My kids love, love, love macaroni and cheese! We occasionally eat the boxed version, but honestly, they love homemade mac and cheese. Especially the recipe I’ll share with you today. We’re going to talk about mac and cheese. More specifically, how to make this favourite a little healthier.
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We all love comfort food in the winter. Especially dishes with cheese or noodles, or both! Macaroni and cheese is the perfect comfort food. Especially for kids. I find that my girls ask me to make this dish probably a couple times a month, at least. I don’t feel guilty feeding them just a simple, cheesy noodle dish. As long as we have other things to go along with it (most of the time;))
I feel like this recipe is just stepping up my macaroni and cheese game. Tucked away in the midst of the cheese and noodles is a whopping 2 1/2 cups of shredded carrot. It’s orange. The cheese is orange. They will never know it’s there. Especially if you are trying to feed a sensitive eater. The recipe also calls for eggs and whole wheat noodles. Perfect – they are both also hidden in the golden goodness, right?
How to make carroty macaroni and cheese!
- You’re going to be grating a lot. I mean like 5 1/2 cups of grating. I love my box grater.
- Okay, grate 3 cups of cheddar cheese. I find that the sharper the cheese, the better.
- Next, grate 2 1/2 cups of carrot. Coarsely grated. Set these aside.
- Whisk together: 3/4 cup of sour cream, 1/4 cup of whole milk, 2 eggs, 1 tsp of salt, 3/4 tsp of mustard powder-if you can’t find mustard powder where you are, just use bottled. Add a few grinds of black pepper.
- Boil a big pot of water, and add 2-3 cups of whole wheat noodles. My mother-in-law’s recipe calls for 2, and I used about 3 tonight.
- When the noodles are about 2 minutes away from being cooked, add the coarsely grated carrots. Drain the noodles and carrots.
- Place noodle/carrot mixture in a large bowl and stir in 2 1/2 cups of the cheddar cheese and 1/4 cup of butter.
- Add the whisked sauce and combine well.
- Pour all in a 9 by 13 greased pan.
- Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar and 1/4 cup of grated parmesan.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Yummmm!
Great side dishes for your healthier mac and cheese.
- Best roasted chicken
- steamed mixed veggies
- a delicious salad using spring greens or baby spinach, cucumber, tomato and avocado
- fruit salad
- sliced veggies and dip
Here’s hoping you try out this recipe soon. It’s a family favourite and you know how I love to share our family favourites.
You can easily double this healthier version of macaroni and cheese. It turns out just a delicious. I’m thinking it would be great as a potluck dish, when we are able to have those again. Do you remember getting together with real live people? I sure miss that. But, I’d rather be safe than sorry, right?
Okay, enough rambling. I will leave a printable version of how to make mac and cheese healthier at the bottom of this page. Have a great day, and enjoy!
Printable recipe below!
Carroty Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked whole wheat pasta
- 2 1/2 cups coarsely grated carrot
- 3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup butter
- ¾ cups sour cream
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ tsp mustard powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Boil a large pot of water. Add pasta. When it is 2 minutes from being cooked, add the grated carrot.
- Drain the pasta and carrots. Place in a large bowl, and stir in 2 1/2 cups of the grated cheddar and also the butter.
- Whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, salt, mustard powder, and black pepper.
- Pour this mixture over the pasta and stir well.
- Grease a 9 by 13 pan, pour in the pasta mixture, and sprinkle remaining cheddar and parmesan cheese over the top.
- Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.
- Enjoy!
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