↑
  • Start Here
  • Recipe Index
  • Travel Index
  • Lifestyle
  • Disclosures
  • Contact
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Easy Peasy Meals

Easy Recipes, Slow Cooker Meals, Meal Planning & Meal Prep

  • About
  • Contact
  • Start Here
  • Disclosures
    • Privacy + Ad Policy
  • Recipes
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Nav Widget Area

  • Start Here
  • Recipe Index
  • Course
    • Appetizers
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Sides
    • Dessert
  • Method
    • Air fryer
    • Instant Pot
    • Skillet
    • Sheet Pan
    • Slow Cooker
    • Grill / Smoker
  • Holiday
    • Valentine’s Day
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Easter
    • Mother’s Day
    • Father’s Day
    • 4th of July
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
    • NYE
  • Protein
    • Chicken
    • Beef
    • Turkey
    • Pork
    • Fish
    • Vegetarian
  • Low-Carb
Home » Casserole » Easy White Cheddar ‘n Broccoli Mac and Cheese Shells Casserole
This post may contain affiliate links. See my Full Disclosure for further details.

Easy White Cheddar ‘n Broccoli Mac and Cheese Shells Casserole

By Rachael | Updated on August 6, 2020

651shares
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Yummly
Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Horizon Organics. The opinions and text are all mine. #SmartMeals #HorizonOrganic

An Easy Cheesy White Cheddar and Broccoli Mac and Cheese Shells Casserole that uses smart ingredients for a family favorite meal everyone feels good about.
White cheddar and broccoli mac and cheese shells casserole, a quick family meal using smarter ingredients. So yummy!My kids eat well. In fact, I get a lot of comments about how lucky they are. And I agree to a point, I mean, they do have to eat a lot of meals cold so I can photograph them first. But if you were to ask my kids about it, you might be surprised to learn that sometimes they feel a little deprived.

What?! How is this possible? Well, when your mom makes dinner almost every night, you don’t get to have mac and cheese, and nuggets, and other “kid favorites” all that often.

And I am totally okay with that. However, those are classics, and traditional favorites for a reason. A good mac and cheese, for example, is comfort food at its best. Plus it is easy enough to make that even on the busiest of nights, it will grace the family table. I wanted to transform this family favorite with smarter ingredients.

Horizon products make healthier meals easy for families

I didn’t want to eliminate the ease, so I started with a boxed Classic Mac. The Classic Mac Pasta Shells and White Cheddar Cheese from Horizon. Just like a typical box of mac and cheese it comes with the pasta and the cheese packet, but in this case they are organic. Remember, I wanted smarter ingredients.

I then enhanced things by adding a green vegetable, and topped it with some stuffing mix to give it some texture and crunch. Making this “kid” meal into something the whole family could enjoy.

broccoli-and-shells-casserole-horizontal

It has just enough creamy, cheesiness to feel like comfort food, but not so much that you worry about your health. And the addition of the broccoli is a great way to increase vegetable intake and enhance flavor. Even my picky eater ate this without (too much) complaint.

Horizon mac and cheese makes a quick and easy base for this recipe.

And I certainly wasn’t complaining about how quick and easy it was. My biggest tricks to getting this right are:

  1. Pour the hot water you cooked your noodles in over the top of the broccoli to get it started cooking, that way you get dinner on the table faster, and your broccoli is perfectly tender, but still crispy.
  2. Make sure it is as creamy as you like. If you find after you stir the pasta and broccoli into the sauce that it is not as creamy as you want, add a little more milk and cheese. However creamy it is when it goes into the casserole dish, is how it will be when you scoop it out. I like mine a little on the dry side to prevent messes (Recipe is to my preference), but if you want it creamier, be sure to add in more milk and cheese.

Creamy, white cheddar and broccoli mac and cheese shells casserole is a quick make and great for families

Let’s get to the recipe:

Easy White Cheddar 'n Broccoli Mac and Cheese Shells Casserole

An Easy Cheesy White Cheddar and Broccoli Mac and Cheese Shells Casserole that uses smart ingredients for a family favorite meal everyone feels good about.
0 from 0 votes
Print Pin
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Broccoli, casserole, mac and cheese, white cheddar
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 505kcal
Author: Rachael

Ingredients

  • 2 boxes Horizon Classic Mac Pasta Shells and White Cheddar Cheese
  • 3/4 cup Horizon milk For creamier version, use 1/2 cup milk and 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 4 Tbs Horizon butter split
  • 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese
  • 1 1/2-2 cups boxed stuffing mix
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  • 2 cups broccoli florets
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and spray an 8x8 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.
  • Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil on the stove top over high heat.
  • Once water is boiling, add pasta shells from the two boxes, and boil 10-12 minutes, set cheese packets aside
  • Meanwhile, chop broccoli florets into small, bite sized, pieces, and place in a colander, in your sink,
  • Melt 2 Tbs of butter, and stir the melted butter, stuffing mix, and parmesan cheese together. Set aside.
  • When pasta shells are done cooking, pour the pasta shells and water over the broccoli in the colander. The hot water will par-cook the broccoli so it cooks faster in the casserole.
  • In the same pot you cooked the noodles in, add the remaining 2 Tbs butter, and the 3/4 cup of milk, as well as the two cheese packets, and stir well. The pot should be hot enough to melt the butter, but if it is not, put over medium heat and stir until butter is melted, and everything is well mixed.
  • Dump shells and broccoli into the pot, and stir, coating everything well. Add in the mozzarella cheese, and stir.
  • Dump into prepared casserole dish.
  • Top with stuffing mixture, and spread evenly across the top of the casserole.
  • Bake for 10-15 minutes until top is crunchy and golden brown.
  • Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Calories: 505kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 1654mg | Potassium: 388mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 950IU | Vitamin C: 40.6mg | Calcium: 392mg | Iron: 3mg

Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.

Tried this recipe?Mention @ezpzmealz or tag #ezpzmealz!
Want to use this recipe in a meal plan?Try PrePear, my FREE Meal Planning App that allows you to save your recipes, plan meals, shop for groceries, and cook simply in one place. Join Here!
Horizon has a number of products that will help you to transform traditional family recipes with smarter ingredients. To learn more, find great recipes, and connect, be sure to follow Horizon on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

And don’t forget to pin for later!

An Easy, Cheesy, White cheddar and broccoli mac and cheese shells casserole. This is quick, uses smarter ingredients, and is something the whole family will love.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Horizon Organics. The opinions and text are all mine.

Comments submitted may be displayed on other websites owned by the sponsoring brand.

651shares
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Yummly

Related

DINNER DILEMMA: SOLVED!

FREE EMAIL COURSE
EASY, MODERN MEALS YOUR FAMILY WILL WANT TO EAT

You have Successfully Subscribed!

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

Related categories:
Casserole Main Dishcasserole cheddar and broccoli family meal mac n cheese pasta smarter mac

Primary Sidebar

Rachael from Eazy Peazy Mealz

Welcome, I'm Rachael!

I’m a mom of 4 great kids that keep me super busy.

My philosophy is cooking has to be easy, tasty, kid approved, and fit between homework, piano practice, soccer, and the MOUNTAINS of laundry in my life! Read More Work With Me

sign up nowEazy Recipes + Free Bonus!

    Crock Pot Meals

    Pork mole tacos on a white plate

    Shredded Pork Mole Tacos

    A white plate topped with ropa vieja

    Ropa Veija

    Smothered pork chops on a white serving dish with a cutting board and gravy in the background.

    Crock Pot Smothered Pork Chops

    Crock Pot Chicken Thighs

    20 Minute Meals

    Caribbean shrimp on a plate with coconut rice and chard salad
    A close up of the pasta, chicken, mandarins, and other ingredients in Asian Pasta Salad

    Free Kitchen Binder eBook

    Let's Do This!

    browse allRecipes By Method

    slow cook

    Sheet Pan

    Air Fryer

    Instant Pot

    Grill/Smoke

    One Pot

    Skillet

    Let's Work Together

    Hi, I'm Rachael, and I am obsessed with sharing quality products and solid recipes. I can work with you to develop, test and create original recipes and content using YOUR products, and share it across Eazy Peazy Mealz blog and social channels, reaching thousands of dedicated readers.

    Let's Do This

    Footer

    • About
    • Contact
    • Start Here
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
    Copyright ©2021, Easy Peasy Meals. All Rights Reserved.
    Design by Pixel Me Designs
    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Yummly