By Jenn
August 5, 2010
After reviewing the Flat Belly Diet! Family Cookbook yesterdayand raving about the tasty yet healthy mac and cheese, you didn’t think that we would tease you and not share the recipe with you, right?! Of course not! Our moms taught us well; we love to share. So behold the recipe for a mac and cheese that you can feel good about serving yourself and your fam (note: it doesn’t come out of a box)!
Crunchy Crust “Mac and Cheese”
4 oz multi-grain macaroni
4 tbsp olive oil, divided
3 tbsp Panko bread crumbs
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 c fat-free milk
1/2 c shredded, reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat an 8-inch x 8-inch baking dish with vegetable spray.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil, and cook the macaroni according to package directions. Drain,rinse with cold water and drain again. Set aside. Combine the bread crumbs and 2 teaspoons oil ina small bowl. Stir with a fork to evenly coat the crumbs with oil.
3. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon oil to a large saucepan. Set over medium-highheat. Whisk in the flour, paprika, salt and pepper until smooth. Add the milk, whisking constantly.Cook, whisking, for about 5 minutes, or until thickened. Remove from the heat. Stir in the cheeseuntil it melts. Stir in the macaroni. Pour into the baking dish. Top evenly with the crumbs.
4. Bake for 15 minutes or until bubbling and golden. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.
5. Eat it up, nom!
Each 1-cup serving of thiscomfort food has 328 calories and a good amount of healthy fats. The entire recipe takes just an hour from prep to dinner time and the entire recipe serves four. When I made it, I doubled the recipe for leftovers (loved it for lunches!) and used a 9-inch by 13-inch pan. Worked wonderfully. Hooray for healthy comfort food! —Jenn
STAY IN THE KNOW
When new stuff happens, you'll be the first to know!
29 Comments
Laura says:
August 5, 2010 at 9:03 am
ok, my kids (not to mention their mom) looove mac and cheese, and when Daddy is traveling we like to have more fun with dinner…you can guarantee that next week when my husband is in Brazil this is on the menu! mmmmm
Tracey says:
August 5, 2010 at 5:51 pm
I tried a healthy mac n’ cheese recipe that substituted some of the cream with cauliflower puree — fully expecting it to taste bad — but it was actually pretty good. Just a bit lighter than the real recipe.
Amy says:
October 2, 2010 at 7:04 pm
I really wanted to like this….but I didn’t. I wish that olive oil is good substitute for butter, but in my opinion, it isn’t.
Sarah says:
August 29, 2011 at 4:27 pm
i love mac n cheese! will def. give this slimmer one a try:)
Candace says:
February 11, 2012 at 12:45 pm
It’s so nice to find a healthy mac n cheese alternative. My family loves it. This looks delicious!
Stacie says:
August 10, 2012 at 12:47 pm
My problem is, I dont like the flour roux. And it doesnt matter who makes it, it always just tastes thick and pasty to me. I believe if I try this recipe out (which I am going to, since we are working on a low sodium diet right now, and I can eliminate the salt), I will also reduce the flour to about 1tbs, and see how that works.
Suzanne says:
August 5, 2014 at 11:02 am
Is 4 oz. of macaroni correct? The recipe states it makes enough for four one cup servings. Thanks!
Jenn says:
August 5, 2014 at 3:50 pm
Hi Suzanne,
It is, but note that it’s 4 ounces of dried macaroni. It gets a lot bigger when cooked! 🙂
—FBG Jenn
T says:
September 16, 2014 at 8:02 pm
I’m always on the lookout for healthy comfort foods. Along the way, I’ve found many that are amazing and many that leave very much to be desired. This one falls into the second category. I made this exactly like the recipe said and all it tasted like was flour. I had to throw it out. Huge disappointment.
Melanie Poteat says:
September 25, 2014 at 9:36 pm
Who makes only 4oz of macaroni? Most packages are 12 or 16 ounces?
yvonne says:
November 12, 2014 at 11:34 am
See AlsoHoney Sesame ChickenI make a healthy mac and cheese also. Instead of 2% cheddar I use the 2% velveeta. Melts nicely and covers up the flour (rue) taste. Also use 1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs for the top (more flavor)
Janine Grossman says:
November 16, 2014 at 5:30 pm
The measuremets seem off, but I loved the idea of this. I used about 8 oz of whole wheat rotini, 1 cup almond milk, vermont cheddar, a little goat cheese and 1 tbsp of flour. I made the rue in a skillet and just added all the ingredients and popped the skillet in the oven. It came out pretty good! I could have used a little more cheese though 🙂 but who couldn’t use a little more cheese?!? 😉
Irene says:
December 29, 2014 at 11:27 am
I would use 8 0z mac, the 4 oz. wasn’t enough, I also used creamy Boursin Garlic & Herbs to the recipe. I would also toast he Panko in a 350 oven for about 10 or 15 minutes to give the final presentation a golden look. Instead of AP flour, I used Wondra flour. We also gave it a splash of Red Hot, just before serving. It was delicious.
Tina says:
May 11, 2015 at 8:18 pm
Too much olive oil 🙁
Scw says:
July 1, 2015 at 7:48 pm
How many servings does this make?
Scw says:
July 1, 2015 at 7:48 pm
How many servings does this make?
Jennifer says:
October 17, 2015 at 1:24 pm
The reason people are tasting the flour is because you should cook the flour and oil for a few minutes until they have some color. It keeps it from tasting like wallpaper paste.
Chelsea says:
February 12, 2017 at 4:51 pm
I LOVE this recipe. When I mix the olive oil and four together I also add smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, a smidge of salt, and pepper. I use all different kinds of cheese each time and it’s always delicious! I eyeball the ratios of ingredients, adding til it looks right. I make enough seasoned panko bread crumb mix to cover the top completely. So good!!!
Greg says:
April 5, 2017 at 5:12 pm
Cauliflower can also make a good replacement for the pasta if trying to cut carbs. Thanks for posting!
Javier Plantillas says:
April 18, 2017 at 1:09 pm
It must be healthy, but I really love olive oil, I hope it is as good as they say for the heart, otherwise I will be in trouble. Excellent post. Great blog, congratulations!
Christie Hawkes says:
June 28, 2017 at 7:24 pm
Thank you, thank you Jenn! I was looking for a delicious healthy recipe to make on girls trip. This is the one. Who doesn’t love homemade mac and cheese–now without the guilt.
~Christie
Carol Schott says:
July 16, 2017 at 7:29 pm
I made the HEALTHY MACARONI & CHEESE for dinner tonight. It didn’t look anything like the picture and wasn’t creamy or cheesy. It might help if I knew what brand products you used.
Trendy says:
August 16, 2017 at 6:14 am
It looks very delicious i will try it soon thanks for sharing this recipe i want know can i use mozzarella cheese with cheddar? i like this post thanks for sharing
Box35100 says:
September 13, 2017 at 9:27 am
This is a very nice blog ,i really love pasta but i had no idea how make it healthy ,thanks a lot for this great idea, as soon as possible i will try it.
Ole says:
September 23, 2017 at 8:55 pm
Not even remotely healthy!
Macaroni, Flour, Bread Crumbs, Milk! You clearly have no clue, what healthy is!
Lucrecia Norman says:
April 20, 2019 at 8:59 am
What is the nutritional information for this recipe? Do you know how many Weight Watchers points a serving would be for this mac and cheese recipe?
Comments are closed.
