Someone in our family…you know who…is going through a serious macaroni and cheese phase. It’s funny how kids get something in their heads and just fixate on it. This has happened to Kenya with tons of foods such as pizza, pasta, yogurt, muffins, cheese, even string beans (seriously, he couldn’t get enough of them) and now he’s obsessed with mac and cheese.
I’ve been having a blast coming up with fun pasta and cheese recipes and these Mac, Chicken and Cheese Bites are a tasty way to give your kids a double boost of protein. I especially love these bites because they fit beautifully in a lunch box and even little kids can easily hold them in their hands. When Kenya first saw these he asked, “What are those” and I said, “mac and cheese muffins”. “Macaroni”, “cheese” and “muffin” all in the same sentence? They were a winner before he even tried the first bite! I wonder if that means this phase will last three times as long?
Mac, Chicken and Cheese Bites
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 1/2 Tsp kosher salt
- 1 1/2 Cup milk
- 1 Cup White Cheddar
- 1/2 Cup parmesan cheese, divided
- 1/4 Cup bread crumbs
- 1 Cup shredded cooked chicken
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cook pasta until al dente, according to package directions (the pasta I used said to cook for 9-12 minutes, so I cooked it for 10 minutes).
- Drain the pasta and set aside.
- In a small heavy bottomed saucepan melt 2 Tbsp of the butter.
- Whisk in the flour and salt and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the milk in a slow stream and whisk to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 3 minutes stirring occasionally .
- Add the white cheddar and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese and stir until melted.
- Pour the cheese sauce and chicken over the pasta and stir to combine.
- In a bowl, combine the 1/4 cup parmesan cheese and bread crumbs.
- Grease mini muffin cups.
- Pour about 1/4 cup of the macaroni mixture into the muffin cups, sprinkle the top with the bread and cheese mixture and bake for 15-20 minutes (I cooked mine for 20 mins) or until breadcrumbs are golden brown.
- Cool in muffin cups, remove and serve.
- *Allow to cool and place in ziploc bag,label and freeze up to 4 months. When ready, place in toaster oven or oven at 300 for 10 minutes or until heated through.
I made a mistake that I thought might interest some people: I didn’t realize how big my box of pasta was, and probably put in 1 1/4 lb of macaroni, while keeping all other ingredient amounts the same. I wouldn’t exactly recommend this variation; it seemed a little dry and bland to me. BUT it did still work. We all ate it, and the kids really liked it. So if you find yourself with unexpected mouths to feed or an especially tight budget, know you can stretch this with more pasta. (BTW, it made 67 mini muffins with my pan!)
I made these with whole wheat pasta and marble cheese – so good!
Can you use whole wheat pasta?
Would you do a video of this?. I am like the others who had the problem that the bites don’t retain their shape though I followed the recipe to the letter. I would love to figure out what I did wrong.
Awesome. Just finished making a batch and they are yummy. My girls should love these!! Thanks.
The nutrition information is for 1 Mac, Chicken and Cheese Bite!
Would you mind letting me know what would be considered an adult serving of this food? I see in the nutrition information that the recipe makes 20 bites and I am trying to find out if the accompanying calorie and nutrition calculations are per one bite or if the stats were calculated on another amount. I am currently trying to track my food intake and want to make sure what I should be utilizing as a serving. Thanks!
BTW, I made these for my almost one and a half year old and she loved them! She is going through a picky face right now and it was incredibly satisfying to serve these as part of dinner that she ate with enthusiasm. Thank you so much for your books and this site, they have been a great guide for me to plan her meals.
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