How to Know Which Vegetables Work Well in Macaroni and Cheese

Macaroni and cheese is an all-time favorite for kids and adults. It’s a soothing comfort food and a healthier alternative to fast food. The best part of macaroni and cheese is that a variety of fresh vegetables works well as side dishes or as part of the macaroni and cheese. Knowing which vegetables work well with macaroni and cheese is important so that texture and taste remain edible.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Squash
• Zucchini
• Cauliflower
• Carrots
• Peas
• Broccoli
• Green beans
• Mushrooms

Main Dish Vegetables

1. Shop for vegetables that are light in color, or a similar color to cheese, so they blend in with the macaroni. Think about the flesh of the vegetable and not just the skin because you’ll peel most vegetables before cooking.
2. Pick vegetables that don’t have a strong flavor or odor. An onion is light in color, but has a strong flavor, which many kids won’t like in their macaroni and cheese.
3. Choose vegetables based on their ease of preparation. Vegetables like cauliflower and carrots are seedless, skinless, easily steamed and then mashed or pureed before adding to the macaroni and cheese.
4. Get vegetables like squash and zucchini into macaroni and cheese by seeding them, peeling them, steaming them and then mashing with a fork or blending in a blender before tossing into the macaroni.

Side Dish Vegetables

5. Add green colored vegetables, such as broccoli, green beans or peas, as a side dish to macaroni and cheese. These vegetables complement cheesy main dishes.
6. Toss a vegetable like peas with the macaroni and cheese. This makes the dish more colorful and adds a vegetable to a kid-friendly food. Just make sure the peas don’t smash when you toss them.
7. Mix thinly sliced mushrooms into macaroni and cheese. Mushrooms complement many pasta dishes, and if you add extra cheddar to the macaroni and cheese, the cheese will overpower the bland taste of a mushroom.
8. Try serving a salad with macaroni and cheese. Iceberg lettuce is the preferred lettuce of kids, but with some ranch dressing on top, you might get some leaf lettuce into the salad.

Tips & Warnings

• If pureeing the vegetables so your kids will eat them, try coarsely mashing them after a while so your kids become used to different textures and start liking vegetables for taste and not because they’re hidden in another food.
• Don't blend broccoli, peas or green beans into macaroni and cheese unless you know your family likes green macaroni and cheese. Green screams vegetable and kids may not eat it because of the color.