Kid-Friendly Macaroni and Cheese Recipes for Dinner or a Snack

One dish that almost every child eats is macaroni and cheese. Kid-friendly macaroni and cheese recipes aren’t hard to find, but kid-friendly and parent-approved recipes are another story.

Children can be pretty picky when it comes to their meals. They may not like the side dish that goes with their chicken one night or the fruit that goes with their cereal.

Kid-friendly macaroni and cheese recipes will help your children clean their plates and make you happy that they’re eating right. If you have any Dairy Free needs in your home, this post might be more helpful!

Or this post, which is full of all the dairy-free cookbooks you could ever need! Nowadays, it’s so much easier to hide veggies in things that kids really enjoy.

Vegetable pasta is an easy way to sneak veggie servings into your macaroni recipes! Plus, with the help of an Instant Pot or Crockpot, you can have most of these recipes ready in a flash!

A parent-approved recipe for children includes ingredients that promote health. A healthy child is, after all, all a parent really wants. The problem is that kids will push food around on their plates until it’s too cold to eat, or we just give up.

Tricking your children isn’t exactly a nice thing to do either, but there are options! Take a dish they love, like kid-friendly macaroni and cheese, and mix it up a bit.

Add healthier ingredients or find healthier recipes and get your child to love the taste of better foods. Not all mac and cheese dishes need to come from a box with powdered ingredients.

Kid-Friendly Macaroni and Cheese Recipes for Dinner or a Snack

Macaroni and Cheese Snacks with Bell Peppers

Macaroni And Cheese With Bacon Slow Cooker Recipe

Easy Homemade Mac and Cheese | Living Well Mom

Creamy Ham and Broccoli Shells and Cheese | The Comfort of Cooking

Macaroni and Peas | Daily Garnish

Making Health Fun

The problem with healthy foods isn’t so much the flavor or even the consistency, but it’s boring. Boring food doesn’t get kids excited to eat; that’s a problem.

We want to do right by our children, which means keeping them healthy and eating right. Luckily, kid-friendly macaroni and cheese recipes could change the game.

Some of these recipes have fun ways of integrating healthy food into macaroni and cheese. You can mix in things like peas, broccoli, and cauliflower.

The cheese sauce will cover most of it up, but you could use those foods to your advantage. Green peas could be made for green mac and cheese, which is definitely fun.

Green Mac and Cheese | Weelicious

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese | Little Miss Kate & Co

Mac and Cheese Muffins | Raining Hot Coupons

Healthy Macaroni and Cheese | My Kids Lick the Bowl

Fried Mac and Cheese | Cincyshopper

Get Them Involved

One trick to help get kids to eat is to involve them in the cooking process. Is this easy to do? Not all of the time. But it is a fun way to spend an evening.

You can have the kids stir in the cheese or have them help set the plates. The goal is to make them see the effort that goes into cooking and the reward of eating those efforts. 

Best Ever Mac and Cheese | Chef in Training

Shells and Cheese (with bacon & peas) | The Pioneer Woman

Gluten Free Mac and Cheese | Stacey Homemaker

Hidden Veggie Mac and Cheese | Mess For Less

Spinach Avocado Mac and Cheese | Sarcastic Cooking

Enjoy Together

Kid-friendly macaroni and cheese recipes are not just for kids, though they are kid-friendly. In fact, everyone could benefit from these delicious recipes.

Some of them have extra nutrition, others have more cheese, and all of them are amazing. 

Dairy Free Mac and Cheese | Petite Allergy Treats

Roasted Red Pepper Mac and Cheese | Know Your Produce

Lentil Mac and Cheese | Sugar Spice and Glitter

Super Creamy Mac and Cheese | Dinner, Then Dessert

Kale and Spinach Mac and Cheese Cups | See Vanessa Craft

More Delicious Recipes

Dairy-Free Recipes for Toddlers | Some families realize early that their children do better without dairy. Luckily, there are dairy-free recipes that are made for toddlers.

Crockpot Pumpkin Dump Cake Recipes | What kid doesn’t love cake? Get seasonal with your next dump cake in a crockpot with this pumpkin dump cake.

Peppermint Bark Cookies Recipe {Dairy Free + Gluten Free} | Peppermint bark is a recipe every kid can get behind; just be sure to save some for yourself.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips | Peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies are amazing! Luckily, you can make them as often as you’d like with this recipe.

Slow Cooker John Wayne Casserole with Tater Tots | Want an easy dinner the kids will eat up faster than a candy bar? You’ve found it, and they will thank you for this one.