Tortellini Mac and Cheese
Homemade Tortellini Mac and Cheese with a creamy sauce and topped with riced cauliflower.
Anytime you think about macaroni and cheese do those little blue boxes pop in your mind? It does for me! In fact, it brings me back to when I was living on my own for the first time, which btw, happened to be a whole mile or so from where my parents lived.
But hey, I was an adult in my early twenties paying my own rent, utilities, gas, and such. Whatever few bucks were left would go towards groceries.
Cooking wasn’t my thing back then. I ate whatever was cheap like tuna, Top Ramen and Kraft Mac and cheese (powdered cheese). Talk about convenience and yeah, did I mention CHEAP?!
I continued to add that blue box to my grocery list even after I earned a steady paycheck and could afford different options.
It was a staple in our pantry for a very long time, and when we started a family, our kid’s had too many meals to count with that type of mac and cheese! Sometimes Kraft would shape the pasta out of cute cartoon or movie characters depending on what happened to be popular at the time.
During those early child rearing years I started to cook more. Really cook! I would still use convenience foods (as I do now), but products like the pre-packaged powdered cheese was replaced with real cheese, milk, flour and butter.
Easy. Quick. Real Food!
This mac and cheese dish has a twist to it. Veggies are throughout the casserole. I used spinach and cheese tortellini and instead of topping the casserole with breadcrumbs, I riced some cauliflower and used it as the topping. Next time I think I’ll add the whole head of cauliflower. I loved the veggie topping!
Ingredients
- 1 16 ounce pkg Tortellini fresh, frozen or dried, I used fresh spinach and cheese
CHEESE SAUCE
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- salt and pepper to taste
TOPPING
- 1/2 head cauliflower riced
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 7 1/2 x 11 1/2 casserole dish with cooking spray or butter and set aside.
- Cook tortellini in boiling water according to packaged directions. Drain and set aside.
- For cauliflower topping, cut cauliflower in pieces and put in a food processor or blender. Pulverize until it resembles rice. Steam until softened or microwave on hight for 3 minutes. Set aside.
- In a medium sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until incorporated. Add milk slowly and continue to whisk as it begins to thicken (approximately 5 minutes). Add cheese and stir until melted and sauce is thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Fold in tortellini into cheese sauce and put in prepared casserole dish. Add riced cauliflower to the top of the casserole and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Broil for 1 minute to crisp up the cauliflower topping.
Notes
Disclaimer
Please note that the nutritional information provided are guidelines and may vary based on the brand of products used. For your specific nutritional goals use My Fitness Pal or Verywell Fit recipe calculators. All content within this site is not intended as medical diagnosis or treatment and should not be considered a substitute for professional medical expertise.
I love using tortellini for quick meals! This looks SO fabulous Sandra! Love the addition of the cauliflower!
This sounds fab! I absolutely love making mac and cheese from scratch.
So easy to make isn’t it Maggie! I want to make your jalapeno mac ‘n cheese!
That sounds just delicious and I love the cauliflower substitute!
Thank you, Debra! I will add more cauliflower the next time I make this!
This is Comfort food heaven!!! All that cheese is making me swoon! 🙂
Thank you, Rini! You need gooey cheese in your life every so often 🙂
Your Tortellini Mac and Cheese looks so creamy and delicious! I can not wait to try this recipe!! I am such a cheese fan, and this would go over so well with my son!!
Thanks, Heidy! I really like the cheese sauce in this mac and cheese. It’s so simple and tasty!
Tortellini Mac and Cheese?!?! This literally should have my youngest daughter’s name attached to it!! She would grin from ear to ear to hear this was for dinner!! I will make this one soon!!
Awww, That’s sweet! Love to hear your little one would enjoy this twist to the traditional Mac and Cheese!
I adore tortellini but I have never thought do do it as a mac and cheese! – another favorite! Your cheese sauce recipe is really great. Nice and simple and not over-complicated. I love the riced cauliflower topping. What a great touch 🙂
Thanks, Nicole! This recipe is great for mid-week meals that need to me made in under 30 minutes! So satisfying too 🙂
That is a great idea to use tortellini! Looks great!
Thank you, Sheena! I was hoping to take some to work for lunch, but it went too quick!
Looks so comforting and creamy – mmmmm! Love that you used spinach and cheese tortellini – my fav!
I can never get enough spinach! I love all things green, but it’s extra delicious in tortellini!
Loving the cauliflower addition! We were in a hotel room recently and my daughter had some of those individual mac and cheese microwave cups, so we tried one and oh my goodness I couldn’t eat it! It was horrible! Real mac and cheese is just too good and too easy!!
I’ve seen those microwave mac and cheese packs! haha! The cheese looks like plastic to me! It’s ok in desperate times, but I’m with you, the real deal is so easy to make!
This looks like wonderful comfort food.
Simply delicious. Everyone in my family will eat this, that’s for sure!
I love tortellini and cheese. It’s grownup mac and cheese at our house.
I love that reference, grownup mac and cheese!