Frozen Veggies Are The Easiest Upgrade For Your Favorite Mac And Cheese

Mac and cheese is the height of American comfort food, with a long list of boxed brands that are often as nostalgic and beloved as the more sporadic scratch-made casseroles. While your favorite mac and cheese brand is always a welcomed solution for a busy weeknight dinner, frozen veggies are the easy upgrade you need to round out the meal with a pop of color and nutrition.

Frozen veggies are pre-cut and precooked with just as many nutrients and vibrance as their raw counterpart. Plus, practically any type of vegetable you can find in the frozen food section will taste delicious smothered in cheese sauce. For small or delicate veggies, you can stir them right into a freshly made pot of boxed mac and cheese right out of the freezer. The heat from the cheese and pasta is enough to defrost them in the time it takes you to set the table.

For larger frozen vegetables that need to be heated to defrost, you can boil them with the macaroni pasta and drain them both through a colander before adding the cheese sauce. Whichever vegetables you choose, there's no extra steps or adjustments you need to make to use them in a batch of boxed macaroni and cheese.

A creamy cheese sauce will pair well with a broad spectrum of sweet, savory, and even bitter vegetables. You can start with classic cheese and vegetable pairings. Cauliflower and broccoli are commonly served with cheese sauce, so you know they'd be delicious additions to boxed macaroni and cheese. Peas, carrots, and corn will all offer a really nice crunch as well as a sweet complement to the rich savoriness of the cheese. Stir in some frozen collard greens or chopped spinach for a sophisticated bitter finish to balance the sharp and tangy flavors of cheddar.

You can even sneak frozen veggies into boxed mac and cheese and the veggie naysayers in your family will be none the wiser. The easiest way to do this is stirring frozen riced cauliflower in with your noodles. The tiny bits of cauliflower will all but dissolve into the cheese sauce as you stir it into the macaroni.

Of course, you can also add frozen vegetables to scratch-made macaroni and cheese. Look no further than Tasting Table's very own butternut squash macaroni and cheese for proof; frozen butternut squash, butter, and broth simmer, then emulsify in the blender to create a creamy foundation into which you stir cheddar cheese and milk. You could also add frozen green beans to this decadent French onion mac and cheese recipe by boiling them along with the noodles and following the subsequent assembly steps.