Green Chili White Cheddar Mac and Cheese is an easy, cheesy family favorite comfort food recipe that everyone will love! Looking for kid friendly, Gluten free crock pot recipes? Look no more! This easy gluten free mac and cheese is a perfect weeknight dinner recipe.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Horizon Organics. The opinions and text are all mine.
Since I’m on a “healthified” gluten free comfort food recipe kick this week, let’s talk mac and cheese. Mmm k?
When was the first time you ate mac and cheese? If you’re like me, you grew up on it. I mean seriously, it was the bees knees of pasta and oh so convenient for families. I can remember my neighbor’s sister babysitting us and always making her “famous” mac and cheese! I loved it. When I was a wee bit older, I asked her to teach me how to make her recipe. You know what she did? She pulled out a box of mac and cheese and showed me the directions. Ha! I guess it was the extra love that went into that made it so tasty, right?
Which leads me to my next point. I wish I would have known earlier how to make a good nutritious meal. One that is still convenient and easy to make! At what age do we teach our kids/family this very statement?
Honestly, I think the younger the better. When their minds are ready to grasp on to that information and be hands on. My nieces and nephews range from age 2-9 and all of them love being in the kitchen, prepping meals, ingredients, and learning where their food came from.
Why we should teach kids how to cook and/or meal prep?
- They learn basic kitchen safety tips.
- Cooking/meal prep/baking is a way for your kids to LEARN about food.
- They see where it comes from.
- You can tailor food to their nutritional needs and SHOW them which ingredients/foods are gluten free (or any other allergy for that matter). This is especially great for kids with food allergies
- It builds confidence. Think about it, letting kids make their own meal is great for affirmation and creativity release, which all breeds’ confidence!
- Spending time in the kitchen can be a fun activity and bonding time for the whole family.
So, where to start?
Definitely check out this Skills by Age Article for kids in the kitchen. Such a great tool for starting the process!
I’d also say start with the basics. Which is why Horizons gluten-free mac and cheese is now one of my favorite gluten free products!
This green chili white cheddar Mac and Cheese recipe (gluten free of course) is a WIN WIN meal.
It makes a dinner that will bring your whole family together in no time.
You literally measure out ingredients and throw it in a pot. Done! And SUPER TASTY!
I bet this will become one of YOUR favorite gluten free Crock Pot recipes, too!
Gluten Free Crock Pot Green Chili White Cheddar Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 12 oz gluten free macaroni pasta (two boxes of horizon gluten free mac and cheese with white cheddar)
- 5 oz Colby Jack Cheese (we used organic jalapeño cheddar)
- 1/2 tsp chili pepper or paprika
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic
- dash of black pepper and sea salt
- 4 tbsp butter
- 2 cups milk (we used cashew milk)
- 3 Roma tomatoes (diced) or one 10z can chopped tomatoes (drained)
- 2 4.5 oz can green chilies (drained)
- Green onion or chives to top
- Optional add ins or toppings - chopped cooked chicken or chicken sausage, chickpeas, turkey, etc.
Directions
- Note: If you are not using the boxed macaroni with the extra cheese powder, then add in another 2oz of feta or shredded parmesan.
- Combine all your ingredients in a crock pot. Stir together and place on high for 2-3 hrs. Check occasionally to stir so pasta does stick to bottom. Serve with green onion or chives on top. So good!
- Bonus Bake -> Once cooked in crock pot, feel free to place in a baking dish and stick in oven for 10 minutes on 375F with a little extra cheese on top. This just makes it a little crispier! Totally optional.
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p.s. It makes for great leftovers the next day too. YUM!
Well, what do you think? Would your kids make this white cheddar mac and cheese recipe?
Let me know if you do!
Check out Horizon’s Meal Plan Solutions on Pinterest as well as Facebook and twitter! You will love all the great kid friendly meal ideas. Okay and adult friendly too.
😉
Cheers
Mac and cheese with stuff in it? Nooooooo my kids would not approve. But I would! 😉
i had a plain jane mac and cheese kid try and love it! promise!
hahahahahahhahaa YOU ACTUALLY THINK I WOULD SHARE??
I do totally agree with you about teaching kids early.
But, I don’t have any. Which means I don’t have to share this healthified comfort food yums.
Which I am TOTALLY okay with! Pinning!
Crock pot and mac and cheese in one sentence? Unheard of! You had me at the beginning. Adding in that it’s easy enough for kids and I”m there 😉
yes, and mama’s to be need this! stat! haha
I was a big “Mac & Cheeser” as a kid. My fondest memory surrounding this meal was Halloween. My Mom would always make her homemade mac and cheese on Halloween night, probably in efforts to stuff us full of real food so we wouldn’t eat as much candy 😉 She still makes it every Halloween for herself and my Dad before they give out candy, it’s pretty cute.
now there’s a fun halloween tradition! i bet it delicious too!
I am always looking for a gluten free mac & cheese recipe. Thanks for posting.
yay, let me know what you think!
Oh cool, I’ve seen a few gluten free crockpot macaroni recipes on Pinterest but have been too scared to try it. I’ll be trying this soon! My son is almost 2 1/2 and I regularly have him help me, it definitely helps build his confidence, learn about food, and he’ll be grateful when he’s in his first apartment or in college and can navigate the kitchen.
-Melanie-
http://www.theseblankwalls.com
i know, me too! but it’s super easy and makes it more crispy, kind of like baked, ya know?
Embarrassing fun fact: I ate Kraft mac and cheese like 4x a week as a kid. My brother and I were homeschooled so that’s what we wanted for lunch almost every day!!
This dish looks AWESOME. And the fact that I can make it in a crockpot is even better!
yep, no shame. Same here. Except i added ketchup! haha
Kraft mac n cheese with hot dogs cut up into them….my typical meal growing up. This looks absolutely delicious!
OMG me too! haha hot dogs or ham
You say “kid friendly” and I read “husband friendly” same thing haha. Healthy comfort food is my fav!
I ate some blue box mac & cheese ALL the freaking time. In fact, I used to eat pretty much a whole box before swim meets when i was younger. Pretty sure your sherpa wife self wouldn’t recommend that nowadays haha!
hmmm… maybe the gluten free. haha. Actually my husband loves it with chicken sausage. Post swim though, not before. EEK!
I absolutely love the fact that this dish an be made in the crock pot, which is seriously my best friend these days! 😉
yes, mama of twins need this!
Nothing makes my daughter’s eyes light up more than mac and cheese!
I would love some mac and cheese right now. Pinned!
I wish I could eat dairy with “issues”. 🙂 As a kid, my Nana made the most amazing mac n’ cheese – not healthy but GOOD!!!
Your is beautiful!
Did someone say, “Mac N Cheese?” my kids will dive into this.
We actually didn’t grow up eating boxed Mac and Cheese because it’s not sold over here. But my mum’s made-from-scratch cheese pasta was a hit for sure. I really like your adult-friendly spin on the classic.- because I know for a fact I wouldn’t have eaten whole tomatoes [crazy, I know] or chilies as a child.
haha, same. and um.. i need to learn how to make this cheesy pasta! i wonder if your mum would share?? xxoo
OMG. Vegas would LOVE this! And I married my way into a crockpot. Totally making this! Maybe with some ground turkey?
totally! or i added chicken sausage
Looks delicious! I know one of my girls wouldn’t eat it but the other probably would. I love the kids in the kitchen!! 😉
I agree – I don’t think it’s ever too early to teach kids the basics of healthy eating/cooking and meal prepping! I didn’t grow up on mac and cheese – it came into my life after I had found out I was lactose intolerant and so I never really got into it – then, along came my daughter and after she had had it at friends’ homes, she started asking me to make it – those early versions were a total disaster – guess that’s why she has been making her own since she was 10 (she’s 16 now) – and I am thinking she would love this – Heck, even I love that you added a whole can of green chilies into this!
that’s awesome, well not the lactose intolerant part. but your daughter making it on her own for years!
This looks awesome and I think you already know I love using the crock pot!
What a cool idea! One of my kids is all over gluten free mac and cheese, I actually buy the same horizon one that you show. My other daughter only like the “real” traditional baked mac and cheese. I’ll have to try it out, not to mention my husband would be thrilled 🙂
Yummm!! I lived off of mac and cheese the first year or two I became vegetarian. I remember eating it with a wooden spoon right from the pot!! I also loved that I knew how to make the “fancy” mac and cheese that my mom taught me when I was 8-9. She taught me so many fun skills I still use today – totally agree kids should be in the kitchen!!
omg the wooden spoon bite! i love it. me too!
I bet that these leftovers are AMAZING! 🙂
cold…. like so good!
Hunter just had this Horizon mac ‘n cheese for lunch today! We love it over here. I like to spice it up sometimes with additions too…loving the sounds of this recipe!! Can’t wait to try it out!
let me know if it passes with hunter! haha
OH my, I would definitely make this for me but I know my kids would turn their noses up at it since it has “other” things in it, lol. They are getting better every day though, so I’ll have to give it a shot!
i had my friends kids try it and loved it. and they are plain jane mac and cheese kids. Promise!
Mac and cheese is my absolute favorite comfort food. Oh my goodness!!!!
My 9 year old loves to help out in the kitchen, my 13 yr old, not so much. But once she took a cooking class in school, she’s been more open to cooking for herself. This mac n cheese looks awesome!
I’m literally at lost of words how gooey, cheesy, and delicious this stuff looks. I’ve actually already written it down to add to our meal plan for the week. I could bathe in it.. okay well maybe not go that far. lol 🙂
i’d bathe in it! haha jk. but i so get that, enjoy! xxoo
You are speaking my language – anything Mac and Cheese is one of the worlds most delicious wonders in my books. It is my ultimate comfort food
you know it! and great post run! haha
I’m all about helping kids get comfortable in the kitchen! After seeing the documentary Fed Up, it really opened my eyes to putting more food focus on the kids – I don’t have children yet, but this is a great post!!
You could trick me into thinking this is scrambled eggs (by the photo alone) and then poison me 😉 That’s only if you actually want to off me.
let’s sub the pasta for spaghetti squash and cheese for nutritional yeast… there… “GIGI”FIED! no poison. 😉
The blue box Mac & Cheese was my favorite growing up and the one thing I could make with ease. That, French toast and chocolate chip cookies. Although my own mother rarely made it. Instead, she’d make us the real deal and we’d want the crappy box stuff. Poor mom.
This looks fantastic and I love the addition of spice.
ahhh good mom! can she come cook me some?