Halloween Mac and Cheese

This Halloween mac and cheese is ultra creamy, bright green and perfect for a spooky Halloween dinner. The color comes entirely from spinach, but you can’t taste it at all! It’s ready in 30 minutes and includes a gluten-free option.

This recipe is based on my Gluten-free Mac and Cheese. If you’re not gluten-free, don’t worry! Today’s recipe offers a gluten-free option and can be made with any type of pasta you prefer.

Ingredients

• Elbow macaroni – use whatever fits your diet! Gluten-free, whole wheat, or grain-free. For grain-free, I love the cassava noodles from Jovial. You can use whatever shape you like.
• Fresh baby spinach – I don’t recommend frozen or regular, fully-mature spinach. More on that below!
• Milk – whole milk was used in the photos, but you can use whatever type you’d like. I think coconut milk would be terrible, but if you like that in mac and cheese, then you can use it here. I normally use cashew milk as I shouldn’t have so much dairy, and it tastes great!
• Flour – you can use all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, a gluten-free baking mix that’s meant as a 1:1 sub for all-purpose flour, or cassava flour. I’ve made this recipe with Otto’s Cassava Flour, and it worked great.
• Granulated garlic – this is important! It helps cover up the spinach taste. I added just enough so that the spinach taste is covered up. If you like the taste of spinach, you can reduce it to 1/4 teaspoon. 3/4 teaspoon is quite a bit, so if you don’t like garlic and don’t want to taste the spinach, you probably don’t want to make this recipe (unless you add some other seasoning and spices).
• White cheddar cheese – make sure to use white cheddar! If you use the usual orange stuff, then the mac and cheese won’t have the nice green color we’re looking for. Green from the spinach + bright orange from cheddar mixed together doesn’t seem like it’d be a very appealing color.
• Freshly grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan – I always use Pecorino Romano over Parmesan. I just prefer it. But feel free to use Parmesan or whatever hard cheese you’d like!
• Unsalted butter

How to make this green mac and cheese

You can use a regular blender for this recipe. That’s what was used for the photos, so you definitely don’t need a high-speed blender to get good results.

If you do use a high-speed blender, you can puree the spinach completely smooth, without any visible specks of spinach.

A small food processor would probably work, too. I recommend a small one because the amount of spinach and milk may not be enough to blend properly in a large food processor bowl.

So you blend up the spinach and part of the milk and then set that aside.

Then on the stove over medium heat, you mix together the butter, flour, granulated garlic and pepper.

Then gradually stir in the remaining milk and the spinach mixture. It’s a lovely bright green color!

When you add the cheese, it makes it less vibrant, but it’s still nice and green.

Then you add your cooked macaroni and can dig in!

What kind of spinach should I use?

I recommend fresh baby spinach. It’s milder, sweeter and more tender than mature spinach, which makes it ideal here because the goal is to get that bright green color without making the mac and cheese taste like spinach.

I haven’t tested this recipe with frozen spinach and don’t recommend it. I also haven’t tested mature spinach, although it may work if you remove the tough stems and use a high-speed blender. For the best flavor and texture, I’d stick with fresh baby spinach.

How to reheat it

If you plan to make it in advance, it’s best to keep the macaroni and the cheese sauce separate until it’s time to serve.

Then you can warm up both separately in the microwave, and once they’re really hot, stir them together.

If you mixed everything together and have leftovers, you can just put them in the fridge and then warm them up in the microwave or on the stovetop.

Does it freeze well?

Nope. Cooked pasta rarely does.

I haven’t actually tried it with this recipe, but I have frozen mac and cheese in the past, and it’s a bit mushy and weird when thawing. So I wouldn’t do this unless the option is to freeze the mac and cheese or throw it away.

More Halloween recipes

If you’re planning a Halloween party or dinner, here are a few more spooky treats to add to the menu. And should you be looking for something savory, this Zombie Brains Cheese Ball looks great.

• Halloween Dirt Cups – chocolate pudding, cookie crumbs and banana ghosts make these especially fun for kids.
• Mummy Brownies – fudgy brownies decorated with white chocolate bandages and candy eyes.
• Spider Cookies – peanut butter cookies topped with easy chocolate spiders and candy eyes.
• Halloween Cookie Cake – a soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie cake topped with colorful buttercream and ghost meringues.
• Black Cupcakes – dramatic chocolate cupcakes that get their black color from black cocoa instead of food coloring.
• Halloween Cake with Eyeballs – a creepy chocolate cake topped with lychee and blueberry eyeballs and strawberry jam “blood.”

I hope your family enjoys this Halloween mac and cheese! If you try it, I’d love to hear how it came out. Thanks!

Halloween Mac and Cheese

Author Erin Dooner

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 8 side servings

5 from 20 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

This Halloween mac and cheese is ultra creamy, bright green and naturally colored with spinach – but you can't taste it! It's ready in 30 minutes and includes a gluten-free option.

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• ▢ 12 ounces (3 cups or 340 grams) elbow macaroni GF macaroni if you're GF
• ▢ 4 cups (100 grams) fresh baby spinach
• ▢ 2 cups (473 ml) milk divided
• ▢ 1/4 cup (56 grams) unsalted butter
• ▢ 3 tablespoons (23 grams) flour see notes
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ 2 2/3 cups (10.5 oz or 300 grams) freshly shredded white cheddar cheese
• ▢ 2/3 cup (2.3 oz or 66 grams) freshly grated Pecorino Romano, Parmesan or Grana Padano
• ▢ salt to taste

Instructions

• Cook the pasta according to the package directions for al dente (don’t forget to salt the water!). It’s important not to overcook it. Do NOT rinse when done cooking – just drain the water.
  12 ounces (3 cups or 340 grams) elbow macaroni
• While it’s cooking, rinse the spinach and place in a blender. Add 1/2 cup of the milk. Blend until no chunks of spinach remain, but don’t blend longer than needed or the bright green color might be affected. You might need to push the spinach down occasionally, depending on your blender. If ½ cup of milk isn’t enough for your blender to get things moving, then use another ¼ cup (or whatever you need – but remember to subtract this amount of milk from what you add to the pan later).
  4 cups (100 grams) fresh baby spinach, 0.5 cups (118 ml) milk
• Prepare the cheese sauce. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the flour, pepper and granulated garlic until combined.
  1/4 cup (56 grams) unsalted butter, 3 tablespoons (23 grams) flour, 3/4 teaspoon granulated garlic, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• While constantly stirring, gradually add the remaining milk (so, 1 1/2 cups if you used 1/2 cup in the blender) and the spinach mixture.
  1.5 cups (355 ml) milk
• Once the mixture starts boiling, turn down the heat to low and let simmer for 1 minute while stirring constantly.
• Gradually add the cheese and stir until totally combined. Taste and add salt, if desired.
  2 2/3 cups (10.5 oz or 300 grams) freshly shredded white cheddar cheese, 2/3 cup (2.3 oz or 66 grams) freshly grated Pecorino Romano, Parmesan or Grana Padano, salt
• Add the pasta and stir until totally coated.
• Serve immediately. Let leftovers cool completely and then refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. If you want to make it in advance, it’s best to keep the macaroni and the cheese sauce separate until rewarming to serve.

Notes

• You can use regular, whole wheat, gluten-free or grain-free macaroni. Just follow the package directions for cooking.
• I recommend whole milk over 2%, but you can use whatever you prefer. I actually usually use unsweetened cashew milk to cut down on the amount of dairy.
• You can use all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour or cassava flour. I’ve specifically used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-free Baking Flour, King Arthur Gluten-free Measure for Measure Flour and Otto’s Cassava Flour with great results.
• The recipe calls for white cheddar so that you get the nice green color! I don’t recommend using yellow or orange cheddar for color reasons.
• For the smoothest cheese sauce, grate the cheddar yourself. Pre-shredded cheese contains anti-caking agents that can keep it from melting as smoothly and may make the sauce slightly grainy.
• The nutrition information provided is calculated as a courtesy and is only an estimate. I am not a licensed nutritionist or dietitian. For the most accurate nutritional data, consult a professional or use your preferred calculator.

Nutrition

Calories: 446kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 20gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 69mgSodium: 385mgPotassium: 315mgFiber: 2gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 2095IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 456mgIron: 1mgNet Carbs: 37

Tried this recipe?Tag me today! Mention @texanerin or tag #texanerin! Thanks. 🖤