Mac and Cheese is one of the top ten food choices for kids in USA. My kids are no exception. They love Mac n cheese. This dish is a good source of carb, protein and calcium, but it is missing the fiber part. So whenever I serve Mac n cheese to my kids I feel guilty of not serving the vegetables. So I came up with this recipe of Mac and Cheese with vegetable. My kids love this dish and I also feel good about serving veggies as part of their favorite Mac and cheese meal.
Macaroni and Cheese, also known as Mac and Cheese or Mac n Cheese in USA or Canada, is a dish of English origin, consisting of cooked macaroni pasta in a cheese sauce, most commonly made out of Cheddar cheese.
Fun Facts About Mac n Cheese
- In 1993, Crayola named one of their crayon colors “macaroni and cheese.”
- Today, Kraft sells more than one million boxes of its macaroni and cheese every day.
- The recommended wine to serve with macaroni and cheese is Burgundy wine.
I like to cook Mac n Cheese with traditional Cheddar cheese sauce. I have found that among all vegetables, mushroom and peas goes best with the Macaroni and Cheese. I used them in this recipe, by sautéing onion, mushroom and peas and adding them to the boiled macaroni pasta. Then I make the cheese sauce and add the boiled macaroni pasta with sautéed veggies in it.

Mac n Cheese with vegetable Ingredients

Cheddar Cheese Sauce
Even though baked macaroni and cheese tastes delicious, I prefer to cook this recipe in the stove top as it is quick and convenient when I am cooking it early in the morning for packing the school lunches for the kids.
Quick tips about the recipe
How to make sure every strand of pasta stays separate? After draining water from the boiled pasta, let the pasta cool down. Then drizzle little bit of oil in the pasta and use your hands to spread the oil and separate out each strand of pasta.
How about using boxed Mac and Cheese from Kraft or any other brand? Perfect, no problem. When in rush in the morning for packing lunch for kids, go ahead with this recipe using boxed Mac and Cheese. Follow the direction in the box for making the cheese sauce. All other steps stay the same.
Priya Banerjee
Yields 2 cups
Serves 4
Stove top Mac n Cheese with vegetable recipe, prefect for school lunch for the kids.
5 minPrep Time
25 minCook Time
30 minTotal Time

Ingredients
- 1 cup Macaroni pasta
- 50 gm peas
- 100 gm mushroom (Cut into small pieces)
- 50 gm onion
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- 1/3 cup full fat milk
Instructions
- Boil the Macaroni pasta for 7-8 min. Drain the water when the pasta turns soft.
- Sauté onion, mushroom and peas for 7 to 8 min and add the sautéed vegetable to the pasta
- For the cheese sauce, add butter in a pan. When the butter melts, add heavy cream and the cheddar cheese
- When the Cheese melts, add the pasta and the veggies.
- Add the rest of the milk to bring the desired consistency before serving.
Notes
Feel free to use boxed Mac n cheese when in rush. You can use fat free milk instead of full fat milk.
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