This healthy and delicious Green Mac and Cheese recipe is a perfect St Patrick’s Day meal for your kids! What kid doesn’t like green food?
It’s March. Time for all things green! St. Patrick’s day is coming up, so we are all about leprechauns and pots of gold and rainbows now, right? We love getting super festive for holidays in our home. St. Patrick’s Day is no exception.
Which is why we decided to try making green Mac and Cheese for the first time. It was actually very easy to make and still as delicious as the regular staple in our home. This turned out to be a healthy dinner dish that we may be serving often in the future.
Green Mac and Cheese: St Patrick’s Day Food
Ingredients:
One 14.5 oz box of whole wheat pasta shapes
One bag pre-washed baby spinach or one package frozen spinach (defrosted & moisture squeezed out)
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons white flour
1 1/2 cups milk
3 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Over medium heat, drizzle a little oil into a saute pan. Add spinach and wait until it reduces in size and is soft, turning occasionally.
Add wilted spinach to a food processor and puree until smooth. (For frozen spinach, put defrosted spinach directly in food processor)
Cook and drain pasta according to package directions.
Melt butter in a pan over medium heat. Add flour, whisk and cook for one minute. Slowly add milk continuing to whisk until combined. Continue stirring and allow the rue to come to a slow bubble.
Add the shredded cheese and stir until cheese melts and is combined. Add nutmeg, cayenne, salt and pepper.
Stir in spinach puree until combined. Add drained pasta to the cheese sauce and stir to coat pasta.
Serve immediately or pour into casserole dish, top with some additional shredded cheese if desired, and bake on 350 degrees just until the cheese is melty and bubbly. Enjoy!
I love that this recipe allows me to sneak in that extra serving of veggies!
If you liked this, you’ll enjoy this other green recipe for kids – Pea Pesto!
Green Mac and Cheese - St. Patrick's Day Food for Kids
Ingredients
- One 14.5 oz box of whole wheat pasta shapes
- One bag pre-washed baby spinach or one package frozen spinach defrosted & moisture squeezed out
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons white flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 3 cups grated cheddar cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Over medium heat, drizzle a little oil into a saute pan. Add spinach and wait until it reduces in size and is soft, turning occasionally.
- Add wilted spinach to a food processor and puree until smooth. (For frozen spinach, put defrosted spinach directly in food processor)
- Cook and drain pasta according to package directions.
- Melt butter in a pan over medium heat. Add flour, whisk and cook for one minute. Slowly add milk continuing to whisk until combined. Continue stirring and allow the rue to come to a slow bubble.
- Add the shredded cheese and stir until cheese melts and is combined. Add nutmeg, cayenne, salt and pepper. Stir in spinach puree until combined. Add drained pasta to the cheese sauce and stir to coat pasta.
- Serve immediately or pour into casserole dish, top with some additional shredded cheese if desired, and bake on 350 degrees just until the cheese is melty and bubbly. Enjoy!
- I love that this recipe allows me to sneak in that extra serving of veggies!
You might also enjoy these St. Patrick’s Day favorites:
Freezer-Friendly Shepherd’s Pie
Bar Cart Styling Ideas for St. Patrick’s Day
Shepherd’s Pie made with leftover Pot Roast
mmmh, this looks yummi! In my first flatshare I lived with a friend and we were both in an online harry potter fanclub, both in slytherin, so we called ourselves the sly-flatshare and our rule was that every meal we cooked had to have at least one green ingredient.
Boy, i don’t think there were ever two nerdy students who cooked such healthy food! ^^
hope your kids liked it!
yaga
http://www.shinyubbles.org
Nerdy or not, that is a fantastic rule to cook by!
Since my husband and I met in a Harry Potter role playing game both as slytherin it is only natural everything is green…even our wedding was green and silver. I’m so loving this recipe! I can’t wait to try it on my 4 little Irish-people (my kids)!
That is such a neat story. Enjoy!
ew kinda yucky looking but probably delicious!
That is a great idea for any day, not just St Patrick’s day!
When I first saw the title for this, I groaned inwardly thinking it’d be yet another recipe with green food coloring added just to make it interesting to kids for St. Patrick’s day!
I was pleased to see such a healthy recipe instead! 😀
Thanks!
Thanks! Glad you like the recipe. It’s very tasty!
Oh my goodness – so much fun! I had thought about doing green cupcakes and this would be the perfect green meal (after which we will have green cupcakes – LOL). My kids will be thrilled
Great recipe and great idea to add some more veggies to pasta!
My kids LOVED gross looking food! I wrote this a while back-http://www.howardhousereviews.com/2011/07/kids-will-eat-healthy-food-if-it-looks-gross.html
Your mac and cheese would be a HIT!!!!
Love this idea! I usually add broccoli to my mac and cheese for green… but I will def. have to try the spinach!
That is SUCH a great idea! Thanks for sharing (:
At first when I seen the post title I thought oh dear I bet it looks so bad, lol, but its actually looks really good, and I bet it taste yummy as well.
I am totally trying this mac and cheese. Yummy!