Big Boy Mac and Cheese
Servings: 5 servings
Calories: 1008kcal
This Mac and Cheese is calorie and protein dense, making it a wonderful option for muscle and weight gain goals. The sauce is made from cheddar and cottage cheese as well as almost 2 lbs of roasted vegetables to sneak in some easy nutrients.
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Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 2 lbs (908 g) boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tsp (3 g) paprika
- 1 tsp (3 g) onion powder
- 1 tsp (3 g) garlic powder
- ½ tsp (3 g) salt
- ½ tsp (1.5 g) pepper
- 1 tbsp (15 g) oil
For the Vegetables
- 1 lb (454 g) frozen cauliflower
- 1 small (125 g) onion
- 3 cloves (15 g) garlic
- 1 medium (150 g) red bell pepper
- 1 large (150 g) carrots
- 2 tbsp (30 g) oil
- 1 tsp (3 g) paprika
- 1 tsp (3 g) garlic powder
- 1 tsp (3 g) onion powder
- 1 tsp (6 g) salt
For the Mac & Cheese
- 1 lb (454 g) macaroni noodles gluten free if needed
- 8 oz (227 g) cheddar cheese block is best
- 1 lb (454 g) 4% cottage cheese
- 1½ cups (360 g) pasta water
- 1½ cups (360 g) 2% milk
- salt and pepper to taste
- ¼ cup (10 g) chopped parsley optional
Instructions
For the Macaroni
- Heat a large pot of water and bring to a boil. For reference, I used 96oz (2800mL) of water to cook the pasta. Too much water will dilute the starchy pasta water that we will use to thicken the sauce later.
- Cook the macaroni according to the packaging. Shoot for just past al dente on the doneness. Reserve 1½ cups 360g of the pasta water for your cheese sauce.
- Once they are cooked, rinse and store in cold water to stop the cooking process until you are ready to use later.
For the Vegetables
- Preheat your oven to 425 °F (218 °C).
- Wash and cut your vegetables into a rough chop. You just need pieces to roast up. These will all get blended into the sauce later. Cut the onions, pepper, and carrots into 1-2 inch pieces. Leave the garlic whole.
- In a large bowl, add the frozen cauliflower florets, chopped peppers, onions, carrots, and garlic.
- Add the oil, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. Toss in the bowl to coat. Spray a sheet pan lightly with oil and spread the vegetables out on the pan.
- Roast for 25-30 minutes and toss around the 20 minute mark.
For the Chicken
- In your now empty vegetable bowl, add 1 tbsp of oil, the paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir to form a marinade.
- Trim the excess fat and skin from the chicken and add it to your bowl. Toss it around until evenly coated.
- Place the chicken on to an oil sprayed sheet pan. Place into the oven at 425°F for 15-20 minutes. If you are roasting the chicken and vegetables at the same time, I find it best to put the chicken on a rack below the vegetables.
- Once the chicken has finished roasting, allow it to rest for a few minutes and then cut it into a small dice.
For the Cheese Sauce
- Shred your block of cheese using a box grater or food processor. Using a blend of different cheese can also add layers of flavor if you don't mind buying a few blocks of cheese.
- Once the vegetables have finished roasting, place them into a blender with 1½ cups of pasta water, 1½ cups of milk, cheddar cheese, and cottage cheese. Blend on high speed for 30-60s or until smooth. You may need to do this in two rounds to fit inside of the blender.
For the Mac & Cheese
- Drain the water away from the noodles. Pour the cheese sauce into the noodles and mix. It is going to seem liquidy, it will thicken as it heats.
- Place the pot over medium heat and let it start to warm and thicken. Add in your chopped chicken and mix. Stir frequently so it doesn't stick to the bottom.
- Taste taste and salt as needed once it has thickened. If you wish, you can add in a bit of chopped parsley for color.
Plating
- This recipe makes 5 servings. Cut the dish into 5 equal portions and place into each meal prep container. Top with chopped parsley for a garnish if you wish.
Nutrition
Calories: 1008kcal | Carbohydrates: 91g | Protein: 73g | Fat: 39g | Fiber: 7.5g
NUTRITIONAL INFO FOR THE [POST_TITLE]
The information in this table represents the estimate for the total nutrition of the recipe as it is written. If you wanted to split the recipe into more or less servings than what is originally listed you can use this table to determine the nutritional estimates. If you update the number of servings in the “Servings” field of the recipe above, the information in these tables are no longer accurate as you have updated the ingredients.
This Post Has 13 Comments
I think a good alteration to this would be to replace the cheddar with parmesean to get an alfredo sauce. Im doing this today, ill report my findings
liar, you didn’t report your findings
How was it?
bro either forgot/lazy or just trolling us
Could I use chicken breast instead?
Any protein substitute is fin
please can i know what should i do to make every meal prep of yours a one serving? i dont have a refrigerator 🙁
Divide the amount by 5, considering this makes 5 meals?
When it says serving size 5 just change it to 1 at the top of the recipe.
I made this for my meal prep of the week. i cut back on the cheddar by 3 oz and added other cheeses instead of doing a classic cheddar cheese sauce. Its actually really good, i used smoked paprika instead of regular paprika and i also added some red pepper flakes to the veggie mix as well. It didn’t come out supwe grainy like I thought it did but i did blend it up very well and cooked the mac and cheese for a few minutes like the video said. I definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a high protein mac and cheese.
how long I can store this
You could use protein pasta and get even more protein out of this recipe.
Just made this tonight. I more or less followed the instructions and I made sure to blend it really really well. I finished it by baking it in the oven at 350 for 20ish minutes uncovered and it’s absolutely delicious.