Pizza Mac and Cheese Muffins
Posted: 02/27/2014
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Kids and adults will both love pizza mac and cheese muffins — two of your favorite treats, macaroni and cheese and pizza, rolled into one cute package. What could be better? Serve with pizza sauce or marinara for dipping.
This isn’t my first go-around with turning macaroni and cheese into a muffin so that you can eat it with your hands. If you haven’t tried southwest macaroni and cheese muffins, be sure to add them to your list of things to try.
It’s obviously one of the best things ever. Macaroni and cheese….that you can eat with your hands. Are ya with me? Throw in the word “pizza” and I’m totally sold.
Oh, but the kids. Oh yeah. That’s right, I made these mac and cheese muffins for the kids. Uh….hmmm…yeah. For the kids.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Now I just have to get myself a sweatshirt with a cupcake on it.
I’m on a pizza kick lately (pizza, mac and cheese, I’m the picture of healthy). Did you try my macaroni and cheese pizza? Over the top good!
A couple of weeks ago I made pizza lasagna rolls (Yum!) and my family loves these pizza quinoa stuffed peppers. Pizza stuffed spaghetti squash is really good, too. I often make one pot Pizza Pasta, only 6 ingredients and ready in 20 minutes. What can I say, I love pizza.
These mac and cheese muffins are really easy to eat….errr…I mean easy to make. (Eat too. Really easy to eat.)
I start with a package of Parmesan and butter spirals, prepared as directed on the package. (I use Annie’s — I love it. Not sponsored.) If you want to use another boxed pasta dinner, no problem!
Stir in a couple of extras (pepperoni! mozzarella! herbs!), scoop into muffin tins, bake, let cool a bit, dip-dip-dip in pizza sauce and chow down. If you need help with that, you can refer to the photos of E. She is pretty darn good at that step.
Enjoy these! Pizza mac and cheese muffins are a super fun lunch or light dinner. Serve them with a bowl of soup or a green salad.
They also make a cool appetizer for a party. Arrange them on a platter with a bowl of pizza sauce for dipping. They are just fine at room temperature so don’t worry about keeping them warm. Perfect for game night!
If you’re following along with Mac and Cheese Mania, my co-host Brandy made Skillet Cheesy Gnocchi with Peas and Ham today. (YUM! I wish I was her neighbor.)
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
muffins
Kids and adults will both love these Pizza Mac and Cheese muffins — two of your favorite treats, macaroni and cheese and pizzas, rolled into one cute package.
Ingredients
- one 5.25 ounce package of spirals with butter and parmesan macaroni and cheese (I use Annie’s)
- milk and butter to prepare macaroni as directed on package (I used 1 tablespoon unsalted butter and 3 tablespoons skim milk)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup shredded low moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese
- about 1.5 to 2 ounces of sliced pepperoni, cut into quarters
- pizza sauce for dipping (a cup or so should be enough)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 12 muffin tins with nonstick spray.
- Prepare macaroni and cheese as directed on the box, except stir in oregano and garlic powder in addition to the cheese powder.
- Once prepared, remove from heat and stir in grated mozzarella cheese and pepperoni.
- Spoon macaroni and cheese mixture evenly into prepared muffin tins.
- Bake for 17-20 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Cool for at least 5 minutes before removing from the muffin tins. After I remove them, I usually place them on a sheet of paper towel just to remove some of the grease from the pepperoni.
- Serve with pizza sauce for dipping.
Notes
- Substitute other types of boxed mac and cheese dinners for the Annie's Butter and Parmesan macaroni and cheese.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1muffin, Calories: 163kcal, Carbohydrates: 9g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 11g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 26mg, Sodium: 310mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Changes I would make: NONE.
Difficulty: Easy.
Marit Grimstad says
I enjoy reading food blogs. Lately I have read a lot of american ones, but start to wonder about american cooking. Every recipe contains a packet of this and a packet of that. A packet mac and cheese? the easiest thing in the world to cook. Apart from this love your idea
Rachel Gurk says
I do try to steer away from packaged food for the most part but I also have two little ones at home so sometimes I fall back on high-quality packaged foods such as Annie’s macaroni and cheese for convenience and speed reasons. All week I presented mac and cheese recipes though if you’re looking for something from scratch there is plenty to choose from! Thanks for reading!
Averie @ Averie Cooks says
Just saw these on FG. STUNNING images and what a super fun & cute idea! Pinned!
Rachel Gurk says
Thanks so much for sharing Averie!
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
I love that these bites are transportable and that it’s a combo of 2 things I love-pizza and mac n cheeeese!!!
Hayley @ The Domestic Rebel says
A no-fork-required pizza mac and cheese? DONE AND DONE. You are my hero. Also, I want to steal your babe’s shirt. SOCUTE.
Angelyn @ Everyday Desserts says
I could down 17 of these, no problem. LOVE these!!
Nicole ~ Cooking for Keeps says
Mmmmmm, I don’t have any kids yet, but I’d still eat these in heartbeat — in fact, even if I did, I dunno if they’d make it to their plates! Hahaha juuuust kidding….maybe. ;)
Katrina @ WVS says
Holy smokes! I could definitely eat something like this every day! So fun!
Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking says
What a fun treat for parties! Mac ‘n cheese muffins are so kid friendly… if the adults don’t gobble them all up first!
Laurie {Simply Scratch} says
I’m so all about hand-held mac and cheese! And your daughter is ADORABLE! <3
Jennie @themessybakerblog says
I love the idea of eating mac and cheese with your hands. This would be a great to-go snack. The fact that this is pizza mac and cheese makes it even better. What an adorable shirt.
Karly says
How stinkin’ cute are these little muffins? I love pasta, I love cheese, I love pizza, I love muffins. All around win!
denise says
they sound wonderful–would be great for a kid’s birthday party
all this macaroni and cheese talk–I made it for dinner last night
Taylor @ greens & chocolate says
How cute are these?! These look so good…I would especially love the crispy, cheesy edges!
Kim | Just For Clicks says
I am a Mac n Cheese lov-ah. So I’m so loving this series. This recipe would be the perfect Friday Family Movie Night dinner… and I can’t wait to make it. Great great idea!!!
Charlotte says
I have never been more angry with you! Couldn’t you have posted this recipe BEFORE I made my meal plan for the coming week?! How am I meant to cope without these in my life now?
Seriously though these look totally gorgeous, and I’m pencilling them in for the near future.