5 mins
- Cook: 20 mins
- Ready In: 25 mins
30 minute meal right here! Feeding your family veggies has never tasted so good! Cheese meet veggies... 🙂 For real though, who …
Ingredients
- 1 carton baby bella mushrooms
- 2 cloves fresh garlic
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 and 1/2 cups 100% whole wheat elbow macaroni
- 1 container cherry tomatoes
- 1 handful asparagus
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup chicken stock homemade or low sodium prefered
- 2 ounces cheddar cheese
- 2 ounces monterey jack cheese
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp pink himalayan or kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 2 Tbsp whole wheat white flour
Instructions
- Slice mushrooms, mince garlic, and put them together in a large sauté pan or pot on the stove with the olive oil. Cook over medium-high heat until mushrooms are spongy and garlic is tender.
- Slice tomatoes and asparagus in half. Add all other ingredients and stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover, stirring very frequently so nothing sticks. Cook on low heat for about 15 minutes or until pasta is tender and cheese is melted and nicely incorporated.
Love this recipe Dana! I never got how anyone could eat that weird orange stuff out of a box! Love how there’s so many veggies in your version – so colorful!
Thanks Nora! Hope that baby girl is letting you get some sleep 🙂
This shows real existrpee. Thanks for the answer.
I made this for dinner last night and it was all I could do not to dive head-first into the pot and eat my way out while waiting for hubby to get home for dinner! Very filling also!
LOL Pam! You just explained how I felt about this mac n cheese perfectly. 🙂
could you use any veggies?? I only ask because I went to the market prepared to buy all the ingredients but I couldnt bring myself to spend $5.99 on a bunch of asparagus! also, my husband hates tomatoes (I know, what the hell is wrong with him right?) could I leave those out?
Absolutely! Using different veggies is fine. The cheese sauce and noodles are what makes the dish! Green beans, broccoli, peas, all mushroom varieties, snap peas…basically anything could be substituted. Also for the asparagus.. Did you ever check out Aldi? That’s where I get mine. A huge bundle, double what a bundle is at other stores for $2.99!
awesome! its on the stove now! I used brussels sprouts! 😀 unfortunately we do not have Aldi around these parts, but we have a discount market, which I totally spaced and forgot to check there…next time for sure! thanks!!
So sorry to hear you don’t have an Aldi! No fair 🙁 Let me know how it turns out with the other veggies. Experiments are always fun!
Just popping in to say that I chose your recipe for my first mac ‘n’ cheese ever (where I live it’s rather unknown as a dish, although everybody loves both pasta and cheese) and it turned out just the way I had imagined it – creamy, cheesy perfection! And it was very easy to make too – it took me more time to measure and slice things than to actually cook! It was ready after 12 minutes on my stovetop, but I used regular elbow macaroni instead of whole-wheat, so maybe that’s why… Fantastic recipe, I’ll be making this again and again! 🙂
This recipe looks great! I can’t wait to try this myself. This could be a silly question but at what point do you put in the flour? Do you simply sprinkle it into the pot?
Yes Nichole, you just sprinkle in the flour with the rest of the ingredients you add in the step “Add all other ingredients and stir.” The flour will dissolve when you stir and will thicken your sauce. Works like a charm every time! 🙂 Enjoy!
I riffed off this, because although I love mushrooms & apsaragus, the people I cook for don’t. I added broccoli, carrots and chicken. My 8 year old LOVED it. He couldn’t eat it fast enough. My 4 year old ate without complaint, which is major compliment. Easy, fast, made with real ingredients… a winner in my book.
Yes we have made many variations as well! So glad your kids loved it!
We swapped out asparagus for broccoli and cauliflower because that is what we had on hand. For the cheese we used old cheddar and parmesan cheese, also because that is what we had on hand. It was delicious thank you for such a versatile recipe! It is going right into my recipe binder. 🙂
Just made this last night, so amazing! This really is a bulletproof recipe! I was so nervous when I added all the ingredients including the flour that something wouldn’t work, but it turned out perfect and delicious! Thank you for the great recipe! 😀
This looks so delicious! Can this be a vegetarian dish? The only thing I would need to sub out is the chicken stock for vegetable. But would that throw the taste off?
No I think that would work just fine Christina!
Hey Dana great recipe, it is delicious. Definitely adding it to my weekly rotation
Yum! Delicious flavor. The texture of the cherry tomatoes wasn’t my favorite. I might try adding them close to the end of cooking next time so they don’t cook down as much. I don’t know if it’s because I’m not super comfortable in the kitchen or what, but the prep took me significantly more time than in the recipe. This whole meal was ready in more like 50 minutes to an hour for me. Still, it’s delicious and I’ll be making it again!