Cheesy Mac and Cauliflower Bake!
By: Kecia’s Flavor Breakthrough!
So a little revising of the plans came about tonight with a bit of a blast of winter! Snowing, blowing and just downright nasty! I wanted to come home… not go to the store! What do I have that I can make with a main dish of chicken? Hmmm… I have cauliflower in the fridge. I have pasta, Oh… cheese, too! Sounds like I might have a plan! Throw it together and bake it to go with skillet chicken! MMMM! I think even my boy will love this recipe!
Serves 6
Ingredients:
- 1 cup macaroni
- 1 cup cauliflower florets
- 1 tbsp. butter
- ½ onion finely diced
- 1 ½ cup light cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsps. Parsley flakes for color
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup panko bread crumbs
Preheat oven to 350°F
Cook macaroni in boiling water for ONLY 5 minutes. During the last minute toss in the cauliflower. Drain and set aside.
In a saucepan over medium heat melt the butter, add the onion and cook until slightly translucent.
Add the cream, salt and pepper and parsley flakes. Heat until hot, stirring often so not to scorch. When hot, slowly whisk in the cheddar cheese. Continue to whisk until completely melted and smooth.
Coat a casserole dish with nonstick spray and pour the cauliflower and macaroni in.
Pour the cheese sauce evenly over the top. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
Mix together the Parmesan and bread crumbs. Remove foil, sprinkle with parmesan and bread crumb mixture over the top.
Place back in oven an additional 10 minutes or until it begins to brown on top.
Let sit for 5 minutes before serving!
This was outrageously good and would be an incredible meatless meal as well!
This was truly special with my Cast Iron Fried Chicken!
I love the combination of Cheddar and Parmesan together in white sauce, and I bet the cauliflower gave the mac and cheese a further depth. Lokks so good, Kecia!
The cauliflower was truly tasty Hadia! Thank you!
Looks delish and I love the sneaky method of adding some vegies! Great job with this one!
Thank you Dan! I try really hard to sneak those veggies in when I can!
Oh how I wish I had your yummy recipe while I was still at my daughter’s house as i know the kids would have gobbled it up! Definitely sending to my daughter! Love the healthier tweaks!
Thank you Linda… my son really loved it, ate two helpings so I know it is kid friendly! 🙂