Weight Watchers Baked Mac and Cheese

This 5-point Weight Watchers Baked Mac and Cheese is creamy, tacky, and so comforting. 

The bottom of this recipe makes use of whole-grain pasta, which is decrease in factors than common pasta. Simply that small change alone makes a distinction, however the kind of dairy used performs a greatest half. Though I usually shrink back from Velveeta, it isn’t too many factors while you use the reduced-fat model and use it sparsely. This recipe solely makes use of 2.5 oz for the entire dish. Pair that Velveeta with some milk, mozzarella, and cheddar, and also you’re in for an expensive cheese sauce.

This baked mac and cheese encompasses a crunchy topping, because the cheese on prime is broiled with panko breadcrumbs, leading to a pleasant textural distinction. The golden-brown topping additionally takes its presentation up a notch. Whenever you take this mac and cheese out of the oven, it’ll be exhausting to not dig into it immediately. If you wish to make your mac and cheese meal much more memorable, you possibly can serve it with different comforting meals, comparable to mashed potatoes, baked hen, or collard greens. I’ve a aspect dish recipe assortment you possibly can try for some concepts, too!

Why You Ought to Strive This Recipe

• Good for weeknights or gatherings. This recipe is simple sufficient for a weeknight dinner however spectacular sufficient to serve for nicer events.
• It’s low in fats. With a mix of decreased fats and decrease fats merchandise, this recipe is way more healthy than the common mac and cheese.
• Simply adjustable. If you need to serve 10 folks, all it’s important to do is double it and use a bigger dish! You may also modify the pasta form, cheese sort, or milk sort.

Recipe Overview

• Serving Dimension: about 1 cup (124g)
• Variety of Servings: 5
• Time to Prepare dinner: 40 minutes
• WW Factors Per Recipe: 5 WW factors per serving, 27 for your entire recipe (Click on right here to view the recipe within the WW app. WW login is required)

Components in WW Baked Mac and Cheese

• 8 oz Entire-grain penne (or one other whole-grain pasta form)
• ¾ cup Fats-free milk or unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tbsp Gentle butter substitute
• 2.5 oz Lowered-fat Velveeta cheese
• ½ cup Fats-free shredded cheddar cheese
• ½ cup Fats-free shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 tsp Kosher salt, or to style
• ¼ tsp Black pepper
• ½ tsp Onion powder
• ½ tsp Garlic powder
• ¼ tsp Cayenne pepper
• 1 pinch Nutmeg
• ¼ tsp Dried mustard
• 3 tbsp Panko breadcrumbs

Directions for making Baked Mac and Cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a baking dish about 8×8 or an analogous measurement. Combine the 2 shredded cheeses collectively to create a mix and put aside.
2. In a big saucepan or skillet, add milk, butter substitute, seasonings, and Velveeta cheese. Prepare dinner over medium warmth till gently simmering, the Velveeta has melted, and the sauce is clean. It can appear skinny.
3. In the meantime, boil the pasta to al dente based on bundle directions.
4. To the cheese sauce, stir in about 1/2 of the shredded cheese; cease mixing as soon as it simply melts. Don’t overmix as a result of it’ll clump. Take away from warmth.
5. Drain the pasta and add it to the cheese sauce; gently combine collectively. (If you want, you possibly can add a splash or two of pasta water to the sauce).
6. Pour half of the tacky pasta into the baking dish. Sprinkle with a lot of the remaining cheese, leaving some for the highest.

7. Pour the remaining pasta over the layer of shredded cheese.

8. Prime with remaining cheese and panko bread crumbs. 

9. Cowl and bake mac and cheese for 20-25 minutes or till totally sizzling and cheese is melted within the middle. Put the broiler on low for the previous couple of minutes to brown the cheese and breadcrumbs on prime.

Variations and Substitutions

• Baked Broccoli Mac and Cheese: I counsel blanching the broccoli and utilizing smaller florets. Then, combine it into the mac and cheese simply earlier than baking. This may forestall broccoli from being undercooked for the reason that mac and cheese doesn’t take lengthy to bake.
• Milk Sort: Be happy to make use of unsweetened almond milk and even 2% milk. You may also make baked mac and cheese with evaporated milk. There are fat-free evaporated milk cans on the market; use the identical quantity of milk because the recipe requires.
• Baked Mac and Cheese with Cream Cheese: Add about 1-2 oz of lower-fat cream cheese to the sauce. You’ll be able to combine it in if you end up melting the Velveeta. This may make the sauce additional creamy!
• Different Add-In Concepts: You may also add bacon bits, chopped jalapenos, bell peppers, caramelized onions, or shredded hen. If including quite a lot of mix-ins or including shredded meat, I counsel growing the sauce barely.

Suggestions and Tips for Making Weight Watchers Baked Mac and Cheese

• How one can retailer additional WW Mac and Cheese: switch any leftovers to an hermetic container or cowl them with foil/plastic wrap. Preserve them within the fridge for 3-4 days.
• How one can reheat the leftovers: When reheating the mac and cheese, I counsel including a splash or two of milk and a few additional shredded cheese. This may refresh its texture.
• You need to use any mixture of fat-free shredded cheeses that you simply like. I personally love half mozzarella and half cheddar, however you need to use all cheddar if you would like.
• I counsel not omitting the Velveeta, because it thickens the sauce and provides creaminess. It binds the opposite cheeses with the milk, eliminating the necessity for a roux.
• Watch out to not over-bake it, as it’ll dry out the mac and cheese.
• Don’t undercook the pasta when boiling it; undercooked pasta will take up the entire sauce.
• Begin with half the salt if you would like. The sauce could style barely salty earlier than mixing with pasta and baking, however after baking, every little thing melds, and it’s now not salty.

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