Chicken Caprese Macaroni and Cheese Recipe
Macaroni, homegrown tomatoes and basil all covered in a mozzarella cheese sauce. What could be better? No really, I would like to know because this recipe is outstanding! It is very versatile as well. You can make this for a full dinner meal with leftover chicken or as a side dish with or without the chicken.
I have put my chicken caprese mac and cheese under my “Mama’s Leftover Recipe Series” because I use chicken leftovers every time I make this. Typically I use leftovers from a whole chicken roast the night before where there is always leftover meat on the bone.
Cost to make this recipe.
This recipe is relatively inexpensive. I am wonder if making our own mozzarella cheese would cheapen up the cost of this dinner. The cheese is the most expensive ingredient in the recipe so by making it I wonder if I could lower the total and serving price. Challenge Accepted!!
This recipe was adapted from Diethood…the Eating Effect food blog. All images and text are all my own and original to One Acre Vintage Homestead – Pumpkin Patch Mountain Homestead. Please refer to our disclaimer page for more information on our recipe sharing policies.
Chicken Caprese Macaroni and Cheese is part of our Mama’s Leftover Series.
Chicken Caprese Mac & Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 lb. elbow pasta, …[$1.00]
- 1 stick butter, …[$1.00]
- ½ cup all purpose flour, ….[$0.12]
- 4 cups milk, …[$0.92]
- 1 tbsp. salt, …[0.21]
- ½ tbsp. black pepper, …[$0.46]
- 2 tbsp. dry basil, …[$0.50]
- 2 cups cooked chicken, …[$2.00]
- 6 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded…[$7.50]
- 2 large fresh tomatoes, sliced…[$0.65]
Instructions
- Boil and cook pasta accordingly in a large stock pot.
- In a large sauce pot, melt butter over low-medium heat. Whisk in flour until it becomes a paste mixture.
- Pour and whisk milk in about ½ cup at a time. Let mixture thicken and then pour more milk in.
- Add all seasonings and 5 cups of mozzarella. Stir mixture until cheese has melted. Do not lower heat too much because the cheese will start to cool and clump together.
- Preheat oven to 400 °F.
- In a greased 8×13 casserole dish, pour in drained cooked pasta, toss in cooked chicken, and pour hot cheese mixture on top and stir all together. Lay sliced tomatoes over top and sprinkle last 1 cup mozzarella cheese of the very top.
- Bake uncovered for 20 minutes or once macaroni mixture is bubbling hot and cheese on top is melted.
- Take out of oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Cut, serve, and enjoy.